Box Score

The Bears got back to their winning ways Wednesday night as they took down conference rival Bluefield in a key 73-62 victory. The win is the Bears' 15^th win on the season, which ties their previous record for the most wins in a season (15) since joining the NAIA. 

The Bears came out swinging as they jumped out to an early lead, only to see Bluefield charge back and take a 16-9 lead at the half-way mark in the first half. However, the Bears crashed the boards and used a strong night on the glass to claw their way back into the lead by a score of 34-27 prior to halftime. 

The Bears returned to the court during the second half and used strong defense and key shooting to solidify their lead over Bluefield. The Bears outscored Bluefield in the paint 36 to 18 and also had a slight edge at the end of the night in second chance points. The Bears refused to take their foot off the throttle in the second half, as they outscored Bluefield 39-35 during the half en route to their 73-62 victory. "All season our strength has been our defense and rebounding, but we've been out-rebounded the last two games," said Head Coach Jon Yeh. "Our game plan was to come out tonight and focus on returning to our strengths by crashing the boards, and our guys were able to do that against a very athletic Bluefield team." 

J'Quayveon Williams continues to turn heads, not only within the realm of the AAC conference, but on a national level as well. Williams scored his 20^th double-double on the year, which leads the entire NAIA in both Division I and II.  Williams shot 9 for 11 from the field for 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds during his 27 minutes of court time. 

Sophomore forward Darius McNear also had a huge game for the Bears en route to helping them secure the victory. McNear was perfect on the night, going 3 for 3 from the floor and 2 for 2 from the foul line, for 8 points on the night. In addition, McNear's presence was felt on the defensive end for the Bears as he grabbed 8 rebounds during his 22 minutes of action on the court. "Darius is on a nice roll," said head Yeh immediately following the game. "He played his best game of the season tonight, making every shot he took and collecting a season-high 8 rebounds." 

With the win, the Bears stay in sole possession of 3^rd place in the conference, and they remain tied with Milligan in the loss column for 2^nd place. The win improves the Bears' record to 9-4 at home and 10-5 in conference play. The Bears will play St. Andrews University this Saturday, February 14^th, at 2:00 pm in Laurinburg, North Carolina. There are three games remaining on the schedule for the Bears prior to the conference tournament, and each game will be pivotal in determining their seeding for postseason play.