Box Score
The Bruins basketball team opened up the 2013-14 season on Friday night as they welcomed Johnson University to the Davis Field House. The team finished the 2012 season at 6-24 and were looking to build and improve in their second season of competition. Johnson University recently named a new mascot for the program in choosing the "Royals" to represent their university.

The Bruins worked very hard this offseason to improve and brought in several key players to help fill holes on offense and defense. The team was looking to capitalize on the opening night excitement brought on by the Bruin faithful who filled the gym to see their team kick off the season. 

As the game began, the Bruins fed off the excitement as newcomer Larry Taylor shredded the Royals defense with crisp passes and drives through the lane. The Bruins offense quickly jumped out to an 18-6 lead behind several layups and open looks. The Royals countered with smooth shooting from guard Louis Allen who scored 20 first half points. Despite Allen's output, the Bruins fast paced-offense was firing on all cylinders as the team was very efficient in finding players who were open to score. Kyle Turner had 11 points in the first half, and was on the receiving end of many of Larry Taylor's assists.

"He is very calm and collected as he plays," Turner said of Taylor. "He knows when to pick his spot and stretch the defense which opens it up for us." The Bruins closed the half by going on several good runs and when the dust settled, the team took a comfortable 48-33 lead into the break.  

"We have a lot of offensive potential this year," Coach Ring said. "Our guys have really bought into the system and it showed tonight." 

In the second half, the Bruins offense picked up the tempo even more as the team executed their cuts for open opportunities to score. Limited to just 6 points in the first half, Larry Taylor had 17 second half points as he drove through the lane for easy layups. The drives through the lane opened up the wings as Evan Brondyke and Zach Mercado had many looks from three point land. The Bruins worked hard on the offensive glass as the team grabbed 20 offensive rebounds throughout the game. "The coaches really stressed to us to be physically tough on the glass," Bruins' forward Kyle Turner said. 

As the second half wore on, the lead became larger and larger for the Bruins. At one point the lead reached 28 points as the Bruins shot just under 50% for the game. As the final buzzer sounded, the Bruins had captured their first win of the season with a 90-64 victory over Johnson University. 

"We really played well going after the boards tonight," Coach Ring said. "We executed offensively, but we know we are going to have to play better defense going forward." 

With the win, the Bruins improve to 1-0 on the season. Larry Taylor just missed a triple double on the night with 23 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. Kyle Turner had a double-double on the night with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Zach Mercado added 12 points on the night. The Bruins had 9 of their 12 players score as the team put up the most points in the program's history. Next up, the Bruins will welcome Toccoa Falls College on Tuesday night.