With the 83-72 win over the Toccoa Falls College Screaming Eagles, the Bruins are now the NCCAA DII South Region Champions!
After the win, Head Coach Burton Uwarow shared his coaching philosophy in a way to highlight his players by saying a quote by Lao Tzu: "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."
After a short amount of rest from the semifinal game, the Bruins came out a little flat on the offensive side. Everything clicked, however, after the first bucket finally came three minutes into the game. It was a very tight and very physical first half as each team committed over 10 fouls while the largest lead for either team was only five points. Trevor Brunson and Shad Vander Hart both found themselves in foul trouble with three fouls each. The Bruins and Screaming Eagles went back and forth, but it was Devin Dean picking up right where he left off last night and scoring 10 first half points to help the Bruins take a 36-32 lead going into halftime.
The Bruins did not lose any source of energy or effort in the second half. The Screaming Eagles were able to come back from eight down to take the lead with seven minutes to go in the game. The Bruins stayed calm and played like they have been all season to close out the game down the stretch. After losing the lead, they went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. Trevor Pittman connected on three triples which were huge momentum-getting shots. To nobody's surprise, Devin Pope and Devin Dean continued to do their thing and stepped up. Dean scored 11 more points in the second half finishing the game with 21 and Pope finished with 16 points.
Three other Bruins players scored in double-figures: Freshman of the Year Braxton Murray shot a perfect 5-5 finishing with 12 points, Trevor Brunson finished with 10 points, and Shad Vander Hart also scored 10.
Coach Uwarow highlighted some key players from this weekend after securing the region banner:
"Trevor Brunson is a legacy student who has meant so much to our program. From his freshman year when he hit a buzzer-beater to go to the championship to his earning a spot on the Fall Dean's list, he has had an unprecedented impact on our program.
Devin Dean had his best two games of the season this weekend. We don't win a championship without his production off the bench.
Tostadas Pouncey played huge minutes this weekend and was such a steady presence each game.
Joshua Dorsey didn't play as many minutes as the others but gave us a great contribution by playing great defense and getting key rebounds.
And lastly, Devin Pope played like the Region Player of the Year in both games. He played excellent defense today and really led us well."
This marks the third time in four years that the Bruins have become NCCAA South Region Champions. They will now be taking a trip to the NCCAA National Tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota where they will compete for a national championship!
