The Bruins men's basketball team picked up their first win of the season on Friday night as the team defeated Oglethorpe University 75-63 in Mount Berry, Georgia. The Bruins shot 56% from three in the game to capture the win. The victory also marks a first for the Bruins in their first win over an NCAA D3 program as the team moves to 1-2 to begin the season.
"I'm pretty happy with our first win," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "We put a couple of freshmen in and they responded well in situations they haven't been in before. Everybody got a chance to play tonight and we plan on playing everyone again tomorrow. If we can utilize our bench that will help us with experience deep into the season."
The Bruins came into the game after opening the season with two hard-fought losses to Johnson University (TN) and South Carolina State University. The team would be on the road again on Friday for the first of two games in the Viking Tip-off Tournament hosted at Berry College. Oglethorpe came into the game after opening their season with a victory over Warren Wilson College on Saturday.
From the opening tip, the Petrels came out strong as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The Bruins were able to answer back but still played from behind as Oglethorpe answered each basket to keep the lead. Slowly, the Bruins clawed their way back into the game thanks to four steals by Nate Ellenwood in the opening half. After Cam McKennedy hit a jump shot, the lead was cut to 20-18 near the midway point of the first half.
The Bruins began to find their rhythm and closed out the half on a 17-5 run thanks to a pair of threes by Chapman Harwood and solid post play from Jayson Barnhart and freshman Kendall Norrington. As a result, the Bruins had stormed back to take a 35-25 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Bruins picked up where they left off as threes from Jon Allen and Daniel Fuller helped the Bruins increase their lead. The Petrels tried to fight back but the Bruins kept up the pressure and continued to hit their open shots.
Jayson Barnhart hit a three for the Bruins to increase the lead to 52-32 as it looked like the Bruins would run away with the game. The Petrels had other plans as they came back with a run, eventually cutting the lead to single digits 59-50 after a layup by Carlos Sone.
The Bruins responded well as they worked the ball around for high percentage shots with each possession. As a result, the Bruins continued to keep their lead thanks to layups from Ellenwood and Devin Dean. As the final buzzer sounded, the Bruins picked up their first win of the season 75-63 over the Stormy Petrels.
"We played well and got a lot of guys involved in the game tonight," Trent Robinson said after giving the Bruins a spark off the bench with 7 points and two rebounds in the win. "We just have to get fueled and rested and get ready to come back out tomorrow."
Nate Ellenwood had a solid all-around game for the team with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists. Jayson Barnhart also had 12 points in the game while also recording three rebounds and four assists. The Bruins committed 20 turnovers, but the team overcame some of their possession struggles shooting 10-18 from three-point range and winning the rebounding margin 35-28. The defense also forced Oglethorpe into 22 turnovers.
Next up, the Bruins will be back on the court on Saturday as they face Berry College. Tip-off for the game is set for 12 p.m.
