It was the most exciting game to this point of the season! Everyone in Summers Gymnasium was on their feet at the end of regulation and throughout the overtime. However, the Bryan College men's basketball team found themselves with the short end of the stick, so to speak. The Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime where the Lions were outscored 12-9 to lose by a final score of 107-104.
Bryan hit the first shot of the game and jumped out to a 20-5 lead to start the game. The two teams went into the locker room with the score 40-33 in favor of the Lions. Bryan led by as many as 12 points early in the second half. TWC slowly fought back into the game and took their first lead with just under six minutes remaining in regulation. The Lions were leading by four points with 1:24 left in regulation before the Bulldogs rattled off five straight points to take a one-point lead with 37 seconds left. Bryan immediately came down and hit a shot to go back up one with 27 seconds on the clock. TWC came down the floor and attacked the Lions' defense and drawing a foul; however, they missed both attmepts. Bryan grabbed the rebound, was fouled immediately and made both free throws to go up by three with five seconds on the clock. The Bulldogs came down the floor, passed the ball to their shooter, and he fired a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. After some confusion the referees made it clear that it counted, sending the game into overtime. In the overtime, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to go from down two to up five with two minutes remaining. The Lions were unable to recover from the run.
One hundred and four points is the most points that Bryan has scored since 11/11/2008 when they scored 115 points. The Lions shot 49.3% from the floor for the game, but the Bulldogs shot 53.9%. Bryan recorded 44 rebounds for the game, 13 more than their opponent. Bryan tallied 14 turnovers, four more than TWC. Both teams passed the ball well, as the Lions tallied 15 assists and the Bulldogs tallied 20.
Lavonte Henderson led the Lions in scoring with 31 points and had a game high 10 rebounds. Rob Riley finished with 24 points and six rebounds. Dion Fair and Tim Fortenberry added 13 points apiece. Fair also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
The Lions are now 10-13 overall and 5-4 in the AAC. They play again on Tuesday in a conference game at Montreat College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm ET.
