BRIDGEWATER Va. – The Bridgewater men's basketball team dropped its matchup with No. 1 Hampden-Sydney, Wednesday evening, 78-57

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 57, No. 1 Hampden-Sydney 78
Records: Bridgewater 10-5 (3-3 ODAC), Hampden-Sydney 13-1 (5-1 ODAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tigers scored the first basket off a second chance layup by the offense. Alec Topper came up big on the defensive end with a block and a steal which led to a Will Dunlap three to tie the score. H-SC scored on the next three offensive possessions to go up seven with 13:33 on the clock. RK Law and Joseph Crenshaw helped the Eagles to a comeback making back-to-back threes to put 14-11 on the scoreboard. Near the 10-minute mark, Woody Machado rumbled his way in the paint to give the BC its first lead of the night, 15-14 off of a dish from Jordan Cooper. 
• The two teams went bucket for bucket following the halfway point until Hampden-Sydney found its rhythm to go up 29-19 with 3:26 left. Aaron Oates checked into the game and hit a much needed three pointer to halt the Tiger attack. Defense turned quickly into offense to close out the half with Cooper registering a steal and taking it the distance of the floor to jam it home to put Bridgewater within eight, 33-25 at the horn.
• Cooper continued right where he left offensively off burying a three to kickstart the offense for the Eagles to get within five points. H-SC continued to have success on offense throughout the beginning of the second half with Adam Brazil scoring on consecutive possessions making the score 44-35. Hampden-Sydney put together a 16-5 run giving the team a 60-41 advantage with 10:09 left in the half.
• Topper chipped away at the lead making a shot from beyond the arc, but combination of effective offense and defense from the Tigers was too much to handle. BC got another big bucket from Cooper driving in for a layup late in the second half. H-SC closed out the game on the offensive attack winning 78-57.

MATCH NOTES

• Topper recorded another double-double on the season with a team leading 12 points and 10 boards. Bridgewater registered two more double-digit scorers with Dunlap recording 11 coming off the bench and Cooper finishing with 10.
• Brazil led all players with 20 points on an efficient 8/14 from the floor. 
• The Eagles capitalized on the defensive side of the ball recording 13 steals with Cooper having four and Topper with three.
• Hampden-Sydney was effective from the floor shooting at a 54.8% while BC was at 35.1% on the night.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater will travel to the tidewater area this Saturday, Jan. 13, for another ranked matchup with No. 20 Virginia Wesleyan for a 2 p.m. tip.