Box Score
Bob Jones University Bruins guard Marshall Riddle achieved a milestone in his career with the team by scoring his 1,000th point on Friday night. But Piedmont International would spoil the Bruins attempts at a win as the team defeated BJU 84-78 at the Davis Field House.
"It was an off night for us," Riddle said. "They did a good job defensively and not giving us any open looks."
Coming into tonight's game, Riddle was just 4 points away from achieving the 1,000 point milestone. After struggling to find his groove at the beginning of the game, Marshall Riddle pulled up for a transition three-pointer to put him over one thousand career points. The Bruin faithful gave their congratulations as the Bruins held the lead in the opening minutes. Still, PIU stayed right with the Bruins as they drove through the lane and found back door cuts for layups. Piedmont closed out the half strong with an 8-2 run as the two teams went into halftime with BJU leading 39-35.
In the second half, Justin Matthews knocked down a three-point shot to stretch the Bruins lead. The team was able to keep that lead until midway point of the half as PIU began to come back. Costly turnovers and giving up second chance points crippled the Bruins as PIU took the lead.
Fouls would also prove to be a factor in the game as the team had 26 team personal fouls tonight forcing several players to exit the game in foul trouble. The team also had 15 turnovers which didn't allow them to climb back into the game.
Still, the Bruins were within three points at 72-69 with around two minutes remaining. Piedmont's Josh Daniels stopped the Bruins rally as he chased down Nate Ellenwood on the fast break and blocked his shot which would have pulled the Bruins within one. Nash Carter helped close out the game for PIU as he led the way with 23 points and six rebounds. Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch iced the victory as Piedmont International held on for an 84-78 win.
"We didn't do a very good job moving out feet on defense," Bruins Coach Neal Ring said. "We gave up way too many rebounds and second chance points. We didn't show a lot of toughness tonight, but we told our guys we need to move on from this and not let it beat us going forward."
Dustin Killough led the Bruins with 17 points while Marshall Riddle added 16. Jayson Barnhart had a good game off the bench for the team with 13 points and 8 rebounds. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in region play. Next up, the team will welcome Columbia International University on Saturday afternoon.
