STAUNTON, Va. - The Bridgewater College men's basketball team fell to Mary Baldwin in its season opener on Wednesday night.  
 
The Basics 
 
Final Score: Mary Baldwin 81, Bridgewater 57
Records: Bridgewater 0-1; Mary Baldwin 1-0
 
How it Happened 

• Neither side was able to get going offensively early. Just shy of the three-minute mark Alec Topper finally broke the glass over the rim as the junior put BC in front. After a MBU free throw Landon Hawes extended the Eagles advantage and Aaron Oates followed suit to put BC in front 6-1 early. Mary Baldwin closed to within one, but another Hawes make kept BC in front at 9-6 momentarily as a three-pointer tied things up eight minutes in.
• With the game knotted at 9-9 Mary Baldwin stormed ahead thanks to a 12-0 run over a four-minute span to take a 21-9 lead. A Hawes jumper put the brakes on the home side's momentum, but another seven-point run stretched the lead to 28-11 in favor of MBU. A three-point play and a layup from Jordan Cooper but BC back on the map and on cue Mary Baldwin responded with a 16-6 stretch over the final four minutes and change of the half to take a 44-22 lead to the intermission.
• BC came out of the break with an exclamation point as Cooper got them on the board in the opening minute and then went coast to coast for a monstrous slam and the foul. Cooper sank the free throw, giving the Eagles some life. MBU fired back with a mid-range jumper but a triple from Hawes and a score from Woody Machado pulled the eagles back to within 14. The rare four-point play nullified the Eagles momentum as Quentin Hart nailed a three-pointer and was fouled. Topper scored four unanswered points to give the Eagles life again but once more MBU responded.
• Both teams traded baskets with BC having the upper hand and closing back to 13 as Cooper found Topper from the midrange. After another trade of makes a triple from MBU swung the momentum back in the Fighting Squirrels favor. Over the final six minutes Mary Baldwin outscored BC 14-5, limiting the Eagles to 1/6 from the floor during the final five minutes on the way to a 81-57 final.

 
Match Notes 

• Hart led all scorers with 20 as four Fighting Squirrels scored in double figures. Hawes led BC with 16. Topper added 15 and Cooper tallied 14.
• Topper registered a double-double in the season opener with 10 rebounds to go along with his 15 points.
• Aaron Oates grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with five points, three steals and two blocks.
• Mary Baldwin shot 43.8% from the field compared to just 31.4% for BC. The biggest difference was from long range where the home side was 9/30 with nearly half of their total field goals coming from beyond the arc where BC was just 2-for-21.

Up Next 
 
The Eagles head north to St. Mary's (Md.) on Friday for a 3 p.m. tip.