BRIDGEWATER, Va. (BC Athletics) – Bridgewater College men’s basketball fell to nationally recognized Hampden-Sydney at home by a final score of 80-67 Saturday afternoon.

The Bridgewater College Eagles (BCE) have dropped to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play, and the Hampden-Sydney College Tigers (HSC) have extended their record to 9-4 and 3-1 in ODAC action.

How It Happened
Although Bridgewater worked to match the aggressiveness from Hampden-Sydney’s squad, the Tigers found momentum to slip away from the Eagles off key set plays.

In the first four minutes of play, BCE went bucket for bucket with HSC as Kyren Smith started out the game with a corner three. The score remained tied for much of the early minutes with sharp passes to players behind the arc, but the Tigers gradually ramped up the speed and drove hard in the paint, an area where the Eagles found issues among a tall basketball squad. Halfway through the first half, the Tigers held strong and built a seven-point lead at 17-12. Smith and Maleek Richardson cashed in a pair of threes, but the Tigers found ways to impact scoring efficiency.

With less than four minutes to go in the first 20 minutes, momentum completely swayed to Hampden-Sydney’s side, as BCE struggled to find answers through the rugged defense. The Tigers finished the half with a strong 14-point climb, 41-27.

The Eagles hung in there with a sequence of quick ball movement off successful defensive stops, but the Tigers had a tough load to handle. HSC jumped out to the largest lead of the day for a well-maintained 19-point clip at 59-40.
Fouls came with the quick play style of the Tigers resulting in trips to the charity stripe and extra free chances at the basket. Carter Palmer had a key stop defensively to force the HSC squad to regroup, but in the end the Tigers handled the late pressure successfully to finish with a 13-point advantage for an 80-67 final score.

Game Notes
• Kyren Smith finished with a career-high points total of 19 points and as the leading scorer of the game.
• The Eagles were outrebounded in the loss, as the Tigers totaled 39 boards to Bridgewater’s 23.
• The shooting struggles in the first half dampened offensive breakthroughs while going at a clip of 27.8% from behind the arc and 37% from the field. Meanwhile, the Tigers finished with a 51.7% rate in the game to lead the way.

Up Next
The Eagles are back in action on Jan. 14 to take on nationally ranked Randolph-Macon on the road. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

— BC Athletics —