BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Roanoke College led Bridgewater by 14 points at the half Saturday afternoon and the Eagles could get no closer than eight points in the final 20 minutes as the Maroons pulled away for an 88-71 win in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's basketball action.

Bridgewater (9-8. 4-4 ODAC) got on the board first on a free throw by Matthew Hunter, giving the Eagles their only lead of the game. Alexander Weant countered with free throws to give Roanoke a lead it would not surrender.

A jumper by Andrew Daniels made it 4-1 before a jumper by Kyle Welty pulled the Eagles to within one. A short jumper by Daniel Eacho and a driving layup by Julian Ramirez pushed the Maroons advantage to 8-3 with 15:05 left in the first half.

Roanoke (7-10, 2-6 ODAC) continued to pad the lead and five straight points by John Fitchett pushed the margin to double digits for the first time, 19-8, with 11:59 remaining in the half.

The lead grew to 13 points, 25-12, when Fitchett scored from inside, but Ed Reddick answered for the Eagles to trim the deficit to 11. Fitchett then knocked down a 3-ball and Weant added two foul shots, putting the Maroons' lead at 30-14 with 6:56 left in the half.

The Maroons led by as many as 17 points three times in the closing minutes of the half before settling for a 46-32 lead at the break.

Roanoke kept the lead in double digits until a 5-0 Eagles spurt cut the lead to eight with 10:53 left in the game.

Ramirez hit 1-of-2 at the foul line, making the score 61-48, but Reddick scored from inside and Matt Hunter added a 3-pointer, pulling Bridgewater to within 61-53.

A layup by Roanoke's Cameron Smith pushed Roanoke's lead back to 10 points, 63-53. Several times the Eagles cut the deficit to single digits, but each time the Maroons responded as Bridgewater was unable to come up with key stops at the defensive end.

The Eagles trailed by single digits for the final time when Benaiah Wise scored on a layup, cutting Roanoke's lead to 78-69 with 3:21 remaining.

Roanoke then delivered the knockout punch with a quick 8-0 spurt to put the game away.

Reddick led all scorers with 21 points. Matt Hunter scored 14 points and Welty added 13. Eacho paced the Maroons with 19 points and Daniels scored 17. Ramirez chipped in with 15 points and Fitchett came off the bench to add 10.

Roanoke dominated the boards by a 39-26 margin. Smith pulled down 10 boards to lead the Maroons while Reddick grabbed seven rebounds for the Eagles.