The Bruins pushed their winning streak to four straight as the team used a late run to defeat Clinton College 88-72 on Friday night in the Davis Field House in Greenville, South Carolina. Nate Ellenwood led the Bruins with 21 points on the night while Kendall Norrington finished with 13 as the team moves to 6-5 on the season.
"We played our best game of the year on Tuesday night and we wanted to come out and play even better tonight," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "While we were disappointed in some of the ways we played, we also did several things well to be able to get this win. Obviously, we needed to be better in turnovers but we played well defensively and rebounded well."
Less than 24 hours ago, the Bruins had a late cancellation with another opponent. The team made several calls before Clinton College had an opening to come to Greenville on late notice. The Golden Bears came into the game at a perfect 4-0 after starting the season strong. Both teams looked to continue their winning ways as they took the court.
From the opening tip, the Bruins and Bears traded points and the lead as game got underway. Near the midway point of the half, the Bruins began to find their rhythm offensively as Daniel Fuller hit a three followed by baskets by Nate Ellenwood and Hayes Brush as the Bruins led 28-21.
The Bruins continued to maintain the upper hand as Kendall Norrington and Zac Orr battled for points in the paint while also playing well on the block defensively for the team. With less than two minutes to go in the half, Andarius Boulware hit a jumper for the Bears to spark a run as Clinton College came back to trail 38-34.
The Bruins answered right back as Nate Ellenwood made a jump shot and then stole the ball on the next possession and fed Norrington for a layup. The Bears closed out the half with back to back baskets as the Bruins led 46-40 at the break.
In the second half, the Bruins came out strong as a layup by Chapman Harwood and a three by Daniel Fuller sparked a 10-2 run to help the Bruins push their lead to double-digits. The team continued to find ways to score as the ball zipped around the perimeter before finding open shooters for layups and high percentage shots. After Kendall Norrington made another layup, the Bruins had their largest lead of the game at 68-51.
It looked as though the Bruins would run away with it, but the Bears came roaring back thanks to the shooting touch of JC McCorn as he hit back to back threes to spark a big run. The Bruins needed an answer and found it in the play of Cam McKennedy as the senior guard did seemingly everything for the team inlcuding coming up with two key steals to help the Bruins keep the lead.
With just over three minutes to go, the Bears had battled back to trail 78-72 and looked to keep up their momentum and regain the lead. Daniel Fuller had other plans as the sophomore hit a big three for the Bruins and McKennedy followed it up with a layup to to spark a 10-0 run. The Bruins never looked back as they went on to win 88-72.
"Coach always tells us to lead with our actions," Bruins guard Cam McKennedy said after finishing with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in the win. "When I get in the game, I feel like my job is to bring the energy and play good defense and to encourage the people around me to do the same."
The Bruins were able to overcome 26 turnovers as a team with key baskets and defensive stops at key times throughout the game. The Bruins also won the rebounding margin 40-27 while forcing the Bears to shoot just 37% from the field and 15% from three point range in the game.
With the win, the Bruins move above .500 for the first time this season. Next up, the team will close out the first semester of play with back to back games against NCAA DI opponents next week. The Bruins will face Gardner-Webb University on Thursday before traveling to USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon.
