With the victory, the Eagles clinched the No. 3 seed in the ODAC tournament with a 12-6 conference mark. Bridgewater finished 17-8 overall.
The Yellow Jackets finish at 15-9 overall and 13-5 in the ODAC. Randolph-Macon and Virginia Wesleyan tied for the top spot in the regular season standings. The pairing for this weekend’s tournament will be announced Wednesday by the ODAC office.
The Eagles led for most of the contest until a late run in regulation gave the Yellow Jackets the upper hand. Two free throws by Justin Wansley gave the Yellow Jackets a 62-58 lead with 17 seconds left but a layip by Bridgewater’s C.W. Durrette with 10 seconds remaining kept BC’s hopes alive. Randolph-Macon’s Justin Moyer missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds remaining and Josh Maupin chased down the rebound for the Eagles. Bridgewater put the ball in Easterling’s hands and the senior standout banked in a 10-footer with one second left to tie the game at 62-62.
Randolph-Macon’s Philip Hawley and Easterling traded buckets to open the overtime session, but Easterling and Clay Michael hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Eagles the lead for good. Bridgewater took its biggest lead of the overtime when Ashby Tarkington knocked down a long 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 71-64 advantage with 2:12 left.
The Yellow Jackets answered quickly with a 3-pointer by Stephen Southerland, but Matt Fitzgerald worked inside for a big hoop, giving BC a 73-67 lead with 1:39 left.
After Easterling missed a free throw, Patrick Gill swished a 3-pointer to pull the Jackets within three, 73-70, with 46 seconds left.
Easterling and Tarkington combined to make four straight free throws down the stretch to put the finishing touches on the 77-72 victory.
Easterling made his final game at Nininger Hall a special one as he led the Eagles with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Tarkington, also a senior scored 14 points and junior Clay Michael finished with 16 points and nine boards. Fitzgerald also came up big in his final home appearance as he finished with a career-high 10 points.
For the Yellow Jackets, Hawley led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Wansley, who was held to just two points in the first half, finished with 14 points and nine boards. Southerland also scored a career-high 14 for the Yellow Jackets.