GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team held off Greensboro College, 86-84, in overtime on Friday evening at the Guilford Holiday Classic in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Bears improve to 10-2 on the season, while the Pride fall to 5-5. Both teams went 1-1 at the two-day classic.
Graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) recorded his team-leading seventh double-double of the season to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Halbleib, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, tallied 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds (two offensive).
Freshman forward Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) posted his first collegiate double-double with career highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds (four offensive) in his first career start. Senior guard Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) added 17 points and seven boards for the Bears, while junior guard Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) checked in with 16 points and pair of rebounds.
Junior forward Matthew Brown (Orlando, Fla.) paced Greensboro with a game-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Junior forward Tim Boulware (Greensboro, N.C.) contributed 15 points and four rebounds for the Pride, while senior guard Ty Hill (Shallotte, N.C.) filled the stat sheet with 14 points, nine boards (four offensive), five assists, four steals and a block, and junior guard Isaiah Pruett (Asheville, N.C.) notched 12 points, four rebounds and a game-best seven assists.
Greensboro got out to the early lead as the Pride used an 11-0 run to turn a two-point game (11-9) into a 22-9 lead. Four different players scored during the spurt including a pair of three-pointers from Hill and junior guard Rujon Walters (Kinston, N.C.). Trailing 24-11, the Bears ripped off eight straight points on a pair of trifectas from Parsons and two free throws by Halbleib to make it a five-points game (24-19). A Brown jumper and a Hill layup extended the Greensboro lead to nine at 28-19. Bridgewater answered with a 10-2 run, jumpstarted by a Halbleib trifecta and capped off by a pair of Okoh buckets, to pull to within one (30-29). After a Grant Thompson (So., Graham, N.C.) jumper, BSU sophomore guard Alex Gonzalez (Peabody, Mass.) drained a three-pointer and Jennings knocked down a jumper to give the Bears their first lead of the game, 34-32, with 1:56 remaining in the first half. Junior guard Mason Sergi (Ashburn, Va.) closed out the stanza with a three-pointer to put the Pride back on top, 35-34, at the break.
The Pride shot 40% (14-35) in the first half and went 4-for-13 (30.8%) from three-point range. The Bears connected on 43.3% (13-30) of their field goal attempts in the opening stanza and went 5-for-11 (45.5%) from behind the arc, but also turned the ball over 11 times. Parsons led all players with nine first-half points, while Hill paced Greensboro with eight.
The second half featured seven ties and ten lead changes. Trailing 74-40 with under three minutes left to play. Brown drained a three-pointer and knocked down a jumper to put Greensboro up by one (75-74) with just 51 seconds remaining. The Bears turned the ball over on their next two possessions, but the Pride went just 1-for-4 at the free throw line over the final 33 seconds. Okoh collected a rebound off a missed Greensboro free throw and drove to the hoop for the game-tying layup with ten seconds showing on the clock as the game headed to overtime.
In overtime, a Halbleib layup was answered by a Hill trifecta as the Pride took a 79-78 lead. The Bears then reeled off seven straight points on a Jennings layup, a Gonzalez jumper and a Halbleib three-pointer to jump back on top, 85-79, with 49 seconds showing on the scoreboard. Pruett answered with a trifecta and Boulware came up with a clutch steal. Out of a timeout, a Boulware dunk pulled Greensboro to within one (85-84) with just five seconds left to play. The Pride quickly fouled, and Okoh made 1 of 2 free throws at the other end of floor to extend the BSU advantage to 86-84. Greensboro had a chance to win the game off a long inbounds pass, but a three-pointer fell short at the buzzer.
Bridgewater State shot 43.1% (31-72) from the floor, 39.3% (11-28) from three-point range and 76.5% (13-17) at the free throw line, and finished with a 52-38 rebounding advantage (11-8 offensive).
Greensboro connected on 42.1% (32-76) of its field goal attempts and went 10-for-26 (38.5%) from behind the arc and just 10-for-22 (45.5%) at the charity stripe. The Pride forced 21 turnovers and held a 27-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
In upcoming action, the Bears open Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play next Wednesday when they travel to Framingham State University for a 5:30 game with the Rams. The Pride head to Piedmont University on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Lions at three.
Guilford Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team
- Jorden Davis, Guilford
- Tyler Dearman, Guilford
- Ty Hill, Greensboro
- Emerson Halbleib, Bridgewater State
- Cade Stinnett, Centre