Box Score
Despite a late rally, the Bruins came up just short as the team fell to Piedmont College on Friday night 95-91 in the Davis Field House. "Our inability to get stops defensively really hurt us tonight," Bruins Head Coach Neal Ring. "I was happy with our offense but our lack of energy on defense was disappointing."
The loss marks the 4th in a row for the Bruins as the team played their final home game of the first semester. It was an emotional night for the Bruins as the team said goodbye to longtime manager Trevor Baker. The senior is graduating after this semester and has served as the team's manager the last four seasons.
"Trevor has been a blessing to me and everyone on the team for the last four years," said Coach Ring. "We will truly miss Trevor and we wish him luck in his future endeavors."
The Bruins entered the game looking to get back on track after the team suffered a disappointing loss to Emmanuel College on Tuesday night. Quez Fisher scored the first six points of the night as the Bruins took the early lead. Piedmont was able to answer with an 11-2 run to jump out to an 16-8 lead in the opening minutes. After a timeout from Coach Ring, the Bruins caught fire shooting 56% from the field in the 1st half. Despite the hot-shooting by the Bruins, the Lions matched BJU basket for basket to keep the lead. The Bruins closed out the half with a small offensive run, but the team trailed 42-40 heading into the break.
Dustin Killough gave the Bruins a spark in the 2nd half. He scored 12 points and back to back layups to give the Bruins a 69-66 lead, their first since it was 6 to 5 in the very beginning of the game. Piedmont was able to answer the Bruins rally with a pair of 3's from Peyton Luke and Justin Vallejo to again retake the lead.
"Our defense gave way too many open uncontested shots all night long," said Coach Ring. "They are too good of shooters to leave wide open and we were unable to consistently challenge their shots."
With the game drawing to a close, the Bruins were able to fight back and cut the deficit to three points with under a minute to go. Sophomore Jayson Barnhart hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining to make the score 91-88. After a missed Piedmont free throw, freshman Nate Ellenwood was fouled going up for a layup and was able to make the ensuing free throw to make it a one-point game at 92-91.
A pair of free throws by Peyton Luke gave Piedmont a 94-91 lead with 10 seconds left on the game clock. Coach Ring's team was out of timeouts so the team had to quickly get up the floor to try to tie the score. Marshall Riddle was unable to get an open look at a 3-point attempt and had to force a contested shot that missed.
The Lions calmly made their free throws down the stretch to ice the 95-91 victory.
"Tonight was a tough loss," said Dustin Killough. "We need to show more heart. We all made mistakes tonight and now it is up to us to get after it and take pride in our defense."
Nate Ellenwood led the Bruins with a double-double as the freshman had 17 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 5 assists. He was one of four Bruins to score in double figures as the team shot 53% from the field throughout the game. Justin Matthews had 16 points and Dustin Killough scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 2-11 on the season.
Next week is exam week for Bob Jones University, but the Bruins will be back in action on Friday as they travel to Kentucky to take on the University of Pikeville.
