BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team battled and fell to No. 3 Guilford 72-62 on Wednesday night in Nininger Hall.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Guilford 72; Bridgewater 62
Records: Bridgewater 10-4 (3-2 ODAC); No. 3 Guilford 12-1 (3-1 ODAC)


HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bridgewater got on the board first as Khalil Ward nailed a three pointer. Guilford got back in front with back-to-back scores before the teams traded makes with Guilford notching consecutive makes to go ahead 13-10. Will Vetter knocked down a long ball as the shot clock expired to tie the game but again Tyler Dearman scored for Guilford, putting them back in front. GC pulled out by as much as five before Landon Hawes drilled a three pointer to get BC back to within a pair. Guilford responded with a long ball of their own and Hawes replied with a pair from the charity stripe at the other end to get the Eagles back to within three.
• Dearman knocked down another long-range jumper to extend the lead to 24-18 before Alec Topper sparked a 10-0 BC run to take the lead and push the Eagles to a 28-24 lead after Oates laid it in at the cup forcing a Guilford time out. The Quakers responded with some defensive stops and a 6-0 run to go ahead 30-28 before a Topper three-ball gave BC the lead back. A three from the Quakers gave them the lead before Topper tied things back up at 33-33. Dearman tallied five quick points, and another make gave Guilford a 7-0 run to end the half with a 40-33 lead.
• Guilford opened the half on a quick 5-0 run before Topper made an old-school three-point play to give the BC offense some life. The Quakers responded with a 9-0 run and held BC scoreless for six minutes before Jordan Cooper nailed a three to end the GC run. Cooper scored once more and a free throw from Steve Burgess got the Eagles to 54-42 before back-to-back three pointers gave the Quakers an 18-point lead with 7:49 to go.
• The Eagles slowly started to reel the Quakers back in thanks to some free throws and another three from Vetter. Bridgewater was able to get back to within 11 with just north of a minute left thanks to a Cooper three-point make and a dunk before they had to foul. Guilford made both attempts at the line before Cooper found Woody Machado open in the corner to weather the lead down to 69-59 with 47 seconds to play. Two more makes at the charity stripe handed the ball back to BC and this time Aaron Oates answered the call with a three-ball of his own to make it a nine-point GC edge. The Quakers finally got the stop they needed with 15 seconds left to put the Eagles away for good and secure the victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Cooper led BC offensively with 18 points including four makes from beyond the arc.
• Dearman led all scorers with 26 points and 11 rebounds. A well-rounded night from the super-senior included a block, assist and three steals.
• Bridgewater's three-point shooting kept the around and competitive. The Eagles shot 40.6% from behind the arc with 13 makes. BC has made 10 or more three pointers in four games this season.
• Guilford pulled away thanks to a 37-20 edge on the glass and a 28-16 advantage in points in the paint.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater continues its tough homestand as they host No. 1 Hampden-Sydney on Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. in the first game of a basketball doubleheader.