Box Score
After a disappointing loss on Thursday night, the Bruins men's basketball team bounced back with a dominant 104-77 victory over #8 seeded Moody Bible Institute on Friday afternoon. Marshall Riddle led the team with 30 points while Dustin Killough scored 21.
"We challenged our guys to play hard, play smart and have fun," Bruins Coach Neal Ring said. "This was another game and another opportunity to live Christ and our guys responded really well."
The Bruins came out strong from the opening tip as Dustin Killough scored back to back baskets to help the team jump out to a 9-3 lead. The Bruins pushed the tempo early as they used a strong defensive pressure to force the Archers into several turnovers which fueled transition points. Still, the Archers refused to back down as they relied on the scoring touch of big-man Trey Frank, who finished the game with 40 points.
At the midway point of the first half, Dustin Killough took control again as the junior guard had several nice jumpers and drives for points to help the Bruins build a double digit lead. But the Archers again found a spark as they went on a run to cut the lead to 39-35 with just over four minutes to play in the first half. The Bruins responded by attacking the rim which earned them points from the free throw line. As the first half came to a close, the Bruins held a 50-41 lead.
"We didn't do a good job on their two best scorers but we did a good job in limiting the other players," Coach Ring said. "We knew they were going to be tired so our goal was to push the tempo and see if we could take advantage."
In the second half, the Bruins came out strong behind the hot-shooting of Marshall Riddle and Dustin Killough. The pair combined for nearly 50% of the team's points on the night. With the Archers having to focus their attention on Killough and Riddle, several other players found their groove as Jayson Barnhart and Justin Matthews knocked down shots to help increase the lead. The Bruins went on a 15-4 run which was capped off by a Justin Matthews slam dunk as the team lead 74-54. From there, the Bruins continued to push the tempo and find open shooters for points.
Marshall Riddle put the exclamation point on the win as the junior guard hit back to back three point shots to put the game out of reach. The final buzzer handed the Bruins a 104-77 win.
"Hopefully today we found some range and rhythm and tomorrow we'll look to build on that as we face Manhattan," Coach Ring said.
Marshall Riddle set a new single-season record for the Bruins as he scored 30 points on the night to move his season total to 640 points. The team got great contributions from others as well as Dustin Killough scored 21 points, Justin Matthews scored 13 and Jayson Barnhart scored 16 while shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field. The Bruins defense stood strong as they forced 21 turnovers on the night.
Next up, the Bruins will play in their final game of the season tomorrow morning as the team will face #2 seeded Manhattan Christian College.
