New London — Coast Guard Academy played like a team in desperate need of a victory on Wednesday.

The Bears chased down loose balls, crashed the boards and dug in on defense.

They couldn't afford a loss if they plan on eventually reaching the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament. They had dropped five of their last six games before facing Wheaton College.

The pre-game message was clear.

"We've been down a little bit because of our losses lately," junior Noah Baldez said. "So today I told everybody in our huddle that every possession we're going to play like it's our last. We need this win. We're going to win today and that's a fact. I told everybody that.

"And that's how I played and that's how everybody played and that's how we got the win."

The Bears roared to a 24-point halftime advantage and then held off a charge from Wheaton on the way to a 94-78 victory at Merriman Gym. They improved to 11-6 overall, 2-5 in the NEWMAC, and equaled last season's overall win total.

"We had good energy tonight," coach Kevin Jaskiewicz said. "We were making a lot of the 50-50 plays. We've been talking about making winning plays and I thought tonight we did that. It's nice that we had five guys in double figures and all that stuff. What I really like was our extra effort plays."

Scoring hasn't been an issue for the Bears, who hit the 90-point mark for the third straight game and ninth time this season. They passed around the scoring baton against Wheaton (10-7, 1-6).

Freshman Tyler Perez provided a spark off the bench, scoring a team-high 21 points — well over his 7.4 points per game average — in 21 minutes while going 5-for-6 from three-point land. He scored 16 points in the first half to help fuel the team's impressive 55-point outburst.

Junior Justin Kane had 16 points and a team-best seven rebounds while junior Packy Witkowski (15 points), senior Luke Daniels (14 points) and Baldez (12 points, six steals, six assists and five rebounds) also made key contributions.

"I feel like we're at our best when we are getting the balance that you saw tonight, because we're harder to guard," Jaskiewicz said.

The Bears reached the critical point of the game with just under nine minutes left. A 24-point lead was cut to 10 on Robby Lowey's rebound basket.

They had watched intermission leads disappear in the second half in four of their last five defeats, including against conference foe Springfield on Saturday when they were up by 11 and lost 96-90.

They were determined to finish the job on Wednesday,

Kane's reverse lay-up and freshman reserve Garrett Drummond's 3-pointer — his only field goal — sparked a momentum-turning 13-0 spurt. Drummond's two free throws increased the lead to 89-66.

"When it got down 10, we were like, this isn't happening again. We all (buckled) down and got the lead back up to 20," Baldez said.

Less than five minutes later, the Bears were celebrating a much-needed league win.

"I was really proud of the way the kids responded," Jaskiewicz said.

The Bears finished a sizzling 50.7 percent from the field and 47.8 percent (11-for-23) from 3-point land. Good ball movement generated 20 assists and they had just five turnovers. They held a 38-30 rebounding edge. Senior David Carbonello led Wheaton with 27 points.

Now the Bears will attempt to build on Wednesday's performance, visiting Babson on Saturday afternoon.

"If we want to get to the tournament, we need to rack up some wins," Baldez said. "Our goal is to get the seniors one extra game, so that's what we'll try to do. We're playing for the seniors."

g.keefe@theday.com