The Bruins jumped out to an early lead, but couldn't hold it as the team fell to Southern Wesleyan University 81-62 on Saturday night at the Davis Field House. The Warriors rallied to take the lead in the first half, and then held off a late second-half rally by the Bruins to win the game. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 1-9 on the season. This was the 3
rd game in the last 6 days for the Bruins, as the team most recently was defeated by NCAA D1 opponent Gardner Webb.
"Our tough schedule has taken its toll on us," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "We showed signs of fatigue which led to some lazy turnovers on our end."
Despite the tough schedule thus far, the Bruins stuck with Southern Wesleyan throughout the game. BJU jumped out to an early 9-0 lead in the first five minutes and held the Warriors scorless for nearly six minutes to start the game. Stone Champion provided the scoring touch for the Bruins with several three point shots. Southern Wesleyan then called timeout and made some defensive adjustments. The Warriors took advantage of their depth off the bench and implemented a full-court press to force some turnovers from the Bruins. It worked to near perfection as they forced seven BJU turnovers (19 for the game), taking a 40-29 lead into halftime.
"We struggled to break their press today," Coach Uwarow said. "Limiting turnovers is something we can improve on."
In the second half the Bruins came rallying back. A strong performance from senior Jayson Barnhart led the way as he scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half. With 13 minutes to go in the game, a three-pointer by freshman Daniel Fuller cut the Warriors' lead to 52-46. On the following SWU possession, Jalen Lowry hit a three-pointer of his own with only one second remaining on the shot clock to kill the BJU rally. That seemed to be the story of the second half as small Bruins runs were cut short by the Warriors.
The Bruins were able to stay within striking distance, but were never able to cut the lead closer to six points as Southern Wesleyan was able to hold on for a 81-62 win. Three-point shooting was key for the Warriors, shooting 10-21 as a team.
"I was proud of our defensive effort," Coach Uwarow said. "This may have been our best defensive effort of the year for the full forty minutes of the game. We continue to improve each game and we need to just keep working hard to get better."
For the Bruins, Jayson Barnhart led the team in scoring finishing with 20 points. Stone Champion scored 16 points, and Jon Allen dished out seven assists. Next up, the Bruins will face off against Erskine College on Thursday in another home game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
