The Bob Jones University defeated south region rival, Trinity Baptist College, in a 73-66 decision from the Davis Field House in Greenville, South Carolina. With today's win, the Bruins have improved to 9-8 on the season.
"Overall I thought we had more stretches of good things happening and less stretches of the negative," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "We're still learning which is exciting in some ways because we're still getting better, but it's getting to the time of the season that we have to perform. The team knows that and they did a lot better tonight."
The Bruins entered Friday's contest looking to bounce back after Tuesday's loss to Paine College. Trinity Baptist College came into the weekend 4-11 overall and 1-3 in region play after falling to Toccoa Falls College on Monday. Today marked the 18th meeting between the two programs with the Bruins owning the 14-3 record.
Shea Dickinson drained a three pointer to open the scoring for the Bruins as the game got underway. As the first quarter continued it was a three point clinic as 15 of the Bruins 20 first quarter points came from outside the arc. At the end of the first 10 minutes of play, the Bruins held on to an eight point advantage, leading 20-12.
A layup from Tamrah Konieczka followed by a three pointer courtesy of Ashley Phelan extended the lead for the Bruins at the start of the second quarter. The Eagles began chipping away at the lead as the went on a nine point run to cut the Bruins lead to just four points. The two teams exchanged three pointers and heading into halftime the score was 39-33 in favor of the home team.
It was a back and forth effort after the break as the Bruins battled to hold on to their lead. A six point run saw them up by 10 points with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.
As the final 10 minutes got underway, Trinity Baptist College put up a good effort and got within two points of the Bruins with six minutes remaining. But Bethany Daulton put the nail in the coffin as she went 4 for 4 at the free throw line in the final seconds of the game to give the Bruins the 73-66 win over Trinity Baptist College.
Four Bruins scored in the double figures tonight with Bethany Daulton leading the way with 18 points. They finished 81.8% from the free throw line while shooting 46% from beyond the arc and 34% from the field.
The Bruins are back at it again with another NCCAA South region game on Saturday as they take on Pensacola Christian College at 5 p.m. in the Davis Field House.
"Tomorrow should be a good game," said LeViere. "We're going to be ready and will do our best. I anticipate the effort will be there. Execution is what we're continuing to work on and the mental toughness to come through when the game is on the line. There was definite improvement with that tonight, and we're hoping that will continue."
