Bridgewater, Va. – The Bridgewater College men’s basketball team took down the Randolph College Wildcats 82-79 in overtime on Thursday, Jan. 28. 

Randolph would hop out in front to a 10-5 lead with 12:21 to go in the first half until junior Andy Pack hit a layup to cut the Randolph lead to three before the impending free throw cut it to two. 

First-year Alec Topper would sink a three later in the half to give the Eagles their first lead of the night 11-10. BC would continue to build their momentum from that point forward, extending their lead out to as much as twelve in the second half before the Wildcats would turn the tide. 

Randolph would outscore the Eagles 25-13 in the last 11:19 of the second half. Randolph would get a chance to win the game in cloning seconds as Jordan Philips-McLoyd’s three pointer would miss sending the game into overtime. 

The Eagles would outscore Randolph 9-6 in the extra frame to get the win and improve to 2-1 on the early campaign. Pack led the Eagles in the scoring department with 19 points. 

Topper also added 15 of his own points. Junior Kellen Hodge would work the glass throughout the night leading the Eagles with ten rebounds. 

Senior Chandler Murray and junior David Oliveras would each add five assists of their own in the win. 

The Eagles fell behind early on Saturday at Ferrum, as the Panthers opened the game on a 16-4 run. The Panthers extended their lead out to 30-16 late in the first half. 

The Eagles chipped away at the lead, getting it down to as low as seven in the first half before trailing by ten — 36-26 as they headed back to the locker room.

 Out of the break, Ferrum came out strong, putting up a 9-2 run in the opening two minutes of the second frame. 

Bridgewater turned up the intensity and got a run of their own holding Ferrum to just a single free throw during a 20-1 run that would eventually give them their first lead of the game with 12:41 to go. 

Ferrum got back out in front before another Eagles run would put them in front — capped off by a sophomore Matt Ciccone layup with 2:55 to go. That would be the final bucket for the Eagles, as Ferrum would score the final four points of the game to win 65-62.

Topper led the Eagles with 15 points and eight rebounds. Oliveras also added ten points with four assists. 

The Eagles will be back in action on Friday and they will get another shot at Ferrum at Nininger Hall at 7:00 p.m. 

Women’s Basketball

The Bridgewater College women’s basketball team defeated Shenandoah University at home on their Senior night Friday — thanks to a layup from junior Taylor Stafford with one second remaining. The Fairmont State transfer put up 12 points, which was second for the Eagles to Aliha Moone’s 14 in the 66-65 win.

BC found themselves trailing headed into the final minutes of the contest, until Stafford would knock down two free throws to pull them to within one 64-65. Stafford would then hit a layup as time expired.

The Eagles defense performed as usual with their multiple halfcourt and full court press looks —  forcing 29 turnovers. 

BC struggled on offense, going 20 of 67 from the floor at an extremely cold 29.9%, compared to 48.3% by the Hornets. Lynchburg was led by junior forward Sarah Sondrol, who scored 24 points off the bench. 

The women’s program will be back in action on Monday, as they host Emory and Henry at 7 p.m. 

Track and Field

Men’s and women’s track and field opened their seasons on Friday and Saturday at the VMI Invitational with successful showings across the board. 

Sophomore Cassidy Oliver highlighted the meet on the women’s side for the Eagles, as she set two PRs in the 400m dash and in the long jump on day one. Oliver added another PR in the 200m dash on Saturday. 

First-year Haleigh Hamlin also impressed in her first meet for the Eagles as she placed fifth in the 60m dash and finished just behind Oliver in the 200m. 

For the men, senior Chase Rosenthal stole the show, carrying his momentum right through the breaking of his own school record in the heptathlon with 4,671 total points. 

The Eagles were still able to put together a great performance despite missing some key performers due to COVID-19 protocol and injuries. 

Both teams will be back in action at the Roanoke Invitational on February 20.