By: Scotty Grigsby 
 
Date: November 9th 
Location: Columbia, SC 
Time: 4:00 PM 

CIU men's basketball hosted Tennessee Wesleyan University in their 2019-2020 home opener. The Rams return home after playing two NCAA division 1 schools this week at Mercer and Charleston Southern. Despite a dominant first half, the Rams ultimately fell to the Bulldogs in an overtime thriller. 

First Half
Jeff McIlwain put CIU on the board first with a layup down after a TWU turnover. Corey Benton would net a field goal, with Eric Graham sinking a three pointer shortly after to give the Rams a 7-0 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game. The Bulldogs answered with a 2 pointer at the 17:50 minute mark to cut the lead to 5. The Rams continued their hot shooting as they extended the lead to 10  at the 15:00 minute mark with a lay up from Ram forward Zack Norris. Syvon Holland kept up the 1st half scoring for CIU hitting a jumper for 2 points, making it 22-12. CIU senior Jeff McIlwain would be fouled at the 10:30 minute mark, making both free throws to give the Rams 14 point lead. The Bulldogs would try and get their offense going; however, the Rams defense forced too many bad shooting angles for the Bulldogs. Rams forward Corey Benton would strike yet again with a 3 pointer in the 9:42 minute mark, extending the lead to 33-16. TWU began to gain momentum on offense, scoring back to back field goals closing the gap to 11. The Rams answered the Bulldogs with a lay up from Skyler McKinney, making it 41-25 Rams. The Bulldogs started to find their offensive rhythm in the 4:15 minute mark to cut the lead to 10. CIU forward Darrian Oates hit a 3 to give the Rams a comfortable 49-35 lead heading into halftime.  
 
Second Half
The Rams opened up the scoring in the second half with 2 made free throws from Jeff McIlwain. The Bulldogs responded with a 3 pointer, but  Rams forward Eric Graham answered with another 3 pointer to give the Rams a 13 point lead. The Rams didn't miss a beat from the first half as they continued to score at will. Skyler McKinney would score a jumper for 2 to give the Rams a 58-46 lead at the 16:13 minute mark. The scoring would continue with another jumper from Jalen Brinson that would result in and one foul. Brinson would score the free throw, extending the lead to 61-48. CIU looked to be in control at the 13:45 mark; however, TWU began to get hot offensively. The Bulldogs were able to rebound from this early 2nd half scoring spree, and managed to cut the lead to 3 at 61-58 CIU. Bulldog guard Ty Ellison scored a 3 pointer to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 62-61. The Bulldogs would run out to a 69-65 lead. The Rams continued to battle the Bulldogs with a 3 pointer from Skyler McKinney to close the gap 69-68. TWU continued a hot second half extending the lead to 73-68. The Rams got a stop on defense and managed to cut the lead to 1 at the 5:00 minute mark. TWU extended the lead to 3 in at the 3:22 minute mark. Both teams traded 3 pointers with the score at 82-78 at the 1:10 minute mark. TWU was up 83-80 going into the final minute of play when Corey Brenton would hit a 3 to tie it up at 83 all. CIU got a turnover and gained possession with 23 seconds left in the game. Corey Benton launched the ball toward the net with 1 second on the clock, but came up short, sending the game to overtime. 

First Overtime
The Bulldogs gained possession in the first overtime period but would turn the ball over to the Rams during the ensuing possession. Skyler McKinney went 1-2 at the line after a Bulldog foul, giving the Rams an 84-83 lead. TWU would answer with a lay up, making it 85-84. A 3 pointer from Corey Benton would regain the lead for the Rams at 87-84. Eric Graham extended the lead by two with a layup after a Bulldog turnover. The Bulldogs tied it up in the 1:46 minute mark with 2 made free throws after a Ram foul. CIU guard Jeff McIlwain scored after a rebound to give the Rams a 2 point lead with 1 minute left to play. McIlwain struck again at 00:52 seconds, giving the Rams a 93-89 lead. After two made free throws by the Bulldogs, the Rams would gain possession back at 00:46 seconds. TWU forced a turnover with 14 seconds left and would score on a layup with 1 second left to tie the game at 93. 

Second Overtime 
TWU won the jump ball and began the 2nd overtime period with possession. Jeff McIlwain gave the Rams the lead with a jumper making it 89-93 with 3:51 minutes left to go. The Bulldogs bounced back and tied it up 93-93 with three minutes left to go. TWU would take the first lead of the second overtime period in the 2:20 minute mark. The Rams trailed 97-92 until forward Tajae Anderson went 2-2 at the line, tying it up at 97. Rams guard Jeff McIlwain made a free throw at the 1:35 minute mark giving the Rams a 1 point lead. The Bulldogs would go 1-2 at the line after a CIU foul, tying things up yet again at 98. The Bulldogs would take the lead back after getting fouled and going 1-2 at the line. Skyler McKinney's 3 point try would miss the mark on the ensuing possession. TWU recovered the rebound and would be fouled by the Rams with 13.6 seconds left. The Bulldogs would make both shots giving them a 101-98 lead. CIU attempted to score on their next possession but would fall short. The final score would be 101-98 Tennessee Wesleyan. 

The Rams look to bounce back next Wednesday at St. Andrews University.