BRIDGEWATER, Va. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College men’s basketball team fell to Lynchburg 67-66 on Senior Night

Records: Bridgewater 8-16 (3-12 ODAC); Lynchburg 13-11 (7-8 ODAC)

How It Happened
• Lynchburg jumped in front with the game’s first bucket, but four-straight points from Joseph Crenshaw combined with an Aaron Oates bucket made it 6-2 in favor of BC. Lynchburg replied with a 7-0 scoring run to take a 9-6 advantage, but a Jordan Cooper slam ended the run momentarily. The Hornets scored on the next two possessions to make it a 12-2 run in total to take a 14-8 advantage midway through the frame.
• Kyren Smith entered the game and made an impact as his three pointer ended the swing and sparked a 19-6 run for the Eagles to flip the game. Smith had four makes from beyond the arc in the run and a Jordan Cooper make at the charity stripe made it 27-20 for BC with 8:37 to play in the half. Lynchburg replied with back-to-back scores, but an old-fashioned three-point play by Oates pushed the lead back to six. The teams traded buckets down the stretch as Lynchburg was able to get to within a pair wit 2:52 to play, but the Eagles scored the half’s last three points to take a 39-34 lead to the break.
• Crenshaw got BC on the board first to start the half, five-straight points by Lynchburg got the visitors back to within a point. The Hornets took their first lead in some time at 43-42, but four points by Cooper fueled a 6-0 BC run to take the lead back and push it to a 48-43 edge. Lynchburg worked the game back to a 48-48 deadlock, but back-to-back scores by the Eagles gave them a four-point edge. To no surprise, Lynchburg worked the game back to a tie at 57-57 with 7:05 to play.
• The Hornets took the lead with 5:48 to play at 59-58, but a Smith layup handed the lead back to BC. The two sides traded one-point leads until an Oates make at the Charity stripe tied the game at 66-66 with 1:16 to play. Both sides traded empty possessions until Oates’ fifth foul sent the Hornets to the line with 23 seconds to go. Jamarcus Brown made the front end, but missed the second shot and BC got the rebound. The Eagles took a timeout with six seconds to play and set up in the near court. The inbound pass went to Khalil Ward, and he forced a look from beyond the arc, but it was no good. Mason Ramey secured the rebound, but his putback was after the horn.

Match Notes
• Smith led all scorers with a career-high 18 points. Cooper and Crenshaw were the only other Eagles in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. Oates led the Eagles on the glass with nine rebounds to move into ninth in program history in career boards. Ward added three blocks.
• Michael ray led the Hornets with 16 points while Jake Hart tallied 10 helpers for Lynchburg.
• BC held the edge in field goal percentage thanks to a 41.0% clip, but struggled from beyond the arc, especially in the second half. BC was just 1-of-11 from deep in the second 20 minutes and 1-of-19 after Smith’s big makes in the first half.

Up Next
The Eagles warp up the regular season on Saturday at Shenandoah.

— BC Athletics —