The Bruins men’s basketball team fell Monday to the Warren Wilson College Owls in Asheville, North Carolina, with a final score of 77-61.

Despite close scores for most of the game, the Owls pulled ahead, handing the Bruins their seventh straight loss.

Hitting three straight shots from behind the arc, the Owls gained an early seven-point lead that left the Bruins scrambling. Working their way back up, the Bruins tied the game 17-17 with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Bruins kept the score close for the remainder of the half but were never able to completely catch up. The Owls stepped on the gas with a 10-4 run in the final minutes, leaving the halftime score at 34-28.

Freshman Bruin Marshall Riddle opened the second half with two shots, bringing his team within one point of the Owls. The Bruins kept the game close until the last 13 minutes of the game. With a series of missed shots by the Bruins and consistent scoring by the opponent, the Owls secured themselves a sizable safety net. They then flew away with the score, eventually winning the game 77-61.

After the game, Coach Ring reflected on the team’s need for better defense and consistency. “We have to be better defensively,” he said. “We also just needed to knock down our shots. We’ve still been plagued with inconsistency. We’re still not there, but it is a long season, and we have a lot of learning and growing to do.”

Riddle and junior Kyle Turner led the team with 16 and 15 points, respectively. The team had nine assists and seven steals, and the bench players contributed a solid 22 points.