The Bruins men’s basketball team defeated the Piedmont International University Bruins Friday, Feb. 20, in a 86-72 win, highlighted by team captain Kyle Turner’s 1,000th career point.

From the start of the game, the teams battled for control with a few ties and lead changes.  BJU was able to expand its lead to 28-17, but Piedmont continued to fight back and kept the game close throughout the half. BJU went to the locker room with a 42-36 lead at the half.

Early in the second half of the game, BJU was able to maintain the lead. But Piedmont continually came back on the attack, determined not to let this game slip from their grasp. PIU started heating up from the 3-point line late in the game, tying the score at 62-62 on a long 3-point shot by sophomore guard CJ Tyson.  After missing a couple of opportunities to take the lead, Piedmont’s shooting went cold. BJU continued to play well, however, and finished out the game with an 86-72 win.

The key for the BJU Bruins was their ability to penetrate the key and make good shots in the paint. They out-rebounded Piedmont 40-31 and shot 56 percent from the paint. They also exhibited strong defense throughout the game, especially in the last few minutes, where Piedmont couldn’t seem to make a single basket.

Scoring was spread throughout BJU’s roster with junior forward Kyle Turner leading the Bruins with 25 points. In addition, 15 points were contributed from Marshall Riddle, 13 from Chae Dexter, 11 from Ray Holden, and 10 each from Dustin Killough and Corey Turner.

In this game, team captain Kyle Turner became the first Bruin player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.

“It is such an honor to be the first one to a 1,000,” Turner said. “It was a lot of fun to celebrate it with my teammates, and the victory makes it that much sweeter.”