Box Score
The Bob Jones University Bruins battled to a tough win on Saturday afternoon as the team defeated the Warren Wilson Owls on Saturday afternoon 87-79. The two teams went back and forth throughout in a game that featured 46 fouls between the two teams. Jayson Barnhart scored 25 points and Dustin Killough added 24 for the Bruins. The win was the fourth for the Bruins in the last five games.
"We executed our game plan really well and we did it in a short amount of time to prepare," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "This season, we haven't done well when we got punched in the mouth but the guys responded tonight and played a complete game. A key for us this season is consistency and we played very well tonight."
The Bruins knew they would be in for a tough test against the Owls, a team that had scored over 100 points six different times in the 2017-18 season. Furthermore, the Bruins would be without big man Quez Fisher as the junior was sidelined with illness. Bruins big men Luc Muhirwa, Jayson Barnhart and Chris Gray would pickup the post duties to help lead the Bruins to the win.
Justin Matthews hit a three in the opening possession for the Bruins as the team jumped out to a 7-3 lead. The Bruins forced the Owls to slow down their tempo with hard nosed defense and contested shots. Still, the score remained close as the Owls would eventually come back to take a slim lead at the midway point of the half. The Bruins answered as Justin Matthews threw down a dunk and the team got great play in the paint from their forwards. The Owls were able to climb ahead as the half ended with the Bruins trailing 39-35.
In the second half, the Owls came out with an opening three but Dustin Killough answered with a three of his own to keep the score close. Neither team was able to pull away as the lead changed several times in the second half. With under seven minutes to play, the Bruins looked to take advantage of their advantage in the post. Jayson Barnhart was up to the task as he shot 11-14 from the field and scored 10 straight points for the Bruins to help them take a 75-72 lead. Luc Muwhira also provided a huge spark for the Bruins off of the bench, finishing with 10 rebounds, 6 points, and a steal.brought a lot of energy as the sophomore forward was all over the court contesting shots, making layups, grabbing rebounds, and even finding open shooters. Thanks to key free throws and good defensive stops, the Bruins held off the Owls with a 87-79 win.
The Bruins limited the Owls to just 22% shooting from three point range and forced the team into 13 turnovers on the night. The Bruins were able to win the game on the boards as the team out-rebounded WWC 42-29 in the game. Next up, the Bruins will be on the road Tuesday against Johnson and Wales University before the team comes back home for a rivalry game against Pensacola Christian College on Friday night.
