BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Wheaton College Lyons downed host Bridgewater State University, 71-62, in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

Bridgewater's record falls to 1-5 with today's loss, while Wheaton improves their overall record to 4-3.

Bridgewater State made four of its first five shots to jump out to an 11-2 lead and held a 15-6 advantage as the clocked ticked under 14 minutes.  Wheaton responded quickly with a 12-0 run and held the Bears scoreless over the next four minutes to take an 18-15 lead.  The Lyons would never trail again.  Bridgewater connected on just 7 of 23 field goal attempts the rest of the half and shot just 38% (23-60) from the floor for the game.

A three-pointer by sophomore guard Tyler DeMello (East Freetown, Mass.) to close out the first half jumpstarted a 12-4 BSU run which closed the gap to one (40-39) with 17:13 remaining in the second half.  The Bears continued to battle in the final stanza and trailed 58-54 with less than six minutes left in regulation.  A back-court violation, however, erased a potential odd man advantage and a chance to make it a one possession game.

Wheaton would take advantage as the Lyons responded with a 10-3 run to put the game out of reach.

Junior forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) led the Bears with 18 points and nine rebounds.  Lofton made his first eight shots before missing two hurried three-point attempts in the final five seconds.  Junior forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) added 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore guard Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn.) paced the visitors with 15 points.  Wheaton received solid production from its bench as the Lyons' reserves accounted for 37 of the team's 71 points.  Freshman forward Zach Parsons (Belchertown, Mass.) came off the bench to score 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting while grabbing nine boards.

Bridgewater State struggled from behind the arc connecting on just 6 of 26 (23%) three-point attempts.  The Bears were also just 10-for-17 (59%) from the free throw line and were outrebounded 46-32.

The Bears return to action on Thursday as they host Anna Maria College at 7:00 PM.  Wheaton College has some time off until they travel to face Gordon College on January 2nd at 6:00 PM.