From Demorest, Georgia, the Bob Jones University men's basketball team dropped Tuesday night's exhibition 109-85 against Piedmont University. The Bruins shot well throughout the contest, but turnovers proved costly in the the loss.
"We scheduled this exhibition against Piedmont because we knew how skilled and well coached they are," said Head Coach Burton Uwarow. "Tonight's exhibition and our exhibition against Furman this weekend are two great opportunities for us to get better in 2023. Again, everyone got the opportunity to play against a great team and gain some experience."
The Bruins were back on the road as they traveled to Demorest, Georgia for a Tuesday night exhibition against Piedmont University. Bob Jones entered the week 2-3 on the season after falling in a tight contest to Brevard College on Friday. On the other side of the court, a hot Piedmont University came into today's contest 6-2 on the season after their six game winning streak was snapped by Brevard College on Sunday.
Since 2016, the Bruins and the Lions have faced each other nine times with the Lions now owning the 8-1 series record.
Right from the whistle, Kenney Garrick opened the scoring for Bob Jones with a layup assisted by Camden Gearhart. A three pointer by Devin Pope put the Bruins ahead 5-0. Piedmont evened the score just minutes later and slowly began increasing their lead throughout the first half. After 20 minutes of play, the Lions sat ahead on the scoreboard 60-42.
Piedmont got off to a hot start in the second half with a 15-5 run through the first five minutes. The Bruins continued to battle throughout the rest of the game scoring 43 points in the second half, but it was the Lions who finished on top in the 109-85 result.
Every player got on the court tonight, and three Bruins ended the night in double figures with Kenney Garrick leading the way with 19 followed by Devin Pope at 15 and Shad Vander Hart with 12 points. The Bruins shot over 50% from the field, 68% from outside the arc and were 77% at the free throw line in Tuesday's loss.
"I was pretty disappointed with the amount of three point makes we gave up and the amount of points we gave up off of our turnovers," said Uwarow. "We need to make significant improvements over the next two weeks as we start region play right after Christmas."
Up next, the Bruins are back at home as they welcome Regent University for a Friday night game at the Davis Field House.
