Emory & Henry turned back an early second-half Bridgewater run and then pulled away down the stretch to defeat the Eagles, 89-67, in ODAC action Saturday afternoon at Nininger Hall.
The Eagles went toe-to-toe with the visitors for the first 10 minutes of the game.
Phil Baumgartner‘s 3-pointer put the Eagles up 3-2 and Efe Balfour hit 3-of-4 at the foul line for an early 6-4 Bridgewater lead.
Emory & Henry (11-6, 5-3 in the ODAC) tied the score on a stick-back by Alic Wynn, but a jump-hook in the lane by Zach Kopp gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead.
Layups by Wynn and Ryan Gravley put the visitors ahead 10-8 before a 3-pointer by Paul Brown gave the Eagles the lead for the final time, 11-10, with 13:47 left in the half.
E&H tied the score on a free throw by Brandon Self and then a four-point play by Clif Conley put the Wasps ahead to stay, 15-11.
Brown hit again from long range to make it a one-point game, but the Wasps scored six straight to lead 21-14 with 11:02 left in the half.
The Wasps steadily pulled away during the final nine minutes of the half and led by 20 points, 42-22, on a layup by John Shelor with 2:20 left on the clock.
Bridgewater scored the final five points of the half on a layup by Davrion Grier and a 3-pointer by Kevin Saylor to trail 42-27 at the break.
After Shelor started the second-half scoring with a jumper, the Eagles reeled off nine straight points to trim the margin to single digits. A 3-pointer by Keonte Dennis, followed by a layup by Bryce Boggs and two free throws by Balfour, trimmed the margin to 10 points. The teams traded empty possessions before Grier scored after an offensive rebound to pull the Eagles to within eight, 44-36, with 16:24 left to play.
Aaron Ferguson hit a pair of free throws for E&H, but Boggs scored four straight points as the Eagles inched to within six, 46-40.
The lead then went back to 10 points, 52-42, as Wasps’ guard Conley sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a driving layup by Bridgewater freshman Essex Thompson.
A 6-2 spurt gave the Wasps a 14-point lead before Saylor drove the baseline for a bucket, pulling the Eagles to within 12 points, 60-48. Another driving layup by Saylor cut the margin to 10, but layups by Shelor and Wynn put the E&H lead at 14 points, 64-50.
Baumgartner made a 3-pointer to slice the deficit to 64-53 at the 8:32 mark, but the Wasps then hit the Eagles with an 11-0 run to open up a 20-point, 75-55, lead with 4:38 left in the game.
Grier came off the bench and led the Eagles with a career-high 19 points. Saylor also reached double figures, finishing the contest with 11 points. Wynn led four E&H players in double figures with 23 points. Colin Molden scored 16 points, followed by Shelor with 15 and Conley with 12.
The physical Wasps hammered the Eagles on the glass by a 40-22 margin. Wynn completed a double-double with 14 rebounds.
The loss was the eighth straight for the Eagles, now 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the ODAC. Bridgewater returns to action Wednesday night when the Eagles travel to Lexington, Va., to play Washington and Lee in another ODAC matchup. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
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