Box Score
Since beginning their inagural season, the BJU Bruins have played on the road. From Georgia, to Tennessee, to North Carolina and seemingly everywhere in between, the Bruins have faced adversity. As they took the court against the Southern Polytechnic State University Hornets on Monday night in Georgia, the Bruins were facing their third game in the last four days. The Hornets came into the game ranked sixth in the NAIA DI poll. The Hornets are a well-developed program, and the Bruins knew they would yet again be facing a bigger, stronger and more experienced opponent.
From the opening tip, the Bruins' biggest obstacle could be summed up in one word: size. The Hornets were able to dominate the paint as the team drained basket after basket over the Bruin forwards. The Bruins were able to counter effectively on the offensive end, but seemed defenseless against the Hornet forwards. As the half ended, the Bruins were trailing 42-28.
"We were outsized tonight," Coach Ring said. "Despite that, we still fought hard, and our guys kept playing."
In the second half, the Bruins cut into the Hornets lead and brought the lead down to 8 in the middle of the second half. Darnel Antoine provided a spark off the bench with 12 points, but the Hornets then used a series of Bruin turnovers to stretch the lead back to 16. From there, the Hornets never looked back as the bigs continued to dominate the paint. The Hornets scored 42 points in the paint and showed their dominance in controlling rebounds and second chance opportunities. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bruins ended their road trip with a 86-56 loss.
"This has been the best thing for us," Coach Ring said of the team's 10 road games to start the season. "We were able to see what it takes to compete at this level, and each game we see little improvements. Now it is time to come home and play."
The Bruins move to 1-9 on the season and will play their first home game in school history on November 27th against Emmanuel College. The players and coaches are looking forward to hearing Bruin nation in full voice.
"We need all our fans to show up," Coach Ring said. "They are the sixth man, and we want to feel the energy that our crowd can generate. It's going to be nice playing in front of our home crowd."
