BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater men's basketball team defeated cross-town opponent EMU 88-71 on Wednesday night.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Bridgewater 88, EMU 71
Records: Bridgewater 12-5 (5-3 ODAC), EMU 4-12 (0-9 ODAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles erupted the crowd when Khalil Ward found Aaron Oates on the outside who nailed a three-pointer for the first basket of the game. BC scored on the next two possession to go up 8-0 forcing a timeout from the Royal bench early. EMU benefited from the timeout playing stout defense and coming within one point following a pull-up jumper from Julien Hagerman. Bridgewater found its rhythm again starting a 12-1 run capped off by Will Dunlap firing a successful three-pointer from a Jordan Cooper pass. Joseph Crenshaw tacked on another three near the halfway mark, giving the Eagles a 27-10 advantage.
• Copper assisted on another play at the 9:01 mark of the first half finding Crenshaw down low who dropped the ball in for two putting BC up 16, 31-15. EMU found success on both sides of the ball later in the half with DaiJordan Brown making a shot beyond the arc to pull within seven points. Alec Topper found the bottom of the net near the 2:40 mark scoring the final points of the half for Bridgewater. The final two minutes saw a defensive battle between the two squads until the Royals scored the final bucket with seconds remaining to cut the Eagles' lead to seven at 39-32.
• Oates began the second half the same way he started the first, by pulling up for a two-point jumper to start the scoring for BC. Ward stole the ball on EMU's first offensive possession and threw down a dunk to put BC up 43-32. Ward continued to wreak havoc on the defensive side forcing another steal at the 16:39 mark and got a chance at the charity stripe for two points. Brown got it within four points of Bridgewater 47-43 after a deep shot for three. Following the comeback, the Eagles made noise by getting out to a 17-5 run, which included three successful attempts from three to make it 64-48.
• Cooper continued his dominance with another three-point shot on the ensuing BC offensive possession. RK Law was found by Cooper late in the second half putting BC up 79-60 with just 4:38 to go in the half. Steve Burgess checked into the game with 2:58 on the clock and conducted the offense to its final two baskets finding Will Vetter and Mason Ramey to give Bridgewater the 88-71 victory.

MATCH STATS

• Cooper had an all-around game coming up just short of what would've been the program's first triple-double in 12 years, dropping 19 points, seven assists and grabbing seven board for the Eagles.
• Oates led both teams in scoring having 20 points on the night, while Topper earned another double-double finishing with 10 points and 13 boards.
• Both teams were successful from the floor with BC at 59.0% and the Royals having 42.4% shooting.
• Bridgewater scored fast with 14 of its points on the fastbreak while EMU only had five.

 
UP NEXT
Bridgewater takes on the Hornets of Lynchburg University down in Lynchburg, Va. for a 2 p.m. tip-off time on Saturday.