Bridgewater, Va.- The men’s basketball squad earned a big road win on Wednesday, Feb 1. over local rival Eastern Mennonite.

The Eagles gave a couple of early three-pointers to EMU just after the tip and found themselves in an early hole. Graduate student Andy Pack responded with a big bucket in the transition game receiving a nice pass from Shod Smith.

After a back-and-forth opening in the first 15 minutes of play, the Royals jumped out to a double-digit lead over the Eagles. With only a couple of minutes left to play in the first half, Bridgewater found their stride by going on a 15-5 run.

Sophomore forward Landon Hawes got it started with a three-point jumper for the Eagles.

In the closing seconds, sophomore guard Shod Smith drove the length of the floor to the cup for a converted layup and got fouled in the action. Smith collected himself after the excitement and knocked down the free throw to tie the score at 26 heading into halftime.

The tied game at half-time was the momentum the Eagles needed to pull ahead during the second half.

After the break, the Eagles once again were ignited by Shod Smith who got the steal and made a layup out in transition to give BC the lead. From this point, Bridgewater continued to grow their lead with triples from senior guard Liam Caswell and Hawes.

Junior forward Alec Topper got in on the action for the Eagles by adding two successful layups. Bridgewater never looked back and held on to win 69-57, scoring 43 points opposed to the Royals’ 31 in the second half.

Smith led the Eagles for the night with 15 points while Topper snagged eight rebounds on the way to a road win.

“It was a good win on the road for us to continue to build momentum on the season,” said Smith.

Bridgewater was stingy on the defensive end of the floor, forcing EMU turnovers that led to 17 points for the Eagles.

“The team is excited for the opportunity on senior day to get a big win,” said Caswell.

Due to the away game being on Feb. 1, the one-year anniversary of fallen Police Officer John Painter and Safety Officer J.J. Jefferson, the men’s team had more to prove than just winning a basketball game. 

Both the men and women’s basketball teams stayed BC Strong on Feb. 1 while securing victories at the men’s away game against the Royals and the women’s matchup in Nininger Hall. 

The next contest for the Eagles is on Wednesday, Feb. 8 where they host Washington & Lee in the final home game of the season. They will end their season with three games on the road before the ODAC tournament kicks off on Feb. 21.