BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - CIU men's basketball stepped out of conference play for an NCAA exhibition contest against the Running Bulldogs of Gardner Webb University (N.C.). This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Rams are coming off of a big NAIA win over Point (Ga.) last night for their third straight conference win and looked to keep the momentum rolling in Wednesday night's road match-up.
CIU played an impressive first half backed by sophomore guard
Bryce Causey who would score 11 of the Ram's 17 points thanks to three early makes from behind the arc. Causey finished the half, shooting a lights-out 6-of-7 from the field, including a 4-of-5 clip from three-point range on the way to an 18 point first-half performance. The Rams held the lead over the Running Bulldogs at the under 16, 12, and eight-minute media timeouts. Coach Stockman's squad would have a seven-point advantage at the 11:13 mark before Gardner-Webb would pull back to take a three-point lead into the half.
It appeared that the Running Bulldogs would run away with the game in the second half, but the Rams kept fighting, cutting the deficit down to just five points (65-60) with 9:44 left in the game. Two minutes later, the Rams would trail by three after a beautiful alley-oop flushed, slammed in by
DiAnthony Heathcock on an assist from
Jalen Brinson with 7:59 remaining. However, Gardner-Webb would end the game on a 15-5 run to win the game by a final score of 90-78.
Bryce Causey led the Rams in scoring with 18 points, also playing well on the defensive end with three steals.
DiAnthony Heathcock was not far behind, recording 15 points and eight boards. Two more Rams would reach double figures as point guard
Jalen Brinson would notch 12 points and dish out seven assists.
Thomas Woods provided a spark off the bench knocking down three shots from behind the arc as he finished with 11 points.
Up Next:
The Rams will return to conference play with a home match-up against Milligan University Wednesday, December 1st, 2021 at 7:30 PM.
