BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team picked up a 82-80 victory over Mary Baldwin on Tuesday night, taking the lead with just eight seconds remaining.
 
The Basics
 
Final Score: Bridgewater 82, Mary Baldwin 80
Records: Bridgewater 3-5, Mary Baldwin 4-5
 
How It Happened

• On the opening possession of the game Alec Topper got BC on the board when Andy Pack found him open on the wing and he nailed a three-pointer. Brett Asbury quickly answered for MBU with a jumper of his own. The two squads traded buckets for the opening three minutes before the Fighting Squirrels missed the first field goal by either side but quickly grabbed an offensive rebound leading to a second chance three-pointer to put Mary Baldwin ahead 14-11 in the early going.
• The Fighting Squirrels stretched their early lead out to as much as nine at 39-30 with four minutes to go in the half. Bridgewater responded with a quick 6-0 run with five points from Shod Smith to get the Eagles back to within a possession with two minutes to go. BC closed it to within one after Copper Hawk laid it in to make it 41-40. MBU responded with a six-point run of their own to take a 47-40 advantage into the intermission.
• Topper opened the second half with an old fashioned three-point play to close the lead down to four, but Mary Baldwin answered with another long ball to stretch the lead back out. The Fighting Squirrels extended their lead out to eight with 13:08 to go for their largest advantage in the period. The Eagles quickly closed the gap scoring eight unanswered, capped off by a Topper three-pointer to tie the game at 57-57
• Vernon Fraley was able to give MBU the lead back briefly before Landon Hawes nailed a jumper from beyond the arc to give Bridgewater its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest. The two teams traded the lead with Mary Baldwin finally able to hold on to it for multiple possessions with 7:21 to go out in front 68-65.
• The Fighting Squirrels took their final lead of the contest with 1:22 left on the clock out in front 80-78 after a Brett Asbury jumper. The Eagles had multiple looks to tie the game but were unsuccessful until Hawes went to the line for a one-and-one. The sophomore made the front end but missed the second shot to cut the MBU lead to just a point with 32 seconds to go. Bridgewater was forced to foul putting Asbury on the line for a one-and-one of his own. The first shot bounced short off the front iron and Aaron Oates grabbed the board for BC. The Eagles drove down the floor and took their time. With eight seconds left on the clock Pack found Smith open on the wing and the sophomore buried the three-pointer to give Bridgewater an 82-80 lead. Mary Baldwin got two shots off, but neither were successful in the final three seconds.

Match Notes

• Topper led all scorers with 23 points and Smith also added 20 of his own in the win.
• Mary Baldwin had four different players in double figures led by Brandon Stoudamire who tallied 18. Vernon Fraley added a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Squirrels
• Hawes totaled 16 points and a team high eight rebounds and knocked down three of his four from beyond the arc in the final minutes.
• Both teams shot well as each team was above the 45% threshold from the field. MBU held a small edge overall  shooting 50.8% while BC shot 48.1% from three-point land compared to just 39.1% for Mary Baldwin.
• This is the second straight game where the Eagles have trailed at the break, but have outscored their opponents in the second half.

Up Next
 
Bridgewater hits the road for a 2 p.m. matchup with William Peace on Sunday Dec. 18 for it's final contest before the holiday break.