BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Bridgewater College erased a seven-point deficit in the final 3:27 to send the game to overtime and the Eagles jumped out early in the extra session to defeat Shenandoah 93-87 in the opening round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament played Tuesday evening at Nininger Hall.
With the victory, Bridgewater (14-11) advances to play at the Salem Civic Center for the first time since the 2009-10 season. The Eagles will play the second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan Marlins in Friday's quarterfinals. Game time is set for 6 p.m. Shenandoah finishes the season with a 12-14 record.
The Eagles appeared to be in trouble when Shenandoah standout Avery Green scored on a layup in traffic to give the Hornets a 73-66 lead with 3:27 to play.
Bridgewater junior Ed Reddick hit two free throws to cut the margin to five and, after a strong defensive stand, the Eagles gained possession on a defensive rebound by Reddick Ronnie Thomas was fouled on a drive to the basket and the senior guard hit both foul shots to make it a one possession game, 73-70, with 2:13 remaining.
Green hit two foul shots to push the lead to five and then the Eagles were the beneficiaries of a strange bounce to once again pull within three. Thomas tried to work the ball inside to Reddick, but the pass was deflected and the ball went off the glass and into the basket for a bucket, making the score 75-72.
Another solid defensive series forced Hornets guard Jared Carithers to take a contested 3-pointer and Reddick pulled down another defensive board. Thomas then knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:04 left to tie the score at 75-75.
Thomas continued to come up with the big play as he drew a charging foul at the defensive end to give Bridgewater the ball with a chance to take the lead. Aaron Adams then snaked his way along the baseline for a layup, giving the Eagles a 77-75 lead with 28 seconds left on the clock.
Green powered inside for a tying layup with 13 seconds and the Eagles were unable to knock down the winning shot in the closing seconds, sending the game to overtime.
The Eagles scored first in overtime on a 15-footer by Stapleton, but Carithers knotted the score at 79-79 with a driving layup on the ensuing possession.
Reddick answered as he maneuvered inside and converted a three-point play to give the Eagles a three-point, 82-79 lead with 3:57 left in overtime.
The Hornets worked the offensive glass for two extra looks and Xavier Alston converted after grabbing an offensive board to pull the visitors back to within three, 84-81.
Thomas came up with another clutch play on the next possession when he knocked down another 3-pointer, this one putting the Eagles on top 87-81.
Shenandoah wasn't finished as two free throws by Alston cut the lead to four. The teams traded empty possessions before Stapleton grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. The Eagles senior calmly made both foul shots, making the score 89-83 with 1:24 to play.
After Green tacked on a pair of foul shots for the Hornets, Reddick connected on 1-of-2 for the Eagles, giving Bridgewater a 90-85 lead with 48 seconds left.
Shenandoah made it a one possession game when Green made two more at the foul line with 25 seconds left to play. The Hornets fouled Stapleton with 21 ticks remaining and he hit 1-of-2 at the line for a four-point, 91-87 lead.
Carithers and CJ Rudisill missed 3-point looks on the Hornets next trip to the offensive end and the Eagles gained possession when the rebound after Rudisill's missed shot went out of bounds and was last touched by a Shenandoah, player.
Kenneth Waugh was fouled with five seconds left and made both free throws to put the final touches on the 93-87 victory.
The Eagles placed five players in double figures on the way to the come-from-behind victory. Reddick led the way with 23 points and Stapleton added 16. Thomas, who was held scoreless during the first 30 minutes, finished the game with 13 points and seven assists before fouling out late in the overtime period. Daniel McClain scored 12 points and Adams finished with 10.
During the regular season, the Eagles were able to contain Shenandoah's high-octane backcourt of Green and Carithers. That was not the case Tuesday night.
Green, who led the ODAC in scoring with a 24.0 average, was held to 32 points total in the two regular season games. Carithers, ranked 10th in the ODAC in scoring, was held to only seven total points in the previous two meetings.
Tuesday, the duo combined for 53. Green scored 22 of his 30 points following intermission while Carithers tallied 19 of his 23 in the first half.
Bridgewater also used a balanced effort on the glass to hold a 51-40 rebounding advantage. Reddick finished off a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds. Adams and McClain just missed double-doubles as each pulled down nine boards.
Both teams took good care of the basketball as the Eagles finished with 11 turnovers while Shenandoah committed just four turnovers on the night.
Both teams shot just a notch above 53 percent in the second half, but the Eagles fared better in the OT, hitting 4-of-7 shots while the Hornets made just 2-of-10. For the game, both teams were just above 42 percent.
The Eagles took care of business at the charity stripe knocking down 25-of-30 foul shots for 83.3 percent. Shenandoah was also solid at the line where they made 17-of-23 shots for 73.9 percent.