HARRISONBURG, Va. - Ferrum College overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 10 minutes Sunday afternoon to hand Bridgewater College a 73-70 defeat on the second day of the EMU Tip-Off Classic.

For the second straight day the Eagles got off to a slow start and fell behind 5-0 in the first three minutes of play.

Unlike the first game, however, the Eagle overcame the slow start to take the lead. Bridgewater used a 10-3 spurt to take its first advantage when a jumper by Ed Reddick put the Eagles out front 10-8 with 14:57 left in the half.

Right after hitting the shot to give the Eagles their first lead, Reddick picked up his second foul and spent the final 14 minutes of the half on the bench.

With their leading scorer sidelined, the Eagles responded with a solid effort and pulled away to lead by as many as nine points.

With the score tied at 12-12, Bridgewater held the Panthers scoreless for more than four minutes and a 9-0 gave the Eagles a 21-12 lead.

Matthew Hunter got things started with a short jumper and a bucket by Marcus Curry made the score 16-12. Matt Hunter then knocked down a 3-pointer and Keonte Dennis stroked a 15-footer for a 21-12 Eagles lead with 10:49 remaining in the first half.

The Panthers stayed within striking distance and a 3-point play by Marvin Wilson cut the Eagles lead to three, 29-26, with 5:27 left.

Aaron Adams scored on a layup and then added a pair of free throws to push the margin back to seven 33-26.

The  Eagles still led by three, 33-30, when a 7-1 spurt pushed the margin back to nine. Benaiah Wise knocked down a three ball and Aaron Adams hit two more foul shots to make it 38-30. D.J. Christian made 1-fof-2 foul shots before a layup by Wise made the score 40-31 with 1:49 left in the half.  At the break, the Eagles led by seven 41-34.

With Reddick on the bench, the Eagles received a big lift from freshman Ethan Adams. In his first collegiate action, the freshman played nine strong minutes and went 3-for-3 from the floor to score six points.

Bridgewater took its biggest lead of the game when freshman big man Logan Seacrist hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to open the second half, giving the Eagles a 44-34 lead.

The Eagles led by at least six points until a layup by D'Andre Mullen made it a four-point game, 50-46, with 11:46 remaining.

After a layup by Reddick, Ferrum's Troy Mann swished a 3-pointer from the right corner and Mullen added two free throws to trim the lead to one 52-51.

Bridgewater pushed its lead back to seven 59-52, but the Panthers refused to go away. A 13-2 run sparked by its go-to player Jamal Pullen moved the Panthers to the lead, 65-61, with 6:40 to go. Pullen, who led the Panthers with 19 points, scored nine of those points during the run.

Two buckets by Reddick knotted the score before Rashawn Speas made 1-of-2 foul shots for a one-point Ferrum lead. Seacrist then hit a tough shot in traffic to put the Eagles back on top 67-66 with 2:32 showing on the clock.

Reddick hit 1-of-2 at the line for a two-point lead before a layup by Pullen tied the score at 68 apiece with 1:19 left.

Seacrist worked the paint for the Eagles on the next possession and his shot from in close put the Eagles up by two, 70-68, with 47 ticks left.

Ferrum's Alex Ayer then knocked down an open look from 3-point range with 28 seconds to go, giving the Panthers a one-point lead.

While working for a go-ahead look, the Eagles turned the ball over before getting a shot off with 7.8 seconds to go.

Following a timeout, Ferrum threw a long pass downcourt to Speas who scored while being fouled to make it a three-point lead. The Eagles still had a chance when Speas missed the foul shot and Aaron Adams controlled the rebound.

However a desperation 3-point try from deep by Curry was short as Ferrum held on for the 73-70 victory.

Reddick led the Eagles attack with 18 points and Aaron Adams scored 16. The battle on the glass was even with each team grabbing 32 rebounds. Zach Hunter and Reddick had seven each to lead Bridgewater.

After shooting better than 55 percent in the first half, the Eagles cooled off and made just 32.4 percent of its shots in the second half.

In Sunday's second game of the classic, Eastern Mennonite edged St. Mary's 82-80.

Reddick and Pullen were joined on the all-tournament team by St. Mary's Troy Spurrier and Tanner Brooks and Eastern Mennonite's David Falk. EMU's Ryan Yates was named the tournament MVP.

The Eagles will return to action Thursday night when they travel to play Mt. Aloysius.