BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team fell to EMU 70-62 on Wednesday night.

The Basics
Score: EMU 70, Bridgewater 62
Records: Bridgewater 8-13 (3-9 ODAC), EMU 5-12 (2-10 ODAC)

How It Happened

• Bridgewater struck first on a bucket from Aaron Oates, but a pair of scores put EMU in front 5-2. The Eagles answered, but the Royals had a response right away to stretch the lead back to three. Will Vetter drained a deep three-pointer to tie the game, and a Maleek Richardson layup put the Eagles back in front at 9-7. The Royals tied the game with a pair of makes at the line, but another Richardson bucket put BC back in front. EMU took the lead back with a three-pointer, but a technical foul that followed on the Royals allowed the Eagles to take the lead back at 13-12 halfway through the first half.
• The sides traded scores and the lead for nearly three minutes before back-to-back scores by Kyren Smith put the Eagles in front 19-16. The Royals responded with an 8-0 run that saw BC go scoreless for over three minutes as EMU took a 24-19 lead before a Smith score ended the run. EMU made a pair at the charity stripe to stretch the lead back out, but then the Royals were held off the scoreboard for the final 3:23 and the Eagles made five free throws down the stretch to tie the game at 26-26 heading to the half.
• Kaleb Torrence torched a three-pointer for EMU to open the second half and end a four-minute field goal drought for both sides. The Royals opened the half on a 7-0 run to take a 33-26 advantage before the Eagles responded with a run of their own. An 8-2 scoring surge the BC capped off by a Smith dunk in transition cut the lead to just a point with 15:21 to play at 35-34, but back-to-back scores by the Royals stretched the lead back to five points. Smith answered the call with a layup and Vetter drilled another three-pointer on BC's next trip down the floor to tie the game with 13:11 to play.
• The Royals took the lead back, but Bridgewater had multiple chances to tie the game and take the lead back over the following minutes including a look at an old-school three-point play by Richardson, but he missed the free throw. An Oates score a few minutes later pulled the Eagles back even at 44-44 with 8:49 to play. The teams traded makes until another Richardson look at and-one gave the Eagles a chance to take the lead, but the free throw rimmed out. EMU replied with a short 9-4 scoring edge to take a five-point lead with 3:45 to play, but a Richardson three-pointer cut the lead to a score. EMU answered the call with an Aaron Brooks three-pointer and didn't look back as makes at the charity stripe sealed the deal.

Match Notes

• Richardson led BC with 18 points, while Oates registered his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a season-high four assists.
• Brooks led EMU with 14 points highlighted by four makes from deep. Aviwe Mahlong tallied nine points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Royals.
• The difference came from beyond the arc as EMU shot 30.4% from deep compared to just 16.0% for BC. The Eages won the battle on the glass as both teams grabbed over 40 rebounds (45-41).

Up Next
Bridgewater wraps up its final homestand of the season as nationally-ranked Hampden-Sydney visits the nest on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.