By Jim Fenton

SALEM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team began the second half of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference schedule with a road loss.

After opening a 10-point lead during the first half, the Bears dropped a 74-69 decision to Salem State University at Twohig Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

BSU (7-13) is 2-5 in the MASCAC after losing to the Vikings (8-12, 5-2 conference) for the second time this season.

Salem State defeated the Bears at the Tinsley Center to open the MASCAC season, 102-79, on Jan. 8.

BSU played without two of its leading scorers as injuries sidelined junior Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.), who averages 14.1 points, and senior TJ Williams (Jupiter, Fla.), who scores 11.9 points.

The Bears trailed only once at 2-1 during the first half and held a 29-19 edge with 5:41 remaining before the break.

But Salem State ended the half on a 15-6 run to get within 35-34 and took control early in the second half for the season sweep.

BSU fell behind by 14 points with just over eight minutes left, but managed to get within four in the closing seconds, holding the Vikings without a field goal in the last 6:56.

Sophomore Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) was the Bears' top scorer with 15 points to go with five rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Sam Sweeney (Burlington, Vt.) had 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and junior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Kikuba now has 986 points as he closes in on becoming the 31st player in program history to reach 1,000 points.

Kikuba also moved into second place in career assists at BSU with 401, going ahead of Bruce Higgins (397 from 1993-97. He trails only Mark Dias (418 from 1982-86).

Graduate student Noah Downing (Brockton, Mass.) had 11 points while junior Samuel Omisore (Boston, Mass.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with seven assists.

Salem State was led by sophomore Omri Merryman (Lynn, Mass.) with 30 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and six rebounds.

Junior Tyrese Rho (Boston, Mass.) added 14 points and four rebounds while graduate student Liam Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) had 13 rebounds.

BSU was leading, 8-7, with 13:10 to go in the first half when Downing scored 10 straight points for his team, widening the advantage to 18-10 with 10:52 left.

Downing made a 3-pointer, hit a layup, connected on another 3-pointer and made another layup in the span of 1:26.

The Bears had a double-digit lead at 25-15 following a Kikuba 3-pointer with 7:55 remaining and held the 29-19 lead after a Campbell jumper with 5:41 left.

But BSU managed just six points the rest of the half. A 3-pointer by sophomore Steven Jean-Louis (Charlestown, Mass.) with 2:41 left got Salem State within 33-32.

After two foul shots by Kikuba with 1:37 left, Rho made a layup with 1:19 to go to get Salem State within 35-34 at halftime.

BSU shot 44 percent in the first half while limiting Salem State to 40 percent and held a 21-9 edge in bench points.

The Vikings scored the first seven points of the second half for a 41-35 lead, getting a jumper and a 3-pointer from Merryman and two Rho free throws.

A layup by Kikuba four minutes into the half accounted for BSU's first points of the second half and Sweeney hit a 3-pointer to put the Bears behind, 49-44, with 14:19 left.

Salem State moved the lead into double digits on a 3-pointer by Merryman with 13:25 remaining.

Merryman hit a 3-pointer and two foul shots in 39 seconds for a 67-53 with 8:06 to play.

Salem State's last field goal of the game came with 6:57 left, a layup by Wil Martinez (Revere, Mass.) that gave the Vikings a 69-56 lead.

Salem State missed its final seven shots from the field and managed just five free throws the rest of the way.

Campbell made a layup and two foul shots as BSU pulled within 69-62 with 3:30 left. A layup by Omisore with 2:53 to go completed an 11-9 run as the Bears closed to 69-64.

A Merryman foul shots upped the lead to 70-64, but BSU was unable to score again until two Sweeney foul shots with 26 seconds left made it 71-66.

A Sweeney 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining had BSU within 71-67.

The Bears had only two field goals in the last 4:30.

BSU returns home on Wednesday night to face Framingham State University at 5:30 p.m.

Salem State travels to Framingham State for a noon game next Saturday. The Vikings now hold a 97-39 series lead over the Bears.