ROME, Georgia-The Christian Brothers University Bucs claimed their fifth straight win as they rolled to a 78-62 win at Shorter Thursday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The teams traded leads five times in the first 10 minutes before the Bucs (18-6, 10-6 GSC) took the lead for good with a 10-0 run sparked by a
Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills HS) triple and capped by an
Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) layup that gave them a 26-17 lead with 7:52 remaining in the half.
• The Hawks (3-21, 3-13) came within 33-28 when a Jacob Newman triple with 3:22 remaining in the half capped a 6-0 burst.
• CBU put the game out of reach quickly in the second half, using a 28-4 run to open a 63-34 lead on a pair of
Joe Laravie (Kettering, Ohio/Alter HS) free throws with 14:43 remaining.
• Shorter answered with an 18-1 run to come as close as 64-52 on a Joe Russell layup with 6:41 remaining.
• CBU stretched their lead back out with a 14-4 run capped by a Dieball triple that gave them a 78-56 lead with 1:55 remaining.
KEY STATS:
• Laravie scored a game-high 22 points with five rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes. He shot 7-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-6 from three-point range, and he made all six free throws.
• Dieball scored 16 with seven assists in 30 minutes, shooting 7-of-12 overall inculuding 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
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Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) scored 11 with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
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Alex Trentman (Alexandria, Ky./Bishop Brossart HS) matched his career-high with 14 rebounds and dished a career-high eight assists with two blocks in 24 minutes.
• The Bucs shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the field, including 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from deep. Shorter finished 40.7 percent (24-of-59) overall, including 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from beyond the arc.
• The Bucs out-rebounded Shorter 44-30, including a 12-7 edge in offensive boards. CBU committed 10 turnovers to the Hawks' eight.
GSC TOURNAMENT PICTURE:
With the win, the Bucs remain in sole possession of fourth place. Valdosta State (15-1), West Florida (13-3) and West Alabama (12-4) have all clinched berths in the GSC Tournament. The Bucs sit one game ahead of Montevallo (9-7). Delta State (8-8) is in sixth, and Alabama Huntsville, Lee and North Alabama are in a three-way tie for the last two spots at 7-9.
WHAT'S NEXT:
The Bucs remain on the road as they visit Lee Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Their next home game is set for Wednesday night at 7 p.m. as they host Delta State.
