Men’s basketball: Ferrum holds off Bridgewater

Ferrum College outscored Bridgewater 9-4 over the final three minutes Monday night to hold off the Eagles for a 73-67 victory in non-conference men’s basketball action.

The Panthers jumped out to a nine-point lead midway through the opening half and held the lead until the final minute of the half.

Ferrum led 30-25 with 4:13 left in the half before back-to-back buckets from Bridgewater’s Bryce Boggs pulled the Eagles to within one, 30-29.

The hosts pushed the lead back to five when buckets by D’Andre Mullen and Jordan Henry gave Ferrum a 34-29 lead. Boggs knocked down a 3-pointer and Essex Thompson added a short jumper to tie the score at 34-34 with 39 seconds left. A steal and a layup by Thompson put the Eagles up by two before Ferrum tied the score at 36-36 on Rashad Reed’s layup at the buzzer.

The Panthers opened up a five-point lead early in the second half, but the Eagles battled back to take the lead, 49-48, on a Boggs’ 3-pointer with 12:14 left in the game. Boggs hit 1-of-2 at the foul line to make it 50-48 before the Panthers reeled off 10 unanswered points to take an eight-point lead.

Ferrum regianed the upper hand as Josh Dudley hit consecutive hoops for a 52-50 Panthers’ lead wtih 10:55remaining. Reed scored the next four points and Dudley added two foul shots to put Ferrum out front, 58-50 with 8:43 left.

The Eagles whittled away at the deficit and pulled to within one at the 5:24 mark. Phil Baumgartner‘s jumper sliced the margin to two points and Efe Balfour made 1-of-2 foul shots, cutting the Ferrum advantage to 62-61.

DJ Christian hit two free throws for the Panthers before Balfour made 1-of 2 foul shots to keep the Eagles within a bucket at 64-62. Bridgewater got a stop at the defensive end and Baumgartner made 1-of-2 at the line to make it a one-point game, 64-63 with 2:35 left.

The Panthers then scored the next seven points to lead 71-63 with just 30 seconds remaining.

Bridgewater shot 49 percent from the floor as the Eagles knocked down 25-of-51 shots. Boggs led the Eagles with 17 points. Balfour added 13 points and Thompson scored 10.

Reed came off the Ferrum bench to lead four Panthers in double figures with 25 points.

Balfour led the Eagles on the boards with eight rebounds as Bridgewater battled Ferrum to a 32-32 standoff on the glass.

Bridgewater, now 3-3 on the season, returns to action Friday and Saturday as they host the BC/Don Glick Classic. The Eagles play Moravian on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. Bridgewater hosts Apprentice School in the second game Saturday afternoon with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.