It was a tale of two halves on Saturday afternoon as the Bruins struggled in the first half but rallied in the 2nd with a 59-point burst to defeat the Johnson University Royals 94-73. Marshall Riddle caught fire in the 2nd half as the junior scored 39 points and hitting eight three-point shots in the win. 

"We knew they were going to press and we were prepared, but in the first half our defense was just poor," Bruins' Coach Neal Ring said. "We did not do a good job of closing out on shooters in the first half and I challenged our guys at halftime. I was very disappointed with our defense, but we really stepped it up in the second half."

The Bruins definitely stepped it up defensively in the second half, limiting the Royals to just 29% shooting in the half. With Bruins guard Justin Matthews out due to injury, Cooper George was tasked with guarding Kenny White, one of Johnson's best scorers. George held White to just 12 points, making life difficult for the Royals guard all game long. 

But the Royals began the game on fire as Johnson University shot 64% from the field in the first half, including 60% from behind the arc as they jumped out to an early lead. Royals forward Gunner St. John couldn't miss as he was 6-6 from the field and controlling the low post. The Bruins offense couldn't seem to keep pace as the Royals continued to stretch the lead. With the half coming to a close, the Bruins got a big spark from Quez Fisher as the sophomore slammed home a putback dunk just before the half expired as the team trailed 44-34 at the break. 

In the second half, the major storyline was the fantastic play of Bruins guard Marshall Riddle. The Bruins guard knocked down several shots early on and continued to rally the team to eventually overtake the deficit and take a double digit lead.

"I had some looks in the first half, but when I hit some shots in the second half our energy really picked up," Riddle said. "We had to grind out some stops on defense and that's what we did."

Defensively, the team held the Royals hot shooting in check as the Bruins forced JU to shoot just 29% in the 2nd half. With the lead, the Bruins continued to play smart and work for the open shot. Quez Fisher helped fuel the up tempo play as he snagged 13 rebounds on the night to go along with 16 points.

In the end, the onslaught of Bruins offense was too much for the Royals to overcome as BJU ran away with a 93-74 win. Riddle set two records in the victory as his 39 points were the most-ever scored by a player. His 8 made three-pointers also set a new school record.

With the victory, the Bruins move to 1-3 on the season. The team has about a week off before their next game and hopes to get some needed rest and recovery for several injured players. Next up, the Bruins will welcome Piedmont International University on Friday, November 11 at 7 p.m.