Bridgewater College took Virginia Wesleyan to the wire Monday evening before falling to the fifth-seeded Marlins 80-71 in the first round of the ODAC men’s basketball tournament.
Both teams struggled at the offensive end in the first 20 minutes.
Turnovers plagued the Eagles as they attempted just 18 shots due to turning the ball over 10 times. The Marlins took almost twice as many shots, but made just 9-of-34 for 26 percent.
The biggest lead of the first half came on a 3-pointer by Tim Jones that gave the Marlins a 14-7 lead as the first half neared the midway point.
The Eagles then hit the hosts with a 9-2 flurry to tie the score. Kevin Saylor got the Eagles started with a 3-pointer and Bryce Boggs‘ three-point play tied the score at 16-16 with 5:46 left in the opening half.
The Marlins moved back ahead and took a four-point lead, but the Eagles anxwered again as a three-point play by Kenneth Turner tied the contest at 21-21.
At the end of the half, the Marlins held a slim 28-25 edge.
The offenses may have struggled in the first 20 minutes, but the second half turned into a shootout. Both teams shot better than 44 percent from the floor while each limited turnovers. Bridgewater turned the ball over five times and the Marlins committed just four turnovers in the second half.
At times, the second half became a personal shootout between Saylor and Virginia Wesleyan All-American Khory Moore. Saylor scored 27 of his career-high 32 points in the second half while Moore netted 20 of his 27 following the break.
The Marlins pushed the lead to double figures early in the second half at 35-25 and led by as many as 14 points, the first time coming at 45-31 with 13:22 left to play.
The lead was still 14 when Jones knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 50-36 with 10:32 remaining.
The Eagles then starting trading points with the Marlins and the margin was still 11 points, 63-52, with just more than five minutes left.
Saylor then knocked down a 3-pointer and Keonte Dennis added two foul shots to slice the defecit to six, 63-57, with 5:09 still on the clock.
Virginia Wesleyan turned the ball over on its next possession and Boggs scored on a driving layup with 3:27 left to pull the Eagles to within four, 63-59.
Following a Marlins’ timeout, Moore came up big as the senior scored six straight points to push the lead back to 10 points, 69-59. Saylor hit a 3-pointer for the Eagles, but the Marlins made 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:32to put the finishing touches on the hard-earned 80-71 victory.
Saylor hit 10-of-19 shots, including 7-of-15 from 3-point-range. He added 5-of-6 from the foul to finish with his 32 points. Boggs also reached double figures with 12.
With the loss, the Eagles end the 2016-17 season with a 6-20 record.
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