COLUMBIA, S.C. – Tuesday night was a memorable evening in CIU men's basketball history as the Rams dispatched the #24 Union Bulldogs for their first conference win of the season. Not only did CIU pick up their first win over a ranked opponent this season, but senior Corey Benton also scored his 1,000th point as a CIU Ram during the contest. It was the first meeting between Union and CIU since the Bulldogs defeated the Rams in the AAC Conference Tournament semifinals last season. While Union was picked to finish first in the AAC this season, the Rams got the best of the Bulldogs notching a double-digit win 97-80.

How It Happened

First Half: CIU opened the game on two consecutive scores inside from center Elijah Spalding. Back to back threes from Eric Grahm and Brandon Doss then gave CIU a 10-2 advantage in the first three minutes of the game. The Bulldogs momentarily regained composure, but a thunderous dunk from freshman DiAnthony Heathcock forced a Union timeout with CIU leading 20-8. Union's Markelle Turner would eventually help the Bulldogs dwindled down the lead to 29-24 with 6:22 remaining in the half. However, Doss and Graham did not let up and helped CIU score 15 points in the last 6:00 minutes to take a 44-33 advantage into halftime.

Second Half: The Rams broke open a 14 point advantage 53-39 behind a Skyler McKinney triple. The Bulldogs never cut the lead under double digits as the Rams surged ahead 63-43 after Jalen Brinson drilled a corner three off the Julio Rodriguez assist. CIU finally got their leading scorer Corey Benton going as he got to the rim for an and-one and hit a deep three-ball. CIU lead by as much as 23 points in the second half and easily captured the 97-80 win.

Game Notes:

• Senior Corey Benton scored his 1,000th point Tuesday night and became the second all-time leading scorer in CIU men's basketball history. Benton scored 14 points and had 8 rebounds in the game.
• Brandon Doss found his rhythm against Union, going 5-8 from the field and 3-5 from deep for 17 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
• The Rams had six players in double figures, including Eric Graham and Skyler Mckinney, who both had 15 points and shot 50% from the field.
• Jalen Brinson and Elijah Spalding had their first double-digit scoring night of the season as Brinson scored 11 points and Spalding scored 10 points to go along with 7 rebounds.
• CIU forced 22 Bulldog turnovers, the most Union has had in this young season.
• All three of CIU's wins over ranked NAIA opponents have come against Union, and this is CIU's third consecutive regular-season win over the Bulldogs.

Up Next:

The Rams host St. Andrews University on Thursday at 7 PM.