In the first round of the NCCAA DII Men's National Championships, the Bruins beat the Simmons College Falcons 102-90 and are now moving on to the quarterfinals.

"It was great to play again after a week and a half off," Head Coach Tony Miller said. "Justin got us off to a great start in the first half, and the rest followed in the second half. I am proud of how we closed the game out."

The first half was a game of runs with Justin Skelton leading the charge for the Bruins. The Bruins jumped out in front right out of the gate and were up 9-2, but the Falcons answered with a run of their own to take the lead back. But that didn't seem to bother the Bruins because they answered with a 13-0 run. The Bruins seemed to have a pretty comfortable lead as they were getting closer to halftime, but a few turnovers led to some made buckets for the Falcons, and the lead was cut to 48-44 going into halftime. Skelton led all scorers with 24 first half points.

The Bruins held a steady lead for the whole second half, even though the Falcons stuck around a little bit. After getting into a little foul trouble in the first half, Shad Vander Hart had to play conservatively, but he was able to turn up the intensity in the second half and Trevor Pittman joined him. They both scored double-digits in the half and kept the Bruins in front. The clock began to dwindle for the Falcons, and the Bruins took total control of the game with a few minutes left. The final score ended up at 102-90.

Justin Skelton led all scorers with 33 points, followed by Shad Vander Hart with 26 points and 14 rebounds to go with it. Trevor Pittman's second half efforts led to him scoring 17 in the game, and Braxton Murray added 10. 

The guards, Brandon Wilkins, Trevor Pittman, Drew Cannon, and Conner Barfield were all great on the defensive side.

The Bruins are now moving on to the quarterfinal game as they will play against the #2 seeded Great Lakes Christian College. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT.