COLUMBIA, S.C - CIU men's basketball collected an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) win on Tuesday versus a much improved St. Andrews (N.C.)  squad. The Rams (2-3, 2-2) actually trailed the Knights (0-4, 0-4) at halftime before bouncing back to secure the 76-57 win. The Rams have been traditionally good at home under Coach Tony Stockman and have started the season 2-0 when playing in the confines of the Moore Fitness Center.

Despite a sluggish start from CIU, an and-one thanks to Vladan Malavrazic would give CIU some momentum as they took a 16-9 advantage in the game's first eight minutes. The Knights hung around, however, finally taking their opportunity towards the end of the half, knocking down back-to-back triples to take a 30-29 lead at the break.

A superior CIU team woke up to start the second half going on a 16-0 run capped off by a Darrian Oates layup in the half's first six minutes. The Knight got as close as six-points (46-40) with 12:42 remaing but the Rams began to rebuild their lead from that moment on. The Rams went up by as much as 73-50 (2:50) on a triple from Bryce Causey as CIU closed out Knights in the waning minutes of regulation for a 76-57 win. 

In his first game back after injury, Causey was excellent, scoring 17 points on 50% shooting and collecting six rebounds. Skyler McKinney chipped in 17 points of his own, recording a double-double with 12 rebounds, while DiAnthony Heathcock was two rebounds away from a double-double with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Jalen Brinson rounded out the Rams scoring with 11 to accompany eight assists.

CIU struggled mightly from the field in the first half but turned things around to shoot 43% for the game. A large portion of this turnaround was thanks to the Rams outscoring the knights 42-22 on points in the paint and 14-7 on second-chance points. 

What Coach Stockman is saying: "Our veteran core did what they needed to do for us to get the win, and it is great to be able to count on those guys. But we need to get much better play from our bench if we plan to compete with the top teams in this conference." 

Up Next: The Rams will host Bryan College (Tenn.) at 1 PM on Saturday, Nov. 19.