BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team will look to punch its ticket to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals with a win tonight in the first round against Shenandoah University.
The Eagles have been a guest at the annual tournament banquet each of the past three seasons, but no one on this team has stepped foot on the Salem Civic Center floor in a game situation.
Bridgewater looks to change that tonight with a victory over Shenandoah, a team the Eagles defeated twice in regular season.
Bridgewater's final margin of victory was nearly the same in each game, but the contests were entirely different.
In Winchester, the game was close throughout with the Hornets leading 51-48 with 6:42 left to play. Ed Reddick scored on a layup to ignite a 9-0 run that put the Eagles out front 57-51 with 4:41 to go.
The Hornets trimmed the deficit to three with 10 seconds left, but Zach Hunter hit two free throws to clinch the victory for the Eagles.
The game in Nininger Hall was much different as the Eagles dominated play most of the game.
The Eagles took the lead on a Kenneth Waugh 3-pointer just two minutes into the game and led the rest of the way.
Benaiah Wise capped a 10-2 run with a long 3-pointer to push the lead to double figures for the first time, 22-11, with 11:47 left in the first half.
The Eagles used a 9-0 run to lead by 20 for the first time in the game, 35-15, with 6:50 left in the half.
Bridgewater led by 21 points, 39-18, before the Hornets scored the final eight points of the half to trim the deficit to 13 at the break.
A three-point play by Shenandoah's Avery Green cut the lead to 10 points early in the second half, but the Eagles quickly regained control with a 14-6 run, making the score 58-40 with 14:56 left.
Bridgewater led by as many as 22 points and held a 70-52 lead with 6:30 left in the game.
The Eagles failed to score from the field the rest of the way and an 11-0 run by the Hornets cut the margin to seven with 26 seconds left. Tavis Stapleton finally ended the Eagles scoring drought with two foul shots at the 21 second mark to put the Hornets away.
A big key to Bridgewater's two victories over Shenandoah has been its ability to defend the Hornets high-scoring backcourt of Green and Jared Carithers.
Green leads the ODAC in scoring with a 24.0 average and Carithers ranks 10th in the conference, averaging 14.2 points per game. Green scored 21 in the first meeting of the season, but the Eagles held him to just 11 in the game at Nininger Hall. Carithers has struggled to find his scoring touch in each game as he has scored just seven points in the two contests.
For the Eagles Ed Reddick has been effective in the paint in both outings. He posted a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds at Winchester. Reddick just missed a double-double in the second meeting with nine points and eight boards. Tavis Stapleton averaged 14 points in the two games against the Hornets.
The winner of tonight's game advances to Friday's quarterfinals where No. 2 seed Virginia Wesleyan awaits. Game time Friday will be 6 p.m.
