November 10, 2007

 

     Chattanooga, TN— It was a short trip down to Chattanooga for the Bryan Men’s Basketball team on Saturday evening to take on Tennessee Temple University. Being so close, the two teams are familiar with each other and the Crusaders swept the Lions last season. Bryan was looking for revenge and was coming off a convincing win at Johnson Bible earlier in the week.

     The game went back and forth nearly the entire first half, with neither team leading by more than three points. Coach Don Rekoske called the game a ‘defensive struggle’ between the two teams the entire first half. Bryan struggled to score early on, but Cody Christopher came off the bench to spark the Lions, scoring 12 of his game high 24 points in the first half. The Lions were unable to pull away from the Crusaders as they were plagued in the first half by 12 turnovers, allowing Temple to stay close up until the end of the half. Despite the turnovers, Bryan remained in control and led 21-20 at the break. The Lions shot 32 % in the first half, while holding their opponents to 31%, but were helped in the middle by Charlie Lytle who grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half.

     The second half was a different story offensively for Bryan as they finally got on track, and continued to play tough defensively. Christopher continued his assault, and some of Bryan’s other scorers got going as well. The Lions would extend their lead to as many as 15 points in the second half, holding the Crusaders to just 32% shooting on the night. The Lions have allowed only one team this year to shoot 40% or better, which has been the key to the team’s success. Bryan was able to take care of the ball much better in the second half as well, reducing their turnovers from 12 to only 4. Bryan shot 50% in the second half, more than doubling their first half point total, while out rebounding Temple 40-29 on the evening. For the Lions, Cody Christopher led all scorers with 24 points and 4 rebounds and Kyle Terry had 9 points. Charlie Lytle had 6 points and 3 blocks to go along with his game high 17 rebounds, while brother Mike Lytle had 11 assists.

     “This was an outstanding defensive effort on our part,” commented Rekoske. “Although I was disappointed in our first half turnovers, I really was pleased by the way we turned things around in the second half. We shot the ball much better in the second half, but we were able to give ourselves a chance to win because of our effort on the defensive end of the floor.”