Lofton Leads Men's Hoops to 62-50 Win over Wheaton

NORTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to a 62-50 non-conference victory over host Wheaton College on Saturday afternoon.

The visiting Bears improve to 3-2 on the season, while Wheaton falls to 5-1 as the Lyons suffered their first setback of the season.

BSU junior guard Brian Grossman (Duxbury, Mass.) added ten points and four rebounds against his former team, while senior guard Shaw Yard (Brockton, Mass.) notched a game-high six assists to go along with nine boards.

Sophomore forward Ryan Clinesmith (New York, N.Y.) paced the Lyons with 18 points and six rebounds, and classmate Mike O'Loughlin (Milford, N.H.) finished with 13 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals.

Wheaton opened the game with six straight points and held Bridgewater scoreless over the first four minutes of the contest. The Bears battled back to tie the game at 12-12 and took their first lead (18-16) on a Lofton layup with 7:34 remaining in the opening stanza.  Bridgewater would head into the intermission with a 29-26 advantage and would never trail again.

Wheaton cut the deficit to as little as two points twice in the second half but was unable to reclaim the lead. After an O'Loughlin jumper with 2:57 remaining made it a four-point game at 52-48, the Lyons would score just two points the rest of the way.  The Bears would convert 8 of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.

Neither team shot the ball well with the Lyons posting a 36% (21-for-58) shooting percentage while the Bears connected on 29% (19-for-66) of their field goal attempts.  Bridgewater, however, held a decided advantage at the charity stripe knocking down 20 of 25 (80%) free throw attempts compared to just six of eight free throws for Wheaton.

The visitors also held a 49-39 rebounding advantage with a 17-6 edge on the offensive boards, and the Bears' bench outscored the Lyons' reserves, 23-6.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday evening.  Wheaton entertains Gordon College at seven, while Bridgewater travels to Anna Maria College for a 7:30 game with the AMCATS.