BRIDGEWATER, Va. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College men’s basketball team got back in the win column by the way of a 75-63 victory over Randolph.

Final Score: Bridgewater 75, Randolph 63
Records: Bridgewater 7-8 (2-4 ODAC); Randolph 5-9 (1-6 ODAC)

How It Happened
• Bridgewater jumped in front with a layup by Maleek Richardson and a dunk from Jordan Cooper before a three-pointer by the WildCats cut the lead down to a point. Richardson drained a three-pointer at the top of the key in response as the two sides traded scores. Randolph pulled back even just over three minutes in, but back-to-back scores by Cooper gave the Eagles a 13-9 advantage. Randolph replied with a score to slide the deficit in half, but another long ball by Richardson set off a 10-3 BC run capped off by a Mason Ramey corner-three to make it 23-14 with 8:55 to go in the half.
• Randolph ended the run, but scores from Steve Burgess and Aaron Oates pushed the lead to 12 points. The sides traded buckets before a pair of Randolph three-pointer sliced the lead in half with 3:20 to play in the frame. Woody Machado drained a three-pointer from the top of the key as BC outscored the WildCats 4-1 over the final 90 seconds to take a 34-25 lead into the locker room.
• The WildCats struck first to start the second half before a dunk from Cooper and a Burgess lay-in sparked a 9-0 BC run led by six points from Cooper alone including a jam to finish the scoring spree. Randolph responded down 50-36 in a big way. The WildCats knocked down a three-pointer in response and did not look back as they embarked on a 17-2 run led by three deep makes to cut the lead down to 52-50 with 9:22 play.
• Keiman Dillon got the BC offense going as he converted the old-school three-point play with a layup off the glass to put BC back in front by five. Randolph had a reply, but a free throw by Ramey and a Machado bucket stretched the gap to six. The WildCats made a free throw, but another tough finish by Dillon swelled the lead to 60-53 with 5:16 to play. Randolph nailed a long-range jumper, but a 5-1 BC tear capped off by a highlight-reel finish from Cooper as the shot clock expired put the Eagles in front by eight points. Randolph quickly cut the lead back down to a bucket at 65-62, but the Eagles’ defense and office worked simultaneously as the Eagles put together a 7-0 run led by five points from Burgess and a pair of forced turnovers to go in front by 10 with 57 seconds to go. The two sides traded free throws down the stretch capped off by a pair of makes by RK Law to seal the deal.

Notes
• Cooper led all scorers with 18 points go along with five steals. Burgess and Richardson each tallied 14 points while Burgess tallied seven assists, the most by an Eagle in a game this season.
• The WildCats benefited from a well spread attack led by Rayvon Graham with 11 points. The WildCats downfall proved to be at the charity stripe as they entered the game leading the ODAC in free throw percentage but shot just 40% at the line.
• Randolph narrowly won the rebounding battle by a 42-41 clip, but the WildCats turned the ball over 19 times compared to just 12 for the Eagles.

Up Next
The Eagles continue a homestand as Averett visits on Saturday at 3 p.m.

— BC Athletics —