Box Score
The Bruins welcomed in the Thomas University Night Hawks on Saturday night to Greenville. The team had snapped a four-game losing streak in defeating Columbia International University 93-86 in double overtime on Tuesday night. The Night Hawks have begun the season well with a 5-1 record. The two teams met early in November, with the Night Hawks getting a 88-75 win over BJU. The Bruins knew they were going to be in for a tough test as they took the court in front of the Bruin faithful in the Davis Field House.
As the game began, the Bruins started off hot behind the slick shooting of Zach Mercado who scored 12 of the team's first 14 points to give BJU the early advantage. The Night Hawks battled back into the game and eventually knotted up with the Bruins at 22-22.
The two teams went back and forth trading baskets, but the Bruins stood strong in limiting opportunities for Justyn Watkins, who had torched the Bruins with 31 points in their last meeting. Kyle Turner and Ray Holden owned the glass for the Bruins and showed great strength in battling for boards against a bigger-sized Thomas squad. "I made it my personal goal in this game to get rebounds," Ray Holden said. "Coaches preach in practice about boxing out and we did a good job of that tonight."
As the half was nearing its end, the Bruins went on a 5-0 run behind a putback by Alec Hansen and a three from Kyle turner to increase their lead to 40-35 at the break. "I have to give credit to our coaching staff who did a great job in scouting this game tonight," Coach Ring said. "They are a very good program and we knew what we needed to do in rebounding and playing tough defense."
In the second half, the Bruins came out strong in the opening seconds with a basket from Ray Holden and a three from Larry Taylor to give the Bruins a double-digit lead at 45-35. The Bruins kept up their hard-nosed defensive effort by forcing tough shots and battling for every rebound and loose ball. With 8 minutes remaining, Darnel Antoine had a big three point play for the Bruins to increase the lead to 60-48. Antoine went down minutes later with an ankle injury and never returned. "It's always tough when you lose one of your brothers," Bruins guard Larry Taylor said. "Our team is really close, and with him going out it motivated us to win for him."
The Night Hawks clawed their way back into the game with good free-throw shooting to cut the lead to 73-65. After a timeout, the Bruins got a clutch three from Zach Mercado, his fifth of the game, to put the lead back up to double digits. Down the stretch, the Bruins shot well from the free-throw line as they continued to keep the lead.
The last ditched runs were not enough for the Night Hawks as the final buzzer handed the Bruins an 83-72 win to keep them a perfect 3-0 at home. "This was a big win for us tonight," Coach Ring said. "I was very proud of our effort. Our guys played great defense and rebounded really well. We're looking forward to Monday."
Four Bruins scored in double figures for the Bruins. Larry Taylor led the way with 20 points and Zach Mercado had 19 while going 5-11 from three-point range. Kyle Turner added a monster double-double on the night with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The team shot 87% from the free-throw line accounting for 33 of their points. With the win, the Bruins climb back to .500 at 4-4.
The Bruins will have little time to rest up as they travel to USC Upstate on Monday night. The team will make their ESPN debut as the Spartans and Bruins will be aired on ESPN 3. The Bruins will certainly be in for a tough test as they battle the NCAA DI Spartans on the road.
