Box Score
The Bruins traveled to Thomasville, Georgia for their first road game of the season. Their opponent was the Thomas University Night Hawks. The Bruins were riding a two-game winning streak with victories over Johnson University and Toccoa Falls College. The Night Hawks compete in the NAIA and were riding their own two-game winning streak with victories over Florida National and Brewton-Parker. The Bruins knew they would be in for a tough matchup against the high-powered offense of the Night Hawks.
In the opening minutes, the Bruins and Night Hawks were neck and neck trading baskets back and forth with the game remaining close. The Bruins looked to shut down Justyn Watkins, the Night Hawks leading scorer, by leaving the wings open and shutting down the lanes to the basket. The Night Hawks had been a dismal 13% from behind the arc so far this season, but on this night, the team went 5 of 6 in the first half. Despite the Night Hawks hot shooting, the Bruins remained close and even led 26-24 behind shooting 50% from inside the arc and 35% from 3-point range.
After gaining the lead, the Bruins had an eight minute scoreless stretch in which the team couldn't seem to put points on the board. The Night Hawks responded by taking it to the Bruins to jump out to a 48-30 lead at the half.
"We knew this was going to be a good early season battle for us," Coach Ring said. "We had a game plan going into this and I thought we played well and stuck with them early on, but then we let them play their transition style and dug ourselves into a hole."
In the second half, the Bruins made great adjustment and came out strong in the opening minutes. Larry Taylor helped to steer the Bruins offense by driving the lane and getting to the line for the Bruins. Taylor scored 28 for the Bruins as the team continued to chip away at the deficit. The team was playing good defense, and only committed 11 turnovers on the night. As the Bruins cut it to 10, the team began to show signs of fatigue which the Night Hawks capitalized on. Down the stretch, the Bruins just couldn't get any closer as the final buzzer ended any chance of a comeback and handed the Bruins their first loss of the season 88-75.
"We learned a lot about ourselves tonight," Coach Ring said. "We gave a good effort in the second half and I am confident we will continue to get better as we continue this season."
Larry Taylor led the way for the Bruins with 28 points and 11 assists while Kyle Turner chipped in 15 points to go along with 7 rebounds. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 2-1 on the season. Next up, the Bruins will be on the road again as they travel to Emmanuel College on Tuesday night for a region-matchup with the Lions.
