The Bob Jones University men's basketball team has improved to 9-3 on their season and remain unbeaten in region play as they picked up a 97-64 victory over NCCAA South Region opponent Carolina Christian College.
"We played the first game of the night which is unusual for us and then the game got delayed. It was a bit of a weird night especially coming off of a busy weekend playing back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. But I thought that the guys responded well," said Head Coach Burton Uwarow.
Bob Jones took on Carolina Christian College for just the third time Tuesday night. The Bruins entered today's game on a hot streak looking to protect their home court where they sit at a perfect 8-0. As a new member of the NCCAA South Region, Carolina Christian College made their way to the Upstate 1-5 on the season. The Centurions picked up their first win on January 8 in a 93-76 game over Virginia University of Lynchburg.
After a bit of a late start due to travel complications, the game got underway at the Davis Field House. It was an early battle as the two teams went back and forth exchanging buckets.
The Bruins began to pull away as Hayes Brush's layup in the paint put BJU ahead 15-10. A shot from outside the arc by Kenney Garrick followed by a basket by Brandon Wilkins saw the home team build a 10 point lead with 12:06 on the game clock.
Carolina Christian began chipping away at the deficit and within two minutes closed the gap to put themselves behind by just one. In the final two minutes of the first, Bob Jones went on a 10-2 run with five of those points recorded by Trevor Brunson. Heading into halftime, the Bruins put themselves back in the driver seat with a 12 point advantage, leading 47-35.
Due to the delayed start time, the two teams only had a 10 minute halftime break to rest and regroup.
After the break the Bruins went on a 12-2 run to open the second half ahead by 22 points. In the middle of the second frame, the two teams again went back and forth across the court to exchange points.
With just over a minute remaining, Davis McCarn sent one towards the basket from the three point line. As the ball bounced off the rim, Connor Barfield was there to jump up and tip it in to record his first points as a Bruin. Carolina Christian netted one more with 0:28 on the clock to close out Tuesday's contest.
BJU outscored the Centurions 50 to 29 in the second half to finish the region matchup with the 97-64 victory.
When speaking of some of the takeaways from tonight's game, Coach Uwarow said, "in the first half, it seemed like Carolina was able to get every rebound. They had 20 points in the paint at halftime and only 12 points in the paint in the second half. We had 30 points in the paint at halftime, and we ended up with 66. That's both a negative and a positive. I thought they got too much, but that's some of the most points in the paint we've had this year. That is something we need to lessen that our opponents get and keep that pace."
He continued saying. "everyone got in the game on our team and they were able to get 40 points off the bench, and I was really happy with that. That was some of the things that went well and some of the things that need to get better."
Each member on the Bruins squad hit the court today with three Bruins finishing today's contest in double figures. Trevor Brunson recorded a season high 22 points followed by Kenney Garrick with 19 and Hayes Brush totaling 14 points.
Up next, the Bruins will take on another NCCAA South Region opponent in Southeastern Baptist College at 8 p.m. on Friday night from the Davis Field House.
