DAYTON, Tenn. – CIU men's basketball had their first repeat opponent of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season on Saturday as the took on Bryan College on the road. The game would have a similar result as the Rams' last contest with the Lions which was a 79-67 loss back on Nov. 13. CIU hung around for the majority of Saturday's game but succumbed to Bryan (9-5, 6-4 AAC) 80-65. With the loss the Rams fall to 8-6 overall and 4-5 in the conference.
The Rams trailed early in the first half but fought back to take a 15-14 lead with 10:27 left on a
Jalen Brinson layup. Five minutes later CIU found themselves deadlocked with Bryan at 25-25 following a solid post move and finish from
Christian Howard. However the waning minutes of the half would go in Bryan's favor as the Lions took a 37-33 lead into halftime. The second half looked promising as CIU struck first off a dunk from
DiAnthony Heathcock to trim the advantage to just 37-35. However by the 12:46 mark in the second half CIU trailed by double-digits (58-48) for the first time in the game. CIU only cut the advantage to under double-digits once more in the half as they fell to Bryan for the second time this season.
The Rams got a boost from their upperclassman as three juniors reached double-figures.
Skyler McKinney led CIU in scoring with 16 points going a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line while grabbing five rebounds. Guard
Darrian Oates scored 12 points shooting 50% from the field and adding five rebounds to his season total. The final player in double figures was
Jalen Brinson who scored ten points and dished out three assists.
As a team the Rams went 11-of-11 from the foul line but were hobbled by their 3-point shooting going 16% from beyond the arc.
What Coach Tony Stockman is saying:
"It was great to get back on the court after a long time off. Bryan played well but we made to many mistakes on defense. We also need to make open shots if we are going to win games on the road."
Up Next:
The Rams will be back in action on Jan. 13 as they return home for the first time in over a month to face St. Andrews (N.C.) at 7:30 PM.
