The men’s Bruins basketball team defeated their rivals the Pensacola Christian College Eagles during prime time on Friday night.
The men’s team won the game 98-81 and took down the Eagles in front of a massive crowd. The Davis Field House was frantic throughout the contest, energizing their Bruins to victory.
“We were well rested and really had a good first half for the most part,” said coach Burton Uwarow.
The Bruins shot out of the starting gate and managed to score the first bucket on a Justin Matthews dunk.
The crowd went crazy, and the atmosphere was electric.
The Bruins fell behind 6-12, and things were looking a little bleak, but Justin Matthews again answered the call with a pair of threes to tie the game.
Matthews said, “When you are at home, it’s important to take that initial crowd energy and just expand off of it.”
The senior guard definitely used the energy to his advantage and had a game-high 30 points.
It seemed as though every time the Eagles went on a run, a Bruins player answered with either a dunk or a three-pointer.
The Bruins took off at the end of the first half and finished with a 50-41 lead.
Freshman forward Quiyante Burroughs attributed the Bruins’ excellent play to their defense.
“I felt like at the beginning of the year we were just focused on offense, but now we are focusing on [both] defense and offense, and it’s making a big difference,” Burroughs said.
The Bruins entered the second half and began to push their lead behind a big effort on the defensive end.
The Bruins forced the Eagles into 20 turnovers, and allowed only five threes. It was an all-around stellar effort.
Nate Ellenwood had a double-double tallying 26 points and 12 assists, Dustin Killough added 17 and Quez Fisher was a constant force in the paint.
The Bruins kept pushing in the second half and when the final buzzer sounded, the Davis Field House erupted.
The Bruins took the first contest versus Pensacola this season and scored nearly 100 points in the process.
The women’s team lost a heartbreaker to the Eagles in the double-header Friday. The women Bruins were winning the game by 10 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t quite clinch the win. Coach Leveire said the loss “stung” because they were so close to winning.
The women were in a good spot to close-out the game, but just couldn’t quite pull away.
The women Bruins tipoff tonight against Toccoa Falls College at 6 p.m., and the men’s game begins at 8 p.m.
