LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Bridgewater College men's basketball team took down Randolph 68-67 on the road on a Will Vetter three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
The Basics 
 
Final Score: Bridgewater 68, Randolph 67
Records: Bridgewater 6-1 (2-0 ODAC); Randolph 2-2 (0-1 ODAC)
 
How it Happened 

• The WildCats took the opening jump down the floor and scored right away. Jordan Cooper missed a layup, got his own board and dished it to Woody Machado to even things up after one trip down the floor. After a Randolph miss Aaron Oates drove the length of the floor in transition to give BC its first lead of the day. A second-chance effort from Danny Bickey knotted things up before a three minute scoring drought was ended by an Oates hook shot. Randolph responded the next trip down the floor and after a BC miss Bickey found one his mates open for three to make it 9-6 for Randolph. After a pair of Bridgewater misses another Randolph score gave the WildCats their largest lead of the night before an Oates layup widdled it back to 11-8.
• After the Oates make neither team had a make from the floor for over five minutes. A Randolph free throw was the only point on either side as the teams were a combined 0-10 until RK Law knocked down a jumper for BC. Randolph responded with two layups to stretch the lead out to six before Landon Hawes went to work down low to end the short run. A quick RC response was answered by Alec Topper and Oates followed pulling the Eagles back to within two. Back-to-back makes from the WildCats made it 22-16 before a pair of Oates free throws and a Jordan Cooper three made it a 22-21 game at the intermission.
• Out of the break, Cooper and Machado connected again and this time from long range as Machado gave BC a 24-22 lead. Cooper extended the lead with a make at the charity stripe before a pair from the same place by Oates gave the Eagles a five-point advantage. An old-fashioned three-point play from Randolph quickly stalled the Eagles momentum and a Bickey three pointer in transition put the home side back in front. Another long ball gave Randolph a four point lead before Topper got the offense back going as makes by he and Will Dunlap tied the game back up at 31-31. The two sides traded scores before a Topper long ball gave Bridgewater a 36-34 lead. The WildCats quickly responded with a triple of their own as the two sides traded buckets again. The opposing sides swapped scores and the lead with neither team taking a really edge until consecutive makes by the WildCats gave them a 48-44 advantage with 11 minutes to go.
• Bridgewater pulled back to within a point as Oates made three free throws but a Ryan Viruso jumper swung the momentum back to the home side. Randolph swung the lead back out to five after makes at the Charity stripe before a triple from Cooper brought BC back to within two. Cooper took matters into his own hands as he tied with under eight to play on a second chance effort. A pair of free throws by Oates gave the Eagles the lead back at 54-52 with seven and a half minutes to play before the WildCats embarked on a 13-6 run to go in front 65-60 with 1:51 to play.
• The Eagles went to work once more sparked by the freshmen tandem of Cooper and Machado. Cooper made one of two at the line before a couple seconds later where a second-chance bucket from Machado pulled the Eagles back to within two at 65-63 with 87 seconds on the clock. Cooper missed a three pointer to try and give BC the lead, but an offensive board kept the Eagles alive. Oates drove to the bucket and was fouled with 15 seconds left on the clock and nailed both attempts at the stripe to tie it up at 65-65. Out of a timeout Randolph set up a play in the half court. Rayvon Graham drove through the lane and had his shot blocked by Machado, but his rebound fell right into the hands of Cole Perry who's second chance effort found its way off the glass and in. BC called timeout and had two seconds to work with along with one timeout still in the back pocket. As you may expect Randolph responded with one of their own. BC inbounded and took another stoppage before the next inbound heave was knocked away by a WildCat and out of play to leave 1.3 seconds on the game clock. On the inbound pass underneath, Cooper waited and hit Vetter in the corner and the sophomore drilled it from long range for the win as the horn sounded.

Match Notes 

• Vetter subbed in during the final minute for his only playing time during the contests and did his job nailing the game winner as time expired.
• Randolph was able to tame the ODAC's best rebounder to start the season in Topper, limiting him to just five boards.
• Oates led all players with 19 points including 11 from the charity stripe. Topper added 15 while Cooper tallied 12. Amari Gorham led Randolph with 14 points.
• Bridgewater move their win streak to six games tying the longest streak since the Eagles win six in a row in the 2017-18 season.

Up Next 
 
The Eagles return home for their annual Bleed Crimson game as Shenandoah visits in some pre-exam break action. The game is also sponsored by Jersey Mike's and will feature giveaways from the franchise's Harrisonburg location.