BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team fell to Mary Washington 69-52 on Monday evening.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Mary Washington 69; Bridgewater 52
Records: Bridgewater 9-3; Mary Washington 7-4
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mary Washington hopped on the board first but soon Taylor Fincham found Aaron Oates to even the score. UMW drilled a three pointer to start a quick 7-2 run to stretch out to a 9-4 edge before a Landon Hawes layup gave BC life. Mary Washington followed up with an old-school three-point play to push the envelope before Hawes got to the charity stripe and made b0oth attempts. Two more Hawes makes from the line got BC back to within a pair before UMW responded with two of its own. RK Law worked quickly off of a Woody Machado rebound to nail a jumper while Oates sank a pair at the free throw line the next trip down to tie the game 14-14 midway through the first quarter.
• After a near two-minute scoring drought Mary Washington responded with a 5-0 run before Jordan Cooper made two at the free throw line. UMW answered, but Kahlil Ward knocked down BC's first field goal in nearly seven minutes as his three-point make brought Bridgewater back to within a pair. The Ward long-range make sparked a 7-1 BC run capped off by an emphatic RK Law three pointer to put the home side in front 23-22 with under four to play in the first half. Mary Washington put four quick points on the board to go ahead by three, but another Law three pointer knotted the game once more. Zack Blue got to the line for UMW and made one of two to send the visiting side to the break with a narrow 27-26 edge.  
• The two sides came out of the half exchanging haymakers. UMW went ahead by three with a score out of the break, but Hawes drilled a three pointer to tie the game. Alec Topper finally got in the scorebook following the Hawes bucket to give BC the lead back momentarily. A Dorian Davis long ball gave the visiting side the lead back and UMW did not look back. Mary Washington went on a 14-0 run before Joseph Crenshaw found Oates in the paint to get BC back on the board with 11 minutes to play. UMW scored on back-to-back trips before Oates struck again.  
• Ahead 47-35 Mary Washington responded with another Davis long-range make to push the lead to 15. Off the Davis make Mary Washington stretched the lead furster with a 10-3 run to make it 57-38 with six minutes to play. The two sides traded two-point trips down the floor before the home side went into foul mode. BC hung around due to some poor foul shooting by UMW followed by four straight point from Topper. Mary Washington finally made both parts of a one-and-one before Topper drilled a three pointer to get BC to within 14 with two minutes left. UMW broke the press off the make and was able to outscore BC 6-3 over the final two minutes to hang on.  

MATCH NOTES

• Oates had himself a day despite the loss. The junior totaled 15 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
• Davis led all scorers with 18 points highlighted by his three long-range makes.
• Oates led BC on the glass with his double-double. Topper added nine points and eight rebounds while Hawes accounted for 11 points and five boards.
• BC shot 25.4% from the floor, the lowest as a team in nearly a calendar year. Meanwhile Mary Washington was 47.1% including a 5-for-9 mark from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater turns around with a trip to George Mason on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the squad's second and final Div. I exhibition of the season.