DAYTON, Tenn. - Very few teams in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) have been able to keep pace with CIU men's basketball this season, but Bryan College (15-9, 13-6 AAC) has been one of the few as the Lions defeated the Rams (18-5, 13-5 AAC) 78-67 on Saturday. CIU still holds onto the second-place spot in the AAC with the loss but will need to win their last two games to secure the conference regular season championship. 

The game's first half was back-and-forth with several lead changes as Will Kelly scored 14 points to lead the Rams in the first 20 minutes. A late first half triple from Kelly helped CIU hold a 41-38 advantage at the break.

After a tight first 15 minutes to the second frame things began to go awry for the Rams at the 2:40 mark as Bryan took a 70-63 advantage. That lead grew to nine with 48 ticks left on made free throws from the Lions and eventually resulted in the double-digit loss for CIU.

Kelly scored 17 points on five made 3-pointers. Kelly is currently seven triples away from tying the program record for made 3-pointers in a season. Brandon Hunt tallied 15 points, while Jaylon Jeter posted 10 points off the bench.

Up Next: The Rams take on Bluefield University (Va.) on Senior Night, Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET in the Moore Fitness Center.