BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team recorded a huge non-conference win over Penn State Harrisburg defeating the Lions 80-64 as Alec Topper grabbed his 500^th career rebound.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 80, Penn State Harrisburg 64
Records: Bridgewater 8-2, Penn State Harrisburg 9-2

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game started off with Penn State Harrisburg getting out to an early 8-2 start with shots all coming inside the paint. Aaron Oates fired a long ball to give the Eagles a response with a little over 4:30 off the clock. BC had a stretch of missed opportunities which resulted in the offense going dry for a little over three minutes. Landon Hawes drew a foul close to the halfway mark of the first half and converted on two free throws cutting the deficit to five, 16-11.
• The Bridgewater offense bounced back in a big way with Topper making two from the line to knot the game at 19-19. With 4:56 on the clock, Steve Burgess stole the ball away from Nate Curry which resulted in the Eagles claiming their first lead of the ballgame, 25-24. Clutch three pointers from Hawes and Will Vetter sent an elated BC team into the locker room with a 33-28 lead.
• Bridgewater started where it left off in the first half capitalizing on three-point opportunities through the team's first four offensive possessions. Taylor Fincham swiped the ball away from the Penn State Harrisburg offense to allow Woody Machado to score on a layup giving the Eagles a 49-32 advantage. Donyae Baylor-Carroll helped the Lions get within single digits converting back-to-back layups on the team's offensive drives.
• Penn State Harrisburg called a timeout at the 8:47 mark of the second half, which ended up backfiring as Burgess gave BC three points. RK Law scored on a nice pass from teammate Jordan Cooper giving way for Bridgewater's largest lead of the game 19 points. The Eagles did not allow for the Lions to come with single digits the rest of the way with the final horn sounding at a score of 80-64.

MATCH NOTES

• Topper etched his name in the record book becoming the 19^th player in program history to record 500 career rebounds. He hauled in seven on the day while also scoring 17 points.
• Oates was the top scorer for BC recording 21 points while also registering four steals. Cooper pitched in 10 points in the game and snatched the ball away three times to go along with four helpers.
• Bridgewater shot an impressive 75.0% from beyond the arc in the second half while holding Penn State Harrisburg 0-11 during the span. The Lions responded with 42 points in the paint compared to just 24 for BC on the afternoon.
• Bridgewater held a slight edge in rebounds at a 39-34 mark fueled by seven each from Oates and Topper. Hawes added six boards as well.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater starts its two-game road trip in the Tar Heel State facing off with Greensboro Wednesday, Dec. 13.