Men's Basketball by Jonny Gamet

Wildcats Outlast Bruins 71-57

Team drops fifth straight in loss to Johnson and Wales

Box Score
The BJU Bruins continued their home stretch by welcoming the Johnson and Wales University Wildcats. The Wildcats entered the game at 3-9 but were coming off a 95-85 victory over Piedmont. The Bruins entered the game at 1-10 and were coming off their home-opener loss against Emmanuel 52-39. With both teams looking to correct their seasons, the Wildcats and Bruins took the court on Saturday afternoon in front of a smaller crowd at the Davis Field House. 

mercado vs jwu
From the opening tip, the Bruins and Wildcats exchanged baskets and turnovers as both teams sought to establish the pace of the game. The Bruins failed to capitalize on several second-chance opportunities and the team committed several costly turnovers throughout the opening minutes of the first half. "We kept trying to make difficult passes instead of making the easy passes," Coach Ring said. "We have to value the basketball and take advantage of opportunities." The turnovers allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead as the Bruins were down by as much as 17 in the first half. After calling a time out the Bruins began to chip away the lead as Zach Mercado knocked down several shots to cut the lead to 11. At the half, the Bruins were down 36-25. 
"Turnovers and bad transition defense hurt us," Bruins' guard Jason McVey said. "Those bad decisions just made our play spiral down."


The Bruins showed their adversity by coming out strong in the second half with a 14-8 run to cut the lead to 44-39. Zach Mercado knocked down several shots, while Ray Holden provided points off of getting to the free throw line. Just as the Bruins found themselves within striking distance, the team turned the ball over on four straight series which turned into points for the Wildcats. The bad play had taken the Bruins from down 5 to down 11. From there the Wildcats never looked back as the team continued to force the Bruins to turn the ball over. In the end, the final buzzer sounded handing the Bruins their fifth straight loss 71-57. 

"We took a step back tonight," Coach Ring said. "We didn't play the defense that we should have today especially in our transition defense. We are still working and tonight we talked to the guys about not taking any more steps back."   

The Bruins committed 26 turnovers on the night, while shooting only 33% from the floor, 17% from 3-point range and 59% from the free throw line. Ray Holden and Zach Mercado each had 16 points to lead the Bruins, but in the end the turnovers crippled the Bruins.

"We have been through a lot so far this year," Bruins' guard Ray Holden said. "Over time we are getting used to this level of play but it is going to take a lot more determination and hard work."

The Bruins will rest up over the weekend before welcoming Southern Wesleyan University on Tuesday night. 
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