BRIDGEWATER, Va.—In a closely contested match that featured seven ties and 12 lead changes, the Southern Virginia University men's basketball team held firm down the stretch to earn its second win of the season by defeating Bridgewater College, 71-68, Monday night at Dininger Hall in Bridgewater, Va.

With both teams matching basket for basket throughout the game, the first half was highlighted with a quick three by Knight forward David Baety seconds into the game and a Wesley Evans putback at the buzzer to give Southern Virginia (2-8) a 31-28 advantage at the half.

Baety and forward Justin Langford led the Knights with eight points apiece in the opening half to lead the team. Baety would finish the game with a team-high 14 points, including 3-4 from three-point range, while junior guard Kevin Walker was second with 12 points and a team-high six assists. 

Langford and center Michael Neufville also ended the game in double figures with 11 and 10 respective points while Evans and Kyle Dragnich each contributed nine points. The Knights shot a season-best field goal percentage of 51.9 percent (27-52) to claim the victory and went 8-16 (50 percent) from beyond the arc and 9-12 (75 percent) from the stripe.

"It's a relief to get back in the win column," said Southern Virginia head coach Tony Caputo. "It was a great team effort – we ran our plays as we should, distributed the ball evenly and everyone had a part in pulling it out. Kevin did a great job of spotting scoring opportunities and we played with more patience."

The victory over the Eagles was the Knights' fifth straight over Bridgewater, improving the all-time series to 5-6 in slight favor of the Eagles.

Ed Riddick led the Eagles (7-4) with 20 points on 8-14 shooting, while Aaron Adams, Kyle Welty and Logan Seacrist each had 10 points in the loss.

Southern Virginia quickly resumes conference play with a CAC matchup Wednesday night at Penn State Harrisburg. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. in Middletown, Pa.