Box Score

The aptly named Running Eagles used their pressure defense and up-tempo style of play to defeat the Bob Jones University Bruins 88-70 on Saturday evening in Greenville, South Carolina. "This was a very tough team for us to play against but a good team for us to play," Coach Neal Ring said. "We told the guys after the game that we need to not settle for good shots but instead work for great shots in the game. We did some good things out there and now we just need to continue to keep putting it together moving ahead this season." 

 

The Bruins came into the game on the heels of their first conference win of the season with an 80-68 victory over Columbia International University on Tuesday night. The team was looking to add to their win column as they welcomed the Life University Running Eagles who were beginning the first of a four game road trip. 

From the opening tip, the Eagles came out strong as they knocked down back-to-back buckets en route to building a 7-0 advantage. The Bruins came charging back behind back-to-back three point bombs by Marshall Riddle as the Bruins fought back to tie the game 12-12. From there, the Eagles went on a 10-0 run as they pushed the tempo and moved the ball effectively on offense for points.

With just under two minutes in the first half, Dustin Killough drove through the lane and finished the play to cut the lead to 35-27. The Bruins were hoping to hold the Eagles in the final minutes, but gave up a costly three point shot with just over 10 seconds to play in the half as the Eagles took a 38-31 lead into the break.

"We know we needed to stay focused and stay locked in," Bruins' captain Ray Holden said. "We had opportunities and looking back we could have been down 1 or tied if we had made those plays, but our guys were encouraging each other to stay positive and do what we needed to do to get back in the game."

In the second half, the Eagles came out firing once again and took advantage of the Bruins defensive zone by moving the ball around to the open man and scoring on open looks. Kyle Turner helped to power the Bruins inside as the captain had 16 points on the night for the team. Marshall Riddle and Dustin Killough provided the scoring touch from the outside, but the team couldn't seem to string together a sustained offensive run as the Eagles remained on top. 

The Eagles got a momentum boost from Allen Dantzler as he slammed down a dunk on the break to put Life University up 64-49. The Bruins tried to claw their way back into the game, but each time the Bruins would score, the Eagles would match bucket for bucket as they maintained their double-digit lead. As the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles had run away with the game defeating the Bruins 88-70. 

"We were sitting back and expecting them not to shoot," Bruins' captain Kyle Turner said. "We didn't close out like we needed to and these are college basketball players and we gave them too many open opportunities to score. Our guys know they can compete at this level it is just about going out and executing our game plan and pushing through the adversity of the end of this season."

Marshall Riddle led the Bruins with 17 points while Kyle Turner chipped in 16 and Dustin Killough and Ray Holden each had 11. The Eagles won the rebounding margin 45-38 as the Bruins allowed Life University to shoot nearly 50% from the floor in the game. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 14-11 on the season with just six games remaining before the regional playoffs. Next up, the Bruins will travel to Johnson and Wales University on Tuesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina.