Box Score
Kyle Turner powered the Bruins with a near perfect night shooting as he finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds to help the Bruins hold on for a 79-74 overtime win over Columbia International University on Tuesday night. "There is a totally different mentality all around on our team," Turner said. "There were times this season when I we didn't think we could win and that's just gone now. We got down several times this game and we could have packed it in but we didn't and we kept fighting."

 

The Bruins picked up a key conference win in the victory and move to 7-15 on the season. The Rams have struggled this season as the team entered Tuesday's game with a 2-18 record having lost 4 of their last 5 games. Earlier this season, the Bruins were able to come from behind to steal an 87-81 win on the road in Columbia. Tonight, the Rams were looking to get some payback as the two teams took the court in front of the Bruin faithful.

In the opening minutes, the Rams and Bruins traded baskets and the lead as both teams sought to establish momentum. After a Ryan Favor jump shot, the Rams took a 21-14 lead, the biggest lead of the 1st half. The Bruins were struggling to score as the outside shooting of the team continued to fall short. Defensively, the Bruins were able to limit the Rams opportunities and rode the inside presence of Kyle Turner who had 6 points and 5 boards in the half.The Bruins were able to hold the Rams to just 5 points in the final 9 minutes of the half as the Bruins closed out the half on a 19-5 run to go into the break tied 26-26.

"We knew we were doing what we needed to do but we were just struggling offensively," Coach Neal Ring said. "We continue to be our own worst enemy in that we do something well and then it takes us five possessions to do that well again but that is learning and our guys worked hard and came out and executed our game plan."

As the second half began, both teams knew this game would go down to the wire as each possession became that much more important. The Bruins began to heat up behind the impressive play of Kyle Turner who finished the night shooting 89% from the floor. Each possession, Turner looked unstoppable against the Rams defense."Right now I am playing with a lot of confidence from anywhere on the court," Turner said. "When I get in the post I feel like I have enough moves and I knew these guys were going to try for some blocked shots so I used some pump fakes and head fakes to get some open shots."

With less than a minute to play, Kelso Wright made a layup for the Rams to tie the game at 69-69. On the next possession, Ray Holden picked up his 5th foul of the game and gave the Rams an opportunity to take the lead. Kelso Wright made one of two free throws to give the Rams a 70-69 lead. On the next Bruins possession, Kyle Turner was fouled with just 5 seconds remaining. Turner made one of two free throws to tie the game at 70-70 and send the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, the Bruins defense was the main component as the team held the Rams scoreless until just over a minute left in the period. Although the Bruins struggled from the free throw line, clutch baskets by Marshall Riddle helped the Bruins hold on for a 79-74 win over CIU.

"I have a lot of respect for Coach Mendenhall and his players," Coach Ring said. "Tonight the ball just bounced our way a couple of times. Both of these teams played really hard and that is a lot of credit to them because they have struggled with some tough games this year. We knew we needed to play great defense against them and I love how these guys came into practice yesterday and bought into what we needed to do and came in today and executed it. Overall, I'm very pleased with how we played today."

Five Bruins players scored in double figures but Kyle Turner led the Bruins with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Marshall Riddle had 14 points and 6 assists, Ray Holden had 14 points and Chae Dexter and Noah Smith each scored 12. The team won the rebounding margin 33-28 and was able to limit their turnovers throughout the game. The Bruins shot 58% from the field but only 47% from the free throw line. The team was able to pickup a key conference win as the Bruins move to 7-15 on the season. The team has now won 3 straight and 4 of their last 5 games. 

Next up, the Bruins will finish up their home stand with a matchup against cross-town rival North Greenville University on Thursday night.