BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Greensboro College used a 16-4 run to take an eight-point lead with less than two minutes to play and the Pride held on in the closing seconds to defeat the Bridgewater College Eagles, 74-69, Sunday afternoon at Nininger Hall.
Bridgewater knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the first 5:15 of play to jump out to a quick 20-6 lead.
Jesse Case put the Eagles on the board with a 3-pointer and two free throws by the BC freshman made the score 5-1.
After a short jumper by the Pride's Parris Scales, Kevin Saylor worked inside for a bucket and Cameron Thurston converted a three-point play for a 10-3 Eagles lead. Bridgewater's Romello Crowell and Scales traded hoops before a 3-pointer from Logan Seacrist gave Bridgewater a 15-5 lead.
Christopher Corbin made 1-of-2 free throws for the Pride, but two foul shots by Efe Balfour and another 3-ball by Case put the Eagles up by 14 points, 20-6, with 14:45 left in the opening half.
Following a media timeout, Greensboro cut the deficit in half with a quick 7-0 spurt to pull within 20-13. Case scored on a layup and then added a rare four-point play, making the score 26-13.
The Eagles lead was still 13 points when Case hit another 3-pointer, giving the Eagles a 30-17 advantage with 7:43 left in the first half.
Greensboro then caught fire at the offensive end and a 17-2 run gave the Pride a 34-32 lead with 2:49 on the first-half clock.
A layup by Thurston tied the score before two foul shots by Greensboro's Corbin put the Pride up by two, 36-34. Both teams went scoreless during the final 1:30 of the half as the Pride carried the two-point lead to the locker room.
Bridgewater used the 3-pointer early in the second half to regain the lead. A Seacrist 3-pointer put the Eagles on top 43-41 and a 3-pointer by Maalik Howard pushed the margin to 46-41. After a jumper by the Pride's Donavan Griffith, Seacrist tallied again from bonus range for a 49-43 Eagles lead with 15:40 left in the game.
Torrence Outing hit a 3-pointer for the visitors, but Thurston answered from beyond the arc to keep the Eagles lead at five, 54-49. Layups by Scales and Lorenzo Marry made it a one-point game, but Seacrist knocked down another 3-ball for a 57-51 Bridgewater lead at the 8:43 mark.
Two free throws by Case put the Eagles up 59-55, but the Pride reeled off 11 unanswered points to lead 66-59 with 4:13 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Outing gave the Pride an eight-point, 71-63, lead with 1:49 to play, but the Eagles battled back.
Consecutive three-point plays by Balfour and Saylor pulled Bridgewater to within a bucket, 71-69, with 38 seconds left.
The Eagles fouled Corbin and the Greensboro guard missed the front end of a one-and-one and Seacrist controlled the rebound. Bridgewater had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Crowell turned the ball over on a travelling call to give the ball back to the Pride.
Bridgewater was once again forced to foul and Scales hit the front end of his one-and-one to make it a three-point lead. Scales missed the second foul shot, but Griffith chased down the offensive rebound, keeping possession with the Pride.
Bridgewater fouled Joseph Gatling and he made both of his foul shots to put the finishing touches on Greensboro's 74-69 victory.
Case led the Eagles with a career-high 25 points as he connected on 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range. Seacrist and Thurston each added 12 points for the Eagles.
Scales led the Pride with 16 points, followed by Griffith with 14 and Outing with 13.
Bridgewater won the battle on the boards by a 37-33 margin with Seacrist, Thurston and Saylor each grabbing six rebounds. Griffith had seven rebounds to lead the Pride.
Turnovers plagued the Eagles as they finished with 24, 17 of those coming in the first 20 minutes. Greensboro turned the ball over 14 times.
The Eagles connected on 22-of-50 shot from the floor for 44 percent. Bridgewater hit 10-of-24 from beyond the arc for 41.7 percent accuracy. Greensboro shot 42.6 percent, making 26-of-61 shots.
With the loss, their fifth straight, the Eagles drop to 2-8 on the season. Greensboro improves to 6-5 overall.