FERRUM, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team overcame a second-half deficit to defeat Ferrum in overtime on Wednesday night as Alec Topper scored his 1,000^th career point.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 81; Ferrum 80
Records: Bridgewater 16-8 (9-6 ODAC); Ferrum 14-10 (5-10 ODAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ferrum got on the board first with a three-pointer before Aaron Oates got the Eagles on the board going the other way. The Panthers scored on back-to-back trips and extended the lead out to 7-2 before Topper drained a three-pointer to cross the 1,000 mark on his career. Ferrum scored again to extend the lead, but a Khalil Ward three-pointer brought the Eagles back to within a point. A few moments late Ward made a pair at the line to push the Eagles in front at 10-9, but again FC scored on tow-straight trips down the floor to take the lead and make it 13-10. BC had four points in a row in their own way as Jordan Cooper threw it down and Woody Machado found nylon to put BC in front 14-13.
• The two sides traded makes and the lead before a Landon Hawes three-pointer put the Eagles in front 22-18 with 8:53 remaining in the half. The Panthers responded with a 7-0 scoring run where the held the Eagles scoreless for nearly four minutes to take a 25-22 lead. Oates ended the scoring run with two free throws and Ferrum responded on cue. Hawes knocked down another three-pointer and this time it evened the game at 27-27 with 2:29 to go in the period. The Panthers slowly outscored BC 8-6 over the final two minutes to take a 35-33 edge to the locker room.
• FC stayed on the ball as it opened the second half on a 6-1 run before Machado got the Eagles' first field goal of the half. Ferrum pushed the lead out to as much as eight points with 17:58 to go before Ward drained another three-pointer to slice into the deficit. Each sided traded makes the charity stripe before a 6-2 BC run got the Eagles back to 50-47 after another Ward long ball.
• Ferrum was able to push the advantage back out to five points with 9:44 to play, but a Topper three-pointer made it just a two-point gap. Topper made it a one-point game with a make at the charity stripe and RK Law gave BC the lead with 7:21 to play as the transfer knocked down a floater after a Machado offensive board. The two sides traded the lead for a few moments before a step-back jumper from Cooper swung the momentum back in BC's favor with Ferrum having to chase to tie the game staring at a multi-point hole. The Panthers responded with two scores to go back in front with 2:18 on the clock, but Oates found Topper to even the score at 64-64. Cooper made one of two at the stripe to give BC the lead back with 1:18 to play. Ferrum scored with under a minute to go to take a 65-66 advantage, but Cooper did it one better with a three-pointer to put the Eagles in front 68-66 with 31 seconds to go. BC got a stop and Ferrum was forced to foul. The Eagles did not execute on the one-and-one opportunity and the Panthers drove down the floor to tie the game with five seconds to go. Cooper had a look to try and end it but missed from long-range sending the game to the extra period.
• Jikari Johnson came out and nailed a long-range jumper for the Panthers to start overtime. Cooper replied with one of his own to level the game once more at 71-71. Cooper was fouled on a long ball and made all three foul shots to give the Eagles the lead back. Johnson went down and scored for the Panthers and Cooper found a wide-open Oates to give the Eagles the three-point lead back with 2:28 to go. Topper was fouled trying to cut through the paint and made both free throws to push the advantage to 78-73 with 1:01 on the clock. Ferrum drove down and scored and had a chance for the old-school three-point play but missed the foul shot. BC got the rebound and drove down the floor. Ferrum forced a miss late in the shot clock, but a Topper offensive board kept the Eagles in the offensive end. Cooper was fouled and only made the front end leaving Ferrum within four with 13 seconds to play. The Panthers drove down and scored again to make 79-77 in favor of BC. The Eagles got the ball inbounded and Law made a pair at the line to ice it away.

MATCH NOTES

• Topper scored his 1,000^th point early in the first half and never looked back on the way to a 17-point night. Topper also tallied another double-double on the season to extend his ODAC lead with 13 rebounds.
• Cooper led the Eagles offensively with 20 points including a trio of makes from long range. Ward also drained three three-pointers as he nearly eclipsed his career-high with 14 points.
• Johnson led the Panthers with 20 points. Bryant Wall tallied a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards.
• BC relied on the deep ball yet again with 11 makes from beyond the arc. The Eagles lead the ODAC in three-pointers made per game.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater wraps up the regular season with a tall task as the squad heads to Greensboro, N.C. to battle the No. 9 Quakers on Saturday at 2 p.m.