BRIDGEWATER, Va. (BC Athletics) – Bridgewater College men’s basketball fell short to Va. Wesleyan by a final score of 62-59 at home Saturday night.

Records: BCE (8-10 Overall, 3-6 ODAC), VWU (15-3 Overall, 8-1 ODAC)

How It Happened
• The Eagles had the hot hand to start out the game rolling to a 5-0 opening scoring run. Steve Burgess then quickly got up the floor after a ball-slapping board by Aaron Oates. Oates then got it to the outlet for Jordan Cooper as Cooper found the sliding Burgess for the easy lay-in. Maleek Richardson soon got on the board taking advantage of the strong drive to the rim to cash in two points.
• BCE got up to its largest lead of the entire game at 10:27 in the first half. Woody Machado splashed a spot-up jumper to make it an eight-point advantage. Aggressive play ensued from both sides trading free throws along with uncontrolled possessions. Then, gradually the Marlins locked in on both ends of the floor to close the gap. A couple of three pointers for VWU put it to 20-18 Eagles and the Marlins stayed close. Oates worked the paint to draw early-game fouls, giving BCE some leverage. At 1:57 left to go in the first half, the Marlins found the momentum they were looking for as the open three-pointer put them ahead by one. Then, on the fastbreak with the time ticking down, VWU got the opening to keep the momentum going cashing in two free throws just before the first-half buzzer sounded; giving VWU a three-point lead, 35-32.
• The Eagles pushed the ball ahead to try to work in transition and to force early fouls, but the Marlins stayed diligent on both sides of the floor maintaining their lead. BCE could not weather the storm from there, as the Marlins took hold of the momentum throughout the second half and soon extending the lead to 45-38 at 11:37 on a fastbreak bucket.
• Out of the timeout by BCE, the Marlins stepped on the gas rolling to a nine-point lead– their largest lead of the night. The Eagles forced some more fouls to get to the charity stripe and to work effectively on foul trouble. Cooper attacked the rim leaving Richardson open for strong takes to the basket getting the and-one opportunities. The deficit was cut to three from two made free throws by Richardson with 3:30 to go.
• Rim protection became a necessity for both teams as points in the paint piled up. A fastbreak drive for the Marlins was initiated by shutting down the strong, aggressive take by Cooper with under two minutes to go. The fastbreak tries by VWU and late-game fouls soon put BCE in jeopardy as the Marlins found the stops needed to contain the fiery offensive squad. VWU held strong up to the very last second with the final score, 62-59.

Game Notes
• Bridgewater and Va. Wesleyan each recorded 32 points in the paint along with five points off turnovers.
• The Eagles had their fair share at second-chance opportunities with 15 second-chance points to VWU’s three.
• Despite the setback, Maleek Richardson posted a season-high 22 points. Along with that, Aaron Oates and Kyren Smith both tallied double-doubles; Smith’s first double-double of the season. Oates (11 points and 11 boards), Smith (12 points and 12 boards)

Up Next
The Eagles are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 29, as they head to Lexington, Va., to face Washington & Lee.

— BC Athletics —