The top-seeded Bruins opened the NCCAA DII South Regional Tournament with a convincing 94-59 victory over the #4 Southeastern Baptist College Chargers at the Davis Field House. Despite never facing SBC prior to Friday's matchup, the Bruins easily handled the Chargers and began their quest to secure their third regional championship in the last four years.
"We did a really good job out rebounding them tonight," said Coach Uwarow after the game. "We had only 5 turnovers in the second half, and we had different people come in and do the small defensive things well. I felt like we deserved the victory tonight as well as the margin of victory simply because of how our guys played and the effort they gave."
The first half of action began and freshman Devin Dean wasted no time putting up points for the Bruins, nailing two threes and a tip-in layup to give the Bruins an 11-6 lead. However, the Chargers rattled off a 7-2 run to decrease the deficit to 21-19. While the Bruins struggled to find their offensive rhythm, they applied tight defensive pressure on SBC to maintain their early 29-24 lead.
Then, the Bruins' offense erupted. Cam McKennedy and Devin Dean sparked the offense with two fastbreak layups, followed by a three and an alley-oop slam dunk by Devin Dean. The 9-0 run by the Bruins increased their lead to 38-24. After both sides traded some late buckets, the Bruins entered the halftime break with a 42-29 advantage.
As the second half began, the Bruins showed no signs of slowing down their scoring onslaught. Their inside attack, led by Jayson Barnhart, led to several trips to the free-throw line and brought about a 9-2 run. Down 51-30, the Chargers fought back with an inside game of its own, but the Bruins continued to out-hustle and out-muscle them. Nate Ellenwood and Hayes Brush combined for 7 quick points to extend the lead to 63-39.
Yet, the Bruins never let their foot off the gas pedal. Cam McKennedy exploded for 8 points, including an and-one layup and a three-point shot. Following a tip-in by Nate Ellenwood and a fastbreak layup by Daniel Fuller, the Bruins were burying the Chargers 79-49.
With the victory secured, Mark Dickerson added dramatic flair to the already impressive performance by the Bruins. Dickerson nailed a beautiful step-back three in the closing minute which brought the fans to their feet as the Bruins ran away with a convincing 94-59 win.
Devin Dean lit up the Chargers defense with 19 points and collected 4 rebounds and 3 assists along the way. Cam McKennedy displayed his skills on both sides of the ball, compiling 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. The team exhibited incredible effort on the glass and out-rebounded SBC 45-28 in the game.
With the win, the Bruins advance to their fourth straight NCCAA DII South Region Championship. They will face the #2 seeded Johnson University Suns, who defeated #3 Toccoa Falls College in the semifinal round. Tip-off for the region championship is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Davis Field House.
