HARRISONBURG, Va. – After a slow start, the No. 9 Bridgewater College men's basketball earned a win 85-74 victory over No. 8 Eastern Mennonite in the first round of the ODAC Tournament. With the win, the Eagles advance to the quarterfinal round of the ODAC Tournament.

The Basics

• Final Score: Bridgewater 85, Eastern Mennonite 74
• Records: Bridgewater (10-15), Eastern Mennonite (10-14)

How It Happened

• Despite not scoring until the 17:30 mark, the Eagles controlled the start of the contest causing two turnovers in the first minute of play. After an early Royals run, Shod Smith picked off the Royals to bring the Eagles back within three at 14-11
• The hot shooting Royals couldn't miss, taking a 24-16 edge with ten minutes left in the half. Bridgewater was not out of the contest though, slowly chipping away at the Royals lead. Smith brought it within three at 28-25 on a three pointer before EMU responded with a behind the arc make of their own
• A Liam Caswell bucket off a rocket pass from Smith and an Andy Pack three made it 32-30 EMU with six minutes left in the first frame. Smith tied it up at 32-32 on a driving layup to force a Royals timeout after a 7-0 BC run
• After back-to-back EMU fouls on both sides of the court, BC took their first lead of the game on two made free throws by Pack and added to it on two more from the charity stripe by Aaron Oates. The Eagles carried the momentum for the remainder of the half to enter the locker room up 48-42. Hatter posted 16 points in the first half followed by Smith with 14 points, five assists and five rebounds
• Not two minutes into the second half, the Royals tied the game at 50-50. The teams traded points until another Hatter three broke the game open again for the Eagles. He would sink three total from the behind the arc in a three-minute span to push BC to a seven-point 69-61 edge
• An Alec Topper steal led to a Smith layup to give the Eagles a 75-66 lead with three minutes to go to seal the victory and send Bridgewater to the Salem Civic Center for the first time since 2014

Match Notes

• Hatter posted a career high 33 points, sinking seven from behind the arc. His seven threes are tied for the most in a single ODAC Tournament game
• Smith was two boards away from a triple-double, racking up 22 points, ten rebound and eight assists. His ten assists tie the ODAC Tournament single game record
• Topper grabbed 16 rebounds tying his career high
• The Eagles grabbed 41 rebounds compared to the Royals 31 while creating 15 points off 16 EMU turnovers

Up Next

• The Eagles will face No. 1 Randolph-Macon on Thursday, February 24 at 1:00 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the ODAC Tournament