A desperation three fell short for the Suns as time expired as the Bruins held on to capture their second region win of the season with an 82-80 victory over Johnson University (FL) on Saturday night. With the win, the Bruins move back to .500 on the year at 8-8 and move to 2-0 in region play.
"We knew this was going to be a tough game," Bruins Head Coach Burton Uwarow said. "Coach McCoy and his staff have done a great job with this team. This is the type of game where we needed to rely on several players at key times and those guys each stepped up to help us get a win. With all of our guys it wasn't in the amount of points they scored but when they got them that made the difference."
The Bruins came in playing their third game in as many days as they took the court against the Suns. The Bruins had defeated Welch College on Friday night while the Suns had battled Grace Christian to a last minute loss. Both teams were hoping to close out the weekend with a win as they took the court at the Sun Dome.
From the opening tip, the Suns rode the energy of the hometown crowd as they pushed the tempo and created open looks with good ball movement. As a result, Johnson took a 17-13 lead near the midway point of the first half.
Chapman Harwood sparked a rally for the Bruins as he hit back to back threes to help cut into the lead. The Bruins had grabbed momentum and it showed as the team closed out the half well to take a 38-36 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Bruins continued to take good care of the ball as they found open spaces to score. Nate Ellenwood finished the night with 18 points and was efficient in and around the rim to keep the Bruins on top.
A three by Ellenwood with just over six minutes remaining gave the Bruins a 70-64 lead as the team looked to close out the Suns for the win. The home team had other plans as they chipped away at the lead to make it a one possession game.
Cam McKennedy made a clutch three for the Bruins with just over two minutes to play as BJU led 76-74. The Suns came right back but couldn't take the lead. The Bruins were able to make several key free throws down the stretch to keep the upper hand as they led 82-80 before Devin Dean was fouled with just four seconds to play.
Dean missed the one and one opportunity and the Suns raced back up the floor finding Antwan Bradley in the corner for a last-second three. Bradley's shot hit the iron and bounced out as time expired as the Bruins held on for an 82-80 win.
"We got some grit and resiliency from these games in these past three days," Coach Uwarow said. "We really stood toe to toe with some quality teams which is going to give us a lot of confidence moving forward."
The Bruins had several key performances in the win including 15 points off the bench from Devin Dean and 10 points from Chapman Harwood off the bench. Nate Ellenwood led the Bruins with 18 points and 4 rebounds while Jayson Barnhart had 8 points.
Next up, the Bruins will return home as they welcome region-rival Pensacola Christian College on Friday in Greenville, South Carolina. Tip-off for the game is set for 7 p.m. at the Davis Field House.
