HARRISONBURG, Va. - Gallaudet erased a double-digit second-half deficit Friday to defeat Bridgewater College 76-71 in overtime on the first day of the Eastern Mennonite Invitational.

A hot-shooting effort early in the contest propelled the Eagles to a 14-point lead in the first six minutes.

Keonte Dennis and Kevin Saylor sandwiched 3-pointers around a bucket by Bryce Boggs to give Bridgewater a quick 8-0 lead. After a 3-pointer by Galladet guard Noah Valencia, the Eagles scored nine straight points to lead 17-3. Dennis hit again from long long range and Boggs added six straight points to push the Bridgewater advantage to 14.

The Eagles still led by 14 points, 26-12, on a layup by Efe Balfour, but the Bison reeled off 10 unanswered points to pull within four with 7:06 left in the half.

Bridgewater responded with an 8-0 spurt to push the margin back to double figures. Saylor and Jesse Case hit from 3-point land and Dennis added a tip-in to put the Eagles on top 34-22 with 5:14 left in the half.

The teams traded points over the final five minutes as the Eagles went to the break with an 11-point, 41-30, lead.

The Eagles' lead hovered around the 10-point mark for the first eight minutes of the second half. Then, the Bison started chipping away at the deficit. Gallaudet used a 9-0 spurt to pull even at  54-54. Valencia hit a 3-pointer to trim the margin to four and big man Joshua McGriff capped the run with four straight points to tie the score with 7:49 left in the game.

Bridgewater scored the next five points on a two foul shots from Boggs and a 3-pointer by Saylor, but the Bison refused to go away.

Galluadet pulled even again when McGriff hit 1-of-2 at the foul line to knot the contest at 61-61 with 2:37 left.

After Boggs missed from long range, Valencia knocked down a 3-ball at the 1:54 mark to give the Bison their first lead of the game, 64-61.

Boggs hit 1-of-2 foul shots to make it a two-point game and, after a defensive stop, Case made a pair of foul shots to tie the score with 1:18 left.

Bridgewater regained possession after a missed jumper by Galluadet's Nelson Raymond, but the Eagles turned the ball over with 28 seconds remaining, giving the Bison the opportunity to hold for the last shot.

The Bison, however, returned the favor when Valencia tried to drive to the basket and dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Eagles with 11 seconds left.

Bridgewater used a timeout to set up the potential game-winning play, but the Eagles turned the ball over without getting off a shot, sending the game to overtime tied at 64-64.

The Eagles took their final lead of the game with 3:01 left in overtime when Boggs knocked down a 3-pointer for a 69-68 Bridgewater edge.

The Bison then reeled off six straight points to lead 74-69 with just 1:21 left.

Boggs hit two foul shots to make it a one-possession game, 74-71, with 47 seconds left, but McGriff threw down a two-handed dunk with just 22 ticks remaining to seal the victory for the Bison.

Boggs, a junior transfer from Salve Regina University, poured in 28 points in his first game as an Eagle to lead all scorers. Saylor added a career-high 20 points for Bridgewater. Valencia paced the Bison with 27 points.

Bridgewater, now 0-1, returns to the hardwood Saturday afternoon to face Methodist University. Saturday's tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. Both teams will be looking for their first win of the season. Methodist dropped to 0-2 on the season with Friday's 84-75 loss to Eastern Mennonite.