BRIDGEWATER, Virginia -- The Ferrum College men's basketball team beat Bridgewater College 76-67 on the road tonight, in the first round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament. The trio play of Jikari Johnson, Tahli Oden, and Bryant Wall all scored in double figures and combined for 60 points, to help the Panthers advance to the ODAC quarterfinals. Ferrum avenged two earlier overtime losses to Bridgewater during the regular season.

RECORD
Ferrum (16-10)
Bridgewater (16-10)

THE BASICS
Tahli Oden scored Ferrum's first five points of the game, putting them up 5-3 just under a minute into the game. Jordan Cooper's 3-pointer gave Bridgewater their first lead of the game 12-10, at the 14:33 mark. Calvin Washington, Bryant Wall and Jikari Johnson all scored a basket each to help reclaim the lead 16-12 with 11:45 remaining in the first half. Over the next two minutes of play, the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run to jump back in front 20-16.

After Wall's dunk pulled Ferrum within two, 24-22 with under seven minutes to play in the half, Bridgewater padded their lead to seven 29-22 with two quick baskets. The Eagles 9-2 run gave them their largest lead of the game, 40-29 with 2:10 left before intermission. Oden scored five points and Wall added two as Ferrum closed out the half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 40-36 at the break.

The Panthers started off the second half hot, retaking the lead 43-42 thanks to a 7-2 run sparked by Wall's dunk. After two lead changes, Khalil ward tied the game at 48-48, at the 14:30 mark. Alfredo Abel-Rivera's two free throws gave Ferrum the lead 50-48 and they did not relinquish it the rest of the game. Jikari Johnson's three-pointer started a 16-3 run the next five and half minutes of play, leading by 14, 68-54 with 6:04 left in the game. The Panthers defense went to work during that run, holding Bridgewater to just  one made field goal and forcing three turnovers. Bridgewater would outscore Ferrum 13-10 the rest of the game, but the Panthers lead was to big for the Eagles to mount a comeback.

This is the second straight year that Head Coach Patrick Corrigan's team has won a first round game and advanced to the quarterfinals. "I was proud of our togetherness throughout the game", said Corrigan. "Since our overtime loss we've talked about making winning plays and executing when it gets tough. It took us a little while to get going, but I thought we did that."

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Johnson 21 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk; Oden 20 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast; Wall 19 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk
Bridgewater: Alec Topper 13 pts, 9 reb; Cooper 12 pts, 5 ast; Ward 14 pts; Woody Machado 11 pts

UP NEXT
Coach Corrigan's team will back in action later this week on Thursday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m as they take on the two-seed and nationally ranked #1 Hampden-Sydney College at the Salem Civic Center in the ODAC quarterfinals.