COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 17, 2021) – The Truett McConnell University men's basketball team traveled to Columbia International University on Wednesday evening for their regular season finale. The Bears lost to the Rams (83-74) to finish the regular season 9-18, 6-15 AAC, while the Rams improved to 14-6, 13-6 AAC. CIU, in fact, is tied for second in the Appalachian Athletic Conference standings. Last time they met, the Bears came out on top by two in double overtime.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The first five minutes saw the Rams get ahead by 10 but a Bosko Norman 3-pointer fueled a strong 9-0 scoring run to put the Bears back within one (13-14). The momentum continued with CIU as they got back out front by as much as 15 (20-35),  but TMU closed out the final six minutes of the first half on 13-2 scoring run to trail by four at halftime (33-37).
 
Once again, the Bears were capable of getting within as little as one (44-45) but the Rams pushed leads as big as 14 as they shot 45.5% from the field and the Bears were never capable of recovering.
 
LEADERS
Junior Enocka Franky led all scorers with 17 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Ty Briscoe followed with 15 points and four assists. Sophomore Brent Kelly and Norman added nine points apiece. Kelly also led with four assists. Marlon Allen had seven rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will wait to find out who they will face on Saturday, Feb. 20, for the AAC tournament play-in game.