Free Throw with No Time Left Sinks Bears in 64-63 Loss to Wheaton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Brendan Degnan's (Narragansett, R.I.) free throw with no time left lifted the visiting Wheaton College Lyons to a 64-63 victory over Bridgewater State University in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

Wheaton improves to 5-2 on the season with the win, while Bridgewater slips to 2-4.

With the score tied at 63-63 with the clock ticking down, Degnan was fouled while taking a long three as the buzzer sounded.  After missing the first free throw, he calmly sank the second to win the game for the visitors.

Bridgewater had rallied from ten points down in the second half.  Trailing 63-57 late in the game, back-to-back jumpers by junior guard Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) and senior guard Corey Ryser (Tewksbury, Mass.) pulled the Bears  to within two points with just 39 seconds remaining.  Ryser would block a layup attempt at the other end of the floor and junior forward Anthony Fortes (Providence, R.I.) sank a pair of free throws with seven seconds to go to knot the score at 63-all.

Degnan paced the Lyons with 16 points.  He also pulled down four boards.  Junior forward Cliften Desravines (Somerville, Mass.) and senior guard Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, Mass.) added 11 points apiece for Wheaton.  Desravines and Weeks notched six and five rebounds, respectively.

Senior guard Nathan Miller (New Bedford, Mass.) paced the host Bears with 16 points and four assists.  Ryser finished with 14 points and five boards, while Fortes tallied 11 points.

Bridgewater opened the game by outscoring the visitors 17-3 over the first 9 1/2 minutes.  That lead quickly evaporated as Wheaton responded with a 12-0 run over the next five minutes with Weeks scoring five points and Desravies adding four during the run.  The Bears would ultimatley take a 28-23 advantage into the break.

Bridgewater shot 45% (22-49) from the floor and connected on 16 of 20 (80%) free throw attempts.  The Bears also blocked 12 shots led by senior center Max Dolgin (Randolph, Mass.) and freshman center Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) with four apiece.

Wheaton shot 37% (21-57) from the field and knocked down just 15 of 24 (63%) free throw attempts.  The Lyons did however score 25 points off of 19 BSU turnovers and had 15 second chance points.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday night.  Bridgewater travels to Becker College for a seven o'clock game with the Hawks, while Wheaton heads to Framingham State University to take on the Rams at six.