BRIDGEWATER, Va. — The Bridgewater College men’s basketball team picked up a huge 69-57 win over cross-town rival Eastern Mennonite on Wednesday night.

Final Score: Bridgewater 69, Eastern Mennonite 57
Records: Bridgewater 11-9, 6-5 ODAC; Eastern Mennonite 5-16, 1-11 ODAC

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Royals got on the board quickly as Aviwe Mahlong knocked down a triple to put the home side out in front. The Eagles responded when Shod Smith found Andy Pack in transition, but another EMU three-pointer swung the momentum back in the home squad’s favor. Will Dunlap ended a four-minute scoring drought from both teams with a three of his own to make it a one-point game, 6-5. The two teams traded six- and four-point scoring spells respectively as the Royal extended their lead in the early going. After BC drew the game back to within three, Eastern Mennonite put together a 9-2 scoring run, extending their lead to double digits. Over the four-minute span, Bridgewater went 0/6 from the field including four misses from long range.

• The Bridgewater offense came alive in the final four minutes of the half exploding into a 15-5 run. The Eagles drew back even with the Royals with 1:02 to go in the half with a Landon Hawes triple. Emu knocked down a long ball of their own to gain the lead back. In the waning seconds Shod Smith drove to the honey hole, made the layup and was fouled for the and-one. The sophomore nailed the free throw to tie the game at 26-26 heading to the intermission.

• The two rivals traded buckets to start the second half with the Royals not handing over the lead until Smith poked the ball away from his defender and laid it in, in transition. The Eagles opened the game up on the next possession as Andy Pack found Liam Caswell open for three-points. BC continued to slowly push the lead out after a long ball from Landon Hawes and a layup from Alec Topper, but EMU did not waiver. The Royals slowly edge their way back to within a point after a Mahlong layup made the game 43-42 midway through the second half.

• BC responded with a quick 8-0 run in under a minute with five points from Smith to take a 51-42 lead. EMU responded with a triple, but a pair of free throws from Topper and a layup from Hawes pushed the BC advantage to 12. Four consecutive free throws from Eastern Mennonite drew the game back to within eight but another big triple from Smith and a layup from Aaron Oates stifled any Royal momentum down the stretch.

MATCH FACTS
• Oates and Smith led BC on the offensive end with 15 points each. Hawes also landed in double figures with 11.

• Michael Watlington led the way for EMU with 13 points, 11 rebounds and a trio of blocked shots.

• Oates and Topper grabbed eight rebounds each and Hawes added seven. Smith dished out four helpers and Pack added three of his own.

• The two close rivals were almost identical in shooting the first half with a slight edge for the home standing Royals at 10/30 from the field. The second half saw the Eagles soot 45.2% from the field compared to just 34.6% from the home side.

• Bridgewater was able to capitalize off Eastern Mennonite turnovers with 17 points off of giveaways.

UP NEXT
The Eagles return to Nininger Hall on Saturday as they host No. 2 Randolph-Macon.

— BC Athletics —