CLEVELAND, Ga. (Dec. 1, 2018) – After honoring senior Christian Davis for becoming the all-time career steals leader for the Truett McConnell University men's basketball program, the Bears defeated Morris College for the second time this season with a thrilling comeback, 92-90. The Bears improved to 5-3, 2-3 AAC on the year. Last time they met, TMU defeated Morris on the road 88-70.
FIRST HALF SLUMP | SECOND HALF COMEBACK
The Hornets shot lights out draining a total of nine 3-pointers in the first half. In fact, Morris stole the lead from TMU with 15 minutes remaining in the first half and the Hornets took off with it until the late surge by the Bears. The Hornets pushed to lead by as many as 21 and as little as 12 in the closing 10 minutes of the half.
Still leading by as much as 11 points with eight minutes to go in the game, the Bears rallied to minimize the deficit. It was a Jacob Booke bucket that put the Bears back in the lead by one with 2:17 left to go and it was a handful of free throws that fastened the victory. TMU held Morris to just three 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes of play.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"First of all, I give a lot of credit to Morris College," Head Coach Jon Yeh said. "Don't let their record fool you. They are a very good team and have hung with all of the NCAA DII teams on their schedule and even beat one of them.
We didn't do much in the first half and Morris has a bunch of shot makers. We made a couple of defensive adjustments in the second half and stuck with them. That was the difference. Overall, the second half was the most complete effort we've given all season. Hopefully, we can build off that. Lots of great contribution from a lot of players, but Myles really stepped up defensively in the second half and kept their point guard under wraps."
LEADERS
Sophomore Calvin White led with a double-double of 23 points, 13 rebounds while senior Filipe Goncalves followed with 22 and six. White also added two blocks. Three more Bears were in double figures; Booke (14), Xavier Latore (11) and Myles Monroe (10). Davis added nine points and five more steals to his history-setting column (163).
UP NEXT
The Bears are on the road for six games straight in the month of December, two of which are conference. First on the schedule is Point University on Wednesday, Dec. 5, and then on Saturday, Dec. 8, the Bears will travel to St. Andrews University.
