BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater College men's basketball team opened the Carlyle Whitelow Invitational presented by Hyatt Place Harrisonburg with a historic victory over Penn College.
 
The Basics 
 
Final Score: Bridgewater 110, Penn College 79
Records: Bridgewater 3-1, Penn College 2-3
 
How it Happened 

• The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead initially but a jumper from Jordan Cooper and an Aaron Oates long ball pushed BC in front. RK Law knocked down a three of his own but Penn College responded immediately. The Wildcats closed back to within a point three times in the opening four minutes and finally hopped out front for two short lived stanzas before an Alec Topper bucket and a pair of free throws from Law pushed BC in front 18-15. After a trade of scores, a layup from Khalil Ward sparked a 10-0 Bridgewater run that featured scores from five different Eagles over the 3:24 span making it 28-16 for the home side just north of the midway point pf the opening half.
• Out of a timeout, the Wildcats responded with four unanswered before Cooper found Oates on the low block to pump the breaks on the Penn College momentum. A third-chance effort got the Wildcats back on the board, but Oates returned the favor as he found Topper in the lane for the easy bucket. Penn College slowly crept back in, closing it down to just a 36-30 game before Oates nailed a three from the corner on a pass from Ward. Hawes was fed by Topper the next trip down the floor, and he too nailed a three-ball to put the Eagles back in front by double digits. A quick flurry of points puled the visitors to within five twice but a three-pointer from Law and a Hawes jumper at the buzzer made it 48-38 BC at the intermission.
• Law started off where he finished the opening half as he and Topper nailed three pointers for BC. The opening three-point baskets sparked an 18-2 run for the Eagles over the opening 3:33 of the second half led by 10 points from Topper during the span. Facing a 66-40 deficit, Penn College went to work with five unanswered before a three-pointer from Hawes and a Joseph Crenshaw layup put the Eagles back in business.
• Every chance the Wildcats got Bridgewater had a rebuttal. Pen College had looks to pull back to within 20 but each time BC answered by extending the lead out to as much as 32 with eight and a half minutes to go on the back of another RK law three-pointer. After the Law make from long range, each side stayed with each other as BC pulled across the century mark on the way to a 110-79 victory.

 
Match Notes 

• The men's basketball program picked up their largest win when scoring 90 or more points since defeating Wilson by 39 in 2018. The Eagles also reached 110 or more points for the first time since 2007 when they defeated Emory & Henry 129-112 in a shootout.
• Although his double-double streak came to an end, Topper still led BC in scoring with 20 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Oates added 17 points and seven boards while Hawes scored 15 and grabbed five rebounds.
• Livingston Cross scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Wildcats behind a 12-of-20 night from the floor.  
• The Eagles knocked down 13 three pointers including four from Law and three from Oates.

Up Next 
 
The Eagles host William Peace tomorrow afternoon in the night cap of day two of the Carlyle Whitelow Invitational presented by Hyatt Place Harrisonburg.