After a back-and-forth first half in which the Tigers held a 34-33 lead at the break, Hampden-Sydney pulled out to a ten point advantage, 67-57, midway through the second half thanks to the hot hand of freshman Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan School) who scored 16 of his career-high 27 points in the second half. A layup by Zach Butler then started an 11-0 run for the Eagles as Easterling scored six straight points before Ashby Tarkington’s three-pointer with 5:55 to play gave the Eagles a 68-67 lead.
The Tigers took the lead back on an Aaron Lewek layup, but a free throw by Butler and consecutive jumpers by Easterling pushed the Eagles back out in the lead, while the team converted on six straight free throws over the final 1:11 to put the game on ice.
Bridgewater finished the game shooting 58 percent (26-for-45) from the floor, while the team made 5-of-8 (63%) from three point range and 27-of-31 (87%) from the line as the Eagles attempted 19 more free throws than the Tigers. Hampden-Sydney converted on 49 percent (28-for-57) of its shots from the floor while making 8-of-17 (47%) from beyond the arc and 8-of-13 (62%) from the line.
Prehmus led all scorers with 27 points as he knocked down 8-of-12 from the floor and canned 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Junior center Aaron Lewek (Raleigh, NC/Leesville Road) added 15 points, while sophomore center Davis Bowne (Hickory, NC/St. Stephens) had eight points and five boards.
Ashby Tarkington finished with 13 points, while Josh Maupin scored ten to give the Eagles four players in double figures along with Easterling’s 24 and Michael’s 21.
Hampden-Sydney, which is in the midst of an eight day stretch when it plays five games, returns to action Monday, January 10, as the Tigers travel to Harrisonburg, VA, to take on ODAC-foe Eastern Mennonite at 7 pm. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.