The Bruins men's basketball team came up short against the Clinton College Bears 86-79 in the team's final preseason tuneup before the regular season. With the loss, the Bruins finish preseason play at 0-2.
"Our two scrimmages have been against teams who full court press," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "The schools who play those kind of systems tend to have a lot of success early because it's so early in the season. It's hard to simulate that kind of style in practice so it's good that we face teams like this for scrimmages. You are what your record is and right now we are a team that doesn't handle pressure very well and doesn't take smart shots."
The Bears jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead to begin the game forcing an early timeout from Coach Uwarow. The Bears full-court press and half-court trap defense made it difficult on the Bruin offense, as they had 15 turnovers on the night. After the timeout, the Bruins were able to regroup and rally back into the game.
By the 11:00 minute mark of the first half, the Bruins came back to take the lead 21-19. The lead grew to as high as 12 points in the first half as Jayson Barnhart and Dustin Killough provided the scoring touch for the Bruins. The team even got a spark from the bench as Matt DeHart came in with a lot of energy which got the team going defensively. Going into halftime, the Bruins held a 43-41 lead.
Turnovers continued to haunt the Bruins as they allowed the Bears to reclaim the lead. Midway through the second half Clinton College built up a double digit lead, but again the Bruins were able to rally back. With under a minute to play Bob Jones cut the deficit down to 78-74 after a three-point play from Justin Matthews, who finished with 14 points on the night. Clinton College knocked down clutch free throws to hold on to win 86-79.
"The games only get tougher from here," Coach Uwarow said. "Adversity introduces a man to himself. Our entire first semester schedule is really tough. It's an opportunity for our Juniors and Seniors to show how battle tested and mature they really are."
Jayson Barnhart led the Bruins with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Dustin Killough had 16 points, Justin Matthews finished with 14 and Quiyante Burroughs had 12 points in the game. The Bruins shot 46% from the floor but the team struggled from beyond the arc as they only made 20% of their three point attempts.
The Bruins will tip off the regular season next Friday night as they travel to Montreat, North Carolina to take on Montreat College. The home opener for the Bruins is on October 30 as the team welcomes North Greenville University.
