The Bruins took a short road trip across town on Monday night as the team battled Furman University in a midseason exhibition. Unfortunately, the Bruins fell behind early and never recovered as they suffered a 88-24 loss to the Paladins. Gracen Ledford led the Bruins with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals but the Bruins committed 32 turnovers which plagued them in a win.
"We just had a hard time executing on offense," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "With a small marigin for error, we simply erred too much and didn't reward ourselves when we did get a good look."
The Bruins came into the game having won four of their last five games. The team knew they would be in for a tough test as they faced the Paladins who came into the game having lost two of their last three.
From the opening tip, the Paladins came out strong behind the scoring touch of Le'Jzae Davidson as Furman jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Gracen Ledford hit a three to stop the scoring run, but the Bruins struggled to maintain possession as the ended the first quarter trailing 25-8.
Kylee Leffew opened the scoring for the Bruins in the second quarter but the defensive pressure by the Paladins continued to cause the Bruins to struggle as the team just couldn't get into a rhythm offensively. The Paladins took advantage as they continued to force turnovers and score in transition. As the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bruins trailed 55-15 at the break.
In the second half, the Bruins shooting struggles continued while the Paladins continued to stretch their lead. With the game out of reach, the Bruins didn't give up as they ended the quarter trailing 75-24.
With the game out of reach, the Bruins came out looking to end the game on a high note. While the team was able to string together several bright spots in the game, the team couldn't slow the Paladins or find a way to generate consistent offense as they fell 88-24.
"I was disappointed with our lack of excellence and execution," Coach LeViere said. "We want to give ourselves a chance to compete against the highest level, but we have to do a much better job. Furman is a really well-coached and fundamentally sound team. They were tough for us to handle."
The Bruins learned a lot in this exhibition as they battled a very strong and athletic team. Next up, the Bruins will resume their regular season of play as the team will be on the road Thursday night against Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
