DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Bridgewater College men's basketball team ran its winning streak to seven straight with a 73-72 victory Saturday afternoon over Oneonta State at the Daytona Beach Shootout.
The contest was close throughout. Bridgewater's largest lead of the game was 10 points while Oneonta State's biggest advantage was eight points.
The Eagles used a 14-3 run midway through the first half to lead by 10 points.
Trailing by one, 15-14, Zach Hunter knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Eagles on top 17-15. A layup by the Red Dragons' Grant Massaroni tied the score before two jumpers by Aaron Adams put the Eagles up by four, 21-17. Benaiah Wise hit from beyond the arc and Cameron Thurston added a layup to push the lead to nine. After Lawrence Coleman made the second of two foul shots for Oneonta, Logan Seacrist connected on a jumper, giving Bridgewater a 28-18 lead with 7:15 left in the half.
The Eagles still led by 10 points, 33-23, on another 3-ball by Wise, but the Red Dragons closed the half with a 14-2 run over the final five minutes to lead by two at the break. Mikey McElroy hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to put the Red Dragons ahead at the half, 37-35.
Bridgewater led by a point, 39-38, on a layup by Keonte Dennis before a 9-0 run gave the Red Dragons their biggest lead, 47-39. McElroy's 3-pointer put Oneonta into the lead and a free throw by Zach Major made the score 42-39. Major added a 3-pointer and McElroy scored on a layup for a 47-39 Oneonta lead with 15:57 left to play.
The Red Dragons maintained an eight-point edge as the teams traded buckets, making the score 51-43. Ed Reddick then scored four straight points to slice the margin to four, 51-47, with 11:29 left.
The Red Dragons maintained a working margin between two and seven points for the next eight minutes, but the Eagles finally pulled even with 3:05 remaining.
Trailing by five, Adams scored on a driving layup and Reddick added 1-of-2 at the foul line to make it a two-point game, 69-67. After the Red Dragons missed at the offensive end, Adams was fouled while grabbing the defensive rebound. The Bridgewater senior made both foul shots to tie the score at 69-69.
After Frankie Kelly made 1-of-2 free throws for the Red Dragons, Reddick scored on a short jumper to give Bridgewater the lead, 71-70, with 2:28 remaining.
The Red Dragons missed three shots on its next possession before Reddick finally controlled a defensive rebound for the Eagles with 2:10 left. The two teams traded turnovers before Zach Hunter went to the line and made two free throws for a 73-70 Bridgewater lead with 1:04 still left on the clock.
Mager hit two foul shots with 55 seconds left to pull Oneonta to within a point and the Red Dragons got a key stop on defense when Kyle Welty missed a short jumper with the shot clock winding down.
Kelly grabbed the defensive rebound with 25 seconds left, giving the Red Dragons possession with a chance to win down the stretch. McElroy missed a driving layup and Bridgewater's Matthew Hunter grabbed the rebound and was fouled with two seconds left. He missed both free throws but the Red Dragons turned the ball over before getting off a desperation shot as the Eagles escaped with the one-point victory.
Adams led the Eagles with 19 points and Reddick continued his stellar play with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Wise gave the Eagles a big lift off the bench with 11 points as he hit 3-of-4 shots from 3-point range.
McElroy led the Red Dragons (5-4) with 26 points. Mager scored 16 and Kareem Williams added 11.
Bridgewater shot 48.4 percent (30-for-62) from the field while limiting the Red Dragons to 40.3 percent (27-for-67).
Bridgewater, now 7-2 on the season, returns to action Sunday afternoon when the Eagles face the University of Dubuque.
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