The Bruins began their 2025-26 season with a loss on the road at Montreat College falling 91-71.

In the first half of play, the Bruins got out to a very hot start. Junior Brandon Wilkins was much to credit for that scoring 10 of the first 19 points for the Bruins including back-to-back three pointers. The Bruins led 19-6 at one point early on, but then fell cold. The Cavaliers brought it back very quickly going on a 16-0 run, and it remained tight the rest of the half. Sophomore Justin Skelton tallied nine first half points followed by Shad Vander Hart's seven points. Head Coach Tony Miller played a deep bench in the first half with 13 players seeing time on the floor. They went into the locker room down 42-33 after a quick run by the Cavaliers to end the half.

The second half brought struggles on the defensive side for the Bruins as they could not cool down the Cavaliers offense who shot 51% in the second half. Bruins had a hard time finding points in the paint, but that comes with it being early in the season. The more this team gels together, the better they'll move the ball and find easy shots. Execution will come. Shad Vander Hart had a strong second half and found his way to the free throw line for 13 second half free throws. He finished the with 22 points leading all scorers. Wilkins added 10 more points to his total and finished with 20. 

"This was a good road test before our first region game coming in nine days," Head Coach Tony Miller said after his first game as head coach. "Our guys played hard, and we will continue to improve our execution on both sides."

The Bruins will continue to grow together in this early season. The next time they hit the court will be on November 1 as they travel to Laurel, Mississippi to take region opponent Southeastern Baptist College.