Box Score
Justin Matthews and Nate Ellenwood provided the one-two punch for the Bruins offense on Thursday night as the pair combined for over half of the team's points to help BJU defeat Southern Wesleyan University 76-69.
"For the first time we put together two pretty good halves and really played well tonight," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "We were consistent from the line and got the post play involved tonight."
The Bruins came into the game on Thursday night on the heels of back to back losses to Furman University and Newberry College. The Bruins were hoping to right the ship and pickup a win on the road as they took the court in Central, South Carolina.
The Warriors jumped out to an early 7-2 lead after recording two second-chance tip-ins. The Bruins were able to claw their way back as Nate Ellenwood scored back to back buckets to tie the game at 12-12. From there, the two teams traded baskets but neither was able to pull away. At the midway point of the half, two straight three-point shots by the Warriors gave them a 28-16 lead. Justin Matthews and Nate Ellenwood sparked a rally for the Bruins which was capped off by a three-point play by Chris Gray. Despite the comeback, the Bruins still trailed going into the break down 36-34.
In the second half, the Warriors came out with back to back baskets but the Bruins hit right back as Justin Matthews scored four straight points to chip away at the lead. The team finally climbed back to take the upper hand after Quiyante Burroughs completed the and-one opportunity. Free throw shooting was key for the Bruins as the team shot 78% from the line on the night.
With just over five minutes remaining, Justin Matthews hit two straight threes for the Bruins to give the team a 62-58 advantage. The Warriors tried to answer but Jayson Barnhart and Nate Ellenwood helped increase the Bruins lead. With just under a minute to play, Ellenwood tipped in a second chance basket to put the game out of reach 73-65. Key free throws down the stretch sealed the victory for the Bruins as they defeated Southern Wesleyan University 76-69.
"We had been struggling finding a good combination on offense but we were able to combine good scoring with good defense to come away with a win," Coach Uwarow.
Justin Matthews and Nate Ellenwood each had 24 points on the night for the Bruins while Ellenwood also added 12 rebounds. Dustin Killough and Jayson Barnharteach had 10 points as the Bruins improve to 2-5 on the season.
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road to compete against their last NCAA DI opponent for the season. The team will compete as part of the Maui Invitational at Wofford College on Saturday in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
