BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Ed Reddick and Kyle Welty combined to score 50 points Saturday afternoon to lead Bridgewater College to a big 72-69 victory over Washington and Lee in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's basketball action.
Reddick scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Welty matched Reddick's scoring output with a career-high 25 of his own.
Bridgewater (10-9, 5-5 in the ODAC) fell behind 4-0 early, but battled back to tie the score at 10-10 on a 15-footer by Welty. Reddick then added a layup in traffic, giving Bridgewater its first lead, 12-10 with 14:23 left in the first half.
Washington and Lee (7-12, 4-6 in the ODAC) then hit the Eagles with a 10-2 spurt to lead 20-14. Andy Kleinlein sparked the Generals with a three-point play and a long 3-pointer.
Bridgewater answered with a 10-0 flurry to regain the lead. A free throw by Reddick and a layup by Aaron Adams trimmed the Generals lead to 20-17. Welty converted a three-point play and then added a driving layup before Reddick scored on a 15-footer, giving the Eagles a 24-20 edge with 6:30 remaining in the half.
After a layup by Andrew Franz pulled the Generals to within three points, the Eagles added an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the first half. Reddick scored four quick points and Welty added a layup, making the score 33-24. Marcus Curry then netted a floater from along the baseline and the Eagles led 35-24 with 48 seconds left in the half. Clayton Murtha converted a layup for the Generals to cut the Bridgewater lead to 35-26 at the half.
Bridgewater led the entire second half, but the Eagles were unable to put the Generals away.
The Eagles led by as many as nine points early in the second half, but the Generals hung around and two free throws by Darren Douglas pulled W&L to within three, 45-42, with 9:31 left.
A three-point play by Reddick pushed the margin to six before five points by Murtha made it a one-point game, 48-47, with 7:49 left.
A layup by Adams increased the margin to three, but Joe Sherwood battled inside for a W&L hoop, again making it a one-point game. Welty knocked down a jumper for the Eagles before Stephen Himmelberg drove the baseline for two, once again pulling the Generals to within a point, 52-51, with 5:26 left.
Reddick hit two free throws and Zach Hunter scored on a layup to push the Eagles' lead to five, 56-51, with 4:16 left.
A three-point play by Reddick and two foul shots by Zach Hunter gave Bridgewater a 65-57 lead with 1:03 left, but the Generals were far from finished.
The Eagles hit enough foul shots down the stretch to win, but they missed just enough to keep the Generals alive.
Murtha scored inside and, following a turnover, Franz converted a layup, making the score 65-61. Welty hit two foul shots for the Eagles, but Kleinlein countered with two free throws for the Generals, keeping W&L within four, 67-63, with 37 seconds left.
Two foul shots by Zach Hunter put the margin at seven, but a 3-pointer by Patrick O'Connor trimmed the W&L deficit to four, 70-66, with 13 seconds left.
Zach Hunter then made 1-of-2 at the line before Himmelberg drained a 3-pointer, cutting the Eagles' lead to two 71-69 with nine seconds left.
Matt Hunter made 1-of-2 at the line, giving the Generals a chance to tie. Kleinlein's off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim as the Eagles escaped with the 72-69 victory.
Bridgewater shot 44.8 percent from the floor, making 26-of-58 shots. The Generals held a 37-30 edge on the glass with Sherwood leading the Generals with 10 rebounds.
Murtha paced the Generals with 18 points and Kleinlein added 14.