BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Washington and Lee built a 14-point second half lead and then held off a late Bridgewater charge to defeat the Eagles 75-71 Saturday in ODAC action at Nininger Hall.

"Our guys played hard. I cannot find fault with the effort," Bridgewater head coach Don Burgess said. "But we did not play smart basketball at either end of the court for enough possessions to come away with a win."

Washington and Lee shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, but the Eagles stayed close and trailed by just four 35-31 at the break.

The Generals hit the Eagles with a 10-2 run to open the second half and take a 45-33 lead with 14:11 left in the game.

W&L maintained a comfortable working margin and took its biggest lead of the game, 55-41, on a Ben Goetsch layup at the (;58 mark.

The lead was still at 13 with 4:14 left, but the Eagles used a 14-4 run to make it a one possession game, 67-64, with 1:43 left.

Bridgewater senior Dominic Trawick suffered through a tough shooting game until the final four minutes when he shot the Eagles back into contention. Trawick scored 10 of the BC points during the 14-4 run, including a baseline floater that cut the lead to three.

The Generals responded to the BC surge with four straight free throws, two by Goetsch and two by Jeremy Adkins to push the margin back to seven.

A layup by Trawick with three second left cut the margin to three before Jason Cimino hit one of two free throws to clinch the victory for the Generals.

Trawick led the Eagles with a double-double, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds. He also dished out five assists. Jake Johnson scored 17 and Kyle Hammond added 12 for the Eagles.

"Dom is going to have off nights. He's human," said Burgess. "He had a tough shooting night for most of the game, but he brought us back down the stretch and gave us a chance to win.

"Dom and Jake both struggled with their shot and when that happens we have to get other guys to step up at the offensive. Segar (Jordan) did a good job early and I thought Kyle (Hammond) had a nice game.

"Give W&L credit," Burgess continued. "They put a taller player (Zac White) on Dom and I thought Dom settled for too many jumpers. At the offensive end, W&L had three guys in double figures and Goetsch is an all-conference caliber player."

Goetsch paced the Generals with 18 points while Adkins and J.D. Ey each finished with 14.

The game was won at the foul line where W&L made 26-of-39 shots while the Eagles hit just 5-of-15 attempts.

Bridgewater is now 9-12 overall and 6-8 in the ODAC. W&L improves to 15-7 overall and 7-6 in the conference.