Jesse Case‘s potential game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left rimmed out and the visiting William Peace Pacers escaped with an 80-77 victory Sunday afternoon over Bridgewater College at Nininger Hall.
William Peace (4-1) trailed by as much as 10 points in the first half, but rallied to lead 36-34 at the break. The Pacers led by as many as 13 points in the second half and held off the Eagles down the stretch to take the victory.
Bridgewater (2-2) used a 7-0 run midway through the opening half to open up a double-digit lead. Leading 16-13, the Eagles stretched the margin to 19-13 on a 3-pointer by freshman Phil Baumgartner. Layups by Bryce Boggsand Efe Balfour pushed the lead to 23-13 with 9:54 remaining in the opening half.
The Eagles still led by 10 points, 27-17, before the Pacers surged ahead with a 17-4 run. A bucket by Jalen Vince tied the score at 31-31 and a 3-pointer by Jay Hicks gave the Pacers a 34-31 lead with 2:16 left in the half. Three points by Balfour tied the game at 34-34 before a jumper by John Burwell gave William Peace a 36-34 advantage at the break.
The Pacers used a 9-0 second-half spurt to stretch a four-point lead to a 57-44 advantage with 10:48 left in the game. Chris Thomas ignited the run with a 3-pointer and Ryan Emfinger made 3-of-4 foul shots to push the margin to double digits at 54-44. Thomas capped the flurry with a three-point play, giving the Pacers a 13-point lead.
William Peace led by 12 points, 60-48, at the 9:54 mark, but the Eagles then used an 11-2 spurt to slice the deficit to three. Joe Lewis knocked down a 3-pointer, but Thomas answered with a short jumper to keep the Pacers on top 62-51. Boggs worked inside and converted a three-point play and Case hit a 3-pointer to make the score 62-57. After a Pacers’ turnover, Balfour worked the paint and scored off an assist from Boggs to make it 62-59 with 7:08 remaining.
The Pacers pushed the margin back to seven, 72-65, on two free throws by Thomas with 4:38 left, but a driving layup by Romello Crowell and two foul shots by Balfour made it a one-possession game, 72-69, with 3:27 to play.
Emfinger converted a three-point play to push the margin back to six, but Balfour answered with a layup to pull the Eagles to within four, 75-71. William Peace’s Dakota King and BC’s Boggs traded free throws to keep the margin at four, 77-73, with 1:44 left.
Boggs came up with a steal at the defensive end and then scored on a layup to trim the deficit to two, 77-75, with 1:30 remaining.
King missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down, but the Pacers’ Emfinger controlled the offensive rebound. The Eagles then fouled Vince, but the Pacers guard made just 1-of-2 at the line for a 78-75 William Peace lead.
Lewis missed a potential tying 3-pointer, but Baumgartner tracked down the offensive board. Baumgartner’s shot from in close was blocked, but Boggs hustled for an offensive rebound and his jumper from the foul line found nothing but net as the Eagles pulled to within a point, 78-77, with 27 seconds left.
The Eagles were forced to foul and Thomas made two free throws with 18 ticks remaining, giving the Pacers a 80-77 lead. After each team called a timeout with nine seconds remaining, the Eagles got the ball inbounds and found Case for a good look at a 3-pointer from the left corner. Case’s shot would not stay down and the ball went out of bounds to the Pacers with less than a second left on the clock.
Balfour recorded his second double-double of the season to lead the Eagles with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Boggs added 20 points for the Eagles, the third time in four games he has reached the 20 point mark.
Emfinger and Thomas each scored 21 points to lead the Pacers.
The Eagles will return to ODAC action Wednesday evening when they travel to Lynchburg to play Randolph College. Bridgewater is 1-0 in conference play while Randolph will be playing its first ODAC game of the season. The WildCats are 1-3 overall. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
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