NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College men's basketball team suffered its fifth straight loss following its 78-63 setback to local foe Bridgewater State University during non-conference action on Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium. 
 
The Lyons are 0-5, while the Bears, who avenged last year's home loss to Wheaton, improve to 4-2. 
 
Senior Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) made 10 of his 13 shots to lead Bridgewater State with a game-best 25 points and seven rebounds.  Classmate Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, MA) went 7-of-8 from the floor while notching a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards.  Senior Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) tallied 15 markers, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Junior Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA) turned in career highs of 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss, while classmate Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI) contributed 15 markers.  Freshmen Brian Grossman (Duxbury, MA) and Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH) had eight and seven points, respectively, while sophomore Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, NY) grabbed eight rebounds. 

Trailing 4-2 a little more than two minutes in thanks to back-to-back Johnson buckets, Wheaton scored nine unanswered points over 2:06 to lead 13-4 at 15:31.  Weeks drained a pair of threes during the stretch, while Degnan dropped in five points.  The visitors responded with a 19-5 spurt during a 7:20 span for a 23-18 advantage with 7:34 to play before the break. 
 
A Weeks basket made the score 23-20 before Bridgewater State used a 9-2 run in gaining the half's largest lead up to that point at 32-22.  Wheaton trimmed the gap to six points twice, including trailing 39-33 at the intermission.
 
The Bears opened the second frame by scoring nine of the stanza's first 11 points for a 48-35 advantage at the 15:53 mark.  The Blue and White chipped away at its deficit and eventually got as close as 57-53 on a pair of Bayliss freebies at 7:07, but Bridgewater State quickly brought its advantage back to double figures in using a 13-2 run to put the game away for good, as the Bears held a 70-55 lead with 2:36 remaining.
 
Wheaton wraps up its three-game homestand on Tuesday against non-conference opponent Elms College at 7:00 p.m.