Box Score
The Bruins hit the road on this holiday weekend to battle the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters on Saturday night. The Bruins were facing their second-straight NCAA opponent after losing to USC Upstate on Tuesday night.
Bob Jones University has won two of their last three entering the game on Saturday night. The two teams had met during the Bruins inaugural season in 2012 with LMU handling the Bruins in a 95-58. The Railsplitters were 4-1 entering the game against the Bruins and suffered their only loss of the season in a tough OT game against Anderson.
As the game began, the Railsplitters went on a tear and started the game with a 9-0 run to put the Bruins backs against the wall. The team struggled to stop LMU from scoring and really struggled in securing rebounds against the bigger and stronger Railsplitters. The Bruins would eventually cut the lead back down to 2 behind Larry Taylor's 16 first half points as the score was 22-20.
From there, the Railsplitters rode the shoulders of Curtis McMillion who had 13 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks in the first half as LMU extended their lead to double-digits. LMU outscored BJU 21-8 in the final minutes of the half to go into the break with the score 43-28.
"We had no answer for their post play," Coach Ring said. "We tried switching up things several times on the defensive side, but they were just bigger and stronger inside."
In the second half, McMillion and the Railsplitter offense continued to dominate the Bruins. LMU hit five second-half three pointers while shooting 45% from the field.
The Bruins managed several short runs, but were outmatched as the Railsplitters continued to increase their lead. The Bruins tried everything to get back into the game, but even Larry Taylor's 29 points were not enough as the Bruins fell to LMU 99-63. Curtis McMillion had a record-setting night for the Railsplitters with 9 blocks (LMU single game record), 27 points and 20 rebounds.
"We did some good things tonight," Coach Ring said. "It was a difficult matchup to start with for us, but our guys fought hard and battled throughout this game. We knew this was going to be a tough game for us and I thought our guys played hard."
With the loss, the Bruins fall to 4-6 on the season. Larry Taylor led the way for the Bruins with 29 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. The Bruins were happy to have Darnel Antoine back in the lineup as the sophomore guard chipped in 8 points for the Bruins. The team was outrebounded 61-26 in the game and shot 33% from the field for the game. The Bruins will have the rest of the weekend off before welcoming in cross-state rival Columbia International University on Tuesday night.
