Jake Johnson provided the offensive punch Bridgewater College needed as the Eagles held on for a 87-81 overtime win over the Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team Wednesday night in Bridgewater, Va.

The win puts the Eagles at 14-10 overall and 10-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. BC has also secured a spot as one of the top five teams that will receive a bye in the ODAC Tournament.

EMU falls to 14-10 on the season, 8-7 in the conference. With Washington & Lee's loss to Roanoke College tonight the Royals can also set their sights on the ODAC Tournament and will not have to host a "play-in" game. Teams ranked 6-thru-11 will compete next Tuesday, February 24, with the three winning teams heading to the conference tournament. EMU holds a tie-breaker over the number six team, Virginia Wesleyan College, after beating the Marlins in both games this year.

Dominick Trawick managed a team high 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles while Jake Johnson poured in 16 points off the bench on 6-of-6 shooting from the field.

EMU was led by sophomore wing Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) who scored 14 points to go along with 10 boards, his second straight double-double. Senior wing LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va./Tunstall) led the way with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field while D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) had another 14 points for the Royals.

The Eagles, flying high after a tough overtime win against Washington & Lee, matched the Royals score-for-score throughout the first half as the two teams headed into the locker room tied at 41. EMU held the largest lead of the first frame at seven points (25-18) following a dunk by Hinson only to have BC not the game up at 27. A jumper by Hinson with 10 ticks remaining was answered by Justin Reavis just before the clock struck zero.

Hinson had 11 points in the half with Trawick giving the Eagles 12 points.

Another see-saw battle ensued during the second half as neither team was able to gain more than five point advantage. Bridgewater, up 54-50 with 13:07 remaining, saw Phillips drive down the court on consecutive EMU possessions and hit layups each time. EMU then had a five point lead dissipate as a pair of jumpers by Johnson and two consective free throws by Kyle Hammond later in the stanza put the Royals up only one (64-63, 5:53). Robert Rice capped the 6-0 run with a layup on the Eagles' next possession to put the home team up one.

Both teams then exchanged baskets throughout the remaining five minutes until two points from the charity stripe by Johnson put BC up 72-70 with 40 seconds left. Junior guard Austin Twine (Dublin, Va./Pulaski Co.) drove down the court and hit the game-tying layup only seven seconds later. The EMU defense then locked down on the Eagles as BC was unable to hit the go-ahead bucket as the clock wound down.

Overtime saw the Royals jump out to a three point lead as a layup, plus one, from Parrish made the score 75-72. BC tied it on a long ball by Rice only to have the visiting team again push ahead as sophomore guard George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) hit one of his two threes on the day. Bridgewater seemingly put the game out of reach following the Johnson three as a 9-0 swing by the home team made the score 84-78 with 1:36 left. The Royals did not go quietly as Johnson sank his second three ball of the game to cut the deficit in half (84-81, 1:10). EMU fouled Trawick and the senior guard delivered on both attempts to put BC back on top by five. With 17 seconds left, Reavis hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to make it a six point game as the Royals were unable to connect on two three-point attempts as time expired.

Johnson finished with 13 points, four steals, and three assists. Twine also had four steals for EMU. Sophomore forward Orie Pancione (Augusta, WVa./Hampshire) tied Phillips with 10 rebounds.

Rice had the Eagles other double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Johnson had only four points in the first half yet added the other 12 points during the second half and overtime.

The Royals will look to close out the 2009 regular season on a high note as they travel to Lexington, Va., on Saturday, February 21, for a conference showdown with the Generals of Washington & Lee at 2 p.m.