BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Randolph-Macon maintained its hold on first-place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with a 76-60 victory Wednesday evening over the Bridgewater College Eagles.

Bridgewater went toe-to-toe with the Yellow Jackets in the opening half, but the ODAC's top team took advantage of a cold-shooting second half by the Eagles to assume control in the final 20 minutes 

Randolph-Macon (16-4, 10-1 in the ODAC) led by just one, 41-40, at the break. The first-half stats were just as close as the score. Both teams were 15-of-32 from the floor for 47 percent. Both teams turned the ball over just three times during the fast-paced action and the Yellow Jackets held a slim 20-18 edge on the boards.

The score was tied five times and the lead changed hands three times before Randolph-Macon put together the half's first run. With the score tied at 21-21, the Yellow Jackets reeled off seven straight points. Trent Walker hit two free throws and Akeem Holmes scored the next three points to push the lead to five. Andre Simon then scored after an offensive rebound, giving Macon a 28-21 lead with 6:05 left in the half.

Bridgewater's Daniel McClain and Simon exchanged hoops before a 3-point play by Benaiah Wise cut the lead to four points. After a missed shot by the Jackets, Ed Reddick finished a fastbreak opportunity with a layup to slice Macon's lead to two, 30-28.

Marcus Badger made two foul shots for the Yellow Jackets, but Wise drained a long 3-pointer to pull the Eagles to within a single point, 32-31. Badger added a runner in the lane, but Wise struck again from the beyond the arc to tie the score at 34-34.

Holmes connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Yellow Jackets up by three, but Ronnie Thomas responded with a pair of foul shots to make it a one-point game.

After a bucket by Connor Sullivan moved the margin to three, the Eagles regained the lead, 40-39, on a baseline jumper by Tavis Stapleton and two foul shots by Aaron Adams. Holmes then scored after grabbing an offensive rebound with just six seconds left in the half to send the Yellow Jackets to the locker room with a 41-40 halftime lead.

Bridgewater made just two shots from the floor in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the Eagles were still within striking distance as Randolph-Macon led by 10 points, 56-46.

Layups by Lamont Moore and Sullivan pushed the lead to 14, but a layup by Thomas and a 12-footer by Kyle Welty sliced the margin back to 10 points, 60-50. A short jumper by Moore was offset by two free throws by Reddick to keep the margin at 10 points, 62-52, with 5:55 left to play.

Five consecutive points by Joe Hassell put the Yellow Jackets on top 67-52 with 4:36 left and the Eagles would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way as Macon finished off the 76-60 victory.

After holding a two-rebound margin in the first half, Randolph-Macon took control of the glass in the final 20 minutes and finished with a 45-33 margin on the boards.

Randolph-Macon improved its shooting to 48 percent in the second half while the Eagles shot just 29.6 percent in the final 20 minutes of play.

Thomas snapped out a recent scoring slump to lead the Eagles with a game-high 18 points. Wise and McClain finished with nine points each.

Simon led four Yellow Jackets in double digits with 16 points with Holmes right behind with 15. Hassell scored 13 points and Sullivan added 10.

Holmes led the Yellow Jackets on the boards with nine rebounds while Reddick pulled down seven for the Eagles.