The Lions hosted the Buffaloes of Milligan College on Wednesday night. Bryan struggled early in the game, but fought back to defeat Milligan 61-46.
The Lions slow start found them down 1-13 to begin the game. Starting post players Scott Newton and Astral Guerrier found themselves in foul trouble with 2 apiece less than 5 minutes into the game. The struggles continued as Milligan built their largest lead up to 14, 22-8, with 7:20 left to play in the half. Bryan closed the first half on a 17-8 run to go into the locker room down 25-30.
In the second half, Bryan picked up their defense and held the Buffs to just 16 points for the half. Milligan went up 37-27 before the Lions went on a 14-0 run to take a 41-37 lead. The Lions never relinquished the lead after that, pulling away in the last 4 minutes to win by 15.
The Lions were led in scoring by Astral Guerrier with 15 points. Keith Bauer and Derek Batt added 11 and 10 points respectively. Scott Newton led Bryan on the boards, grabbing 9 rebounds. Demond Craig dished out 6 assists.
The Lions are now 3-1 in the conference and 10-5 overall. The win put Bryan in a 3-way tie for first place in the conference. However, they have defeated the other two teams they are tied which gives them the tie breaker. The Lions play again on Saturday at home against conference opponent Virginia Intermont College. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00pm ET.
