The Bruins basketball team bounced back on Friday morning as the team defeated #6 Trinity Baptist College 69-49 in the consolation bracket of the NCCAA DII National Tournament. The Bruins will wrap up the season on Saturday as they play #1 Randall University in the final game of the 2018-19 season. The Bruins were eliminated from championship contention on Thursday night with a loss to #2 seeded Grace Christian University in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The Bruins would meet a familiar foe on Friday's consolation game as they faced region rival Trinity Baptist College for the fourth time this season. The two teams split their regular season meetings before the Eagles were able to outlast the Bruins 65-55 in the region championship to punch their ticket to nationals. The Bruins earned an at-large bid to the tournament. Trinity was coming off a loss to #3 seeded Johnson University (TN) on Thursday.
Both teams wanted to keep their season going with a win as the Eagles and Bruins took the court to battle for the fourth and final time this season. It was a good overall team effort by the Bruins as they had four players in double figures in the win over the Eagles. Jon Allen led the way for the Bruins with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in the win.
"Honestly, we still were a little upset from losing to Trinity in the region championship," Allen said. "We really wanted to come out and win those little four minute segments that we talked about before the game. We had great ball movement and made great cuts to open up for layups. That was key for us in the win."
The Eagles struck first off a three from Steven Branch but the Bruins responded as Jayson Barnhart hit a jumper and Daniel Fuller knocked down a three to give the Bruins a 5-3 advantage early on. Both teams traded baskets in the following minutes with several lead changes as the game neared the midway point of the first half.
After the Eagles took a lead, the Bruins responded with a 15-0 run to storm back and take a 26-17 lead. The Bruins showed great chemistry as they forced the Eagles into tough shots while pushing the ball in transition for points. The Eagles refused to back down as they clawed back to close the game before the half including hitting a three as time expired as the Bruins led 29-27 at the break.
The Bruins stormed out of the gate in the second half as they again used their high pressure defense to generate fast break opportunities. Another 11-2 run allowed the Bruins to take a 41-29 lead. The Eagles responded with a few short runs, but the Bruins were able to maintain their double-digit advantage thanks to points in the paint from Zac Orr and Quiyante Burroughs.
With just over six minutes to play, Jon Allen hit a three for the Bruins to push the lead to 56-39. The Eagles never recovered as the Bruins played well down the stretch to win 69-49. The Bruins shot 54% from the field in the win.
"One thing we have talked about from the very beginning is playing to a standard," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "When you do that, it doesn't matter whether you are playing for a championship or just a consolation game because you want to play to that standard. We had one of our best performances of the year last night and it was our first home loss against an NCCAA DII program this year. The guys wanted to responded to that and I thought they had a great effort today."
Jon Allen's great performance fueled the Bruins but the team also got solid contribution from forward Zac Orr, who finished the night with a near double-double 12 points and 9 rebounds. Jayson Barnhart had 13 points on the night while Daniel Fuller finished with 10.
Next up, the Bruins will play their final game of the 2018-19 season as the team takes on #1 seeded Randall University in the final consolation game. The game is a rematch of the 2018 national championship. Tip-off for the consolation game is set for 9 a.m. at the Davis Field House in Greenville, South Carolina.
