November 9, 2007

     Knoxville, TN—The Bryan College Men’s Basketball team headed to Knoxville on Thursday night to take on the Preachers from Johnson Bible College in a non-conference contest. The Lions were coming off a rough couple of games at the Berry Classic last weekend in Rome, GA and Head Coach Don Rekoske was looking for his team to get back on track.

    Bryan Started three freshmen, a rarity during Rekoske’s time at the helm:  Scott Newton, Charlie Lytle and Derek Batt all started and played extremely well for Rekoske. The Lions came out shooting well in the first half, building a sizable lead and holding their opponents to just 35 points in the first half. “I thought we played a pretty decent first half,” said Rekoske, “but we couldn’t shake them because they had a few kids who really played well for them.” Mike Lytle got off to a great start for the Lions, burying a couple of three pointers early, and Scott Newton did a great job on the offensive boards as well as down in the post. “Our biggest strength in the first half was the fact that we really rebounded well. We also hit 13 of 15 from the line on the night which is the best we’ve shot all year” Rekoske said. At the half, the Lions led 50-35.

     The second half started slowly for Bryan as Johnson Bible trimmed the Lions’ lead to thirteen points with just less than 16 minutes to play. Demond Craig came off the bench and gave the Lions a lift, hitting two threes and a layup to stretch the Lions’ lead to 21. Scott Newton continued his strong play in the second half, scoring 10 of his 18 points in the period. Newton is one of a talented crop of freshman on the squad this year, and the three freshmen who were in the starting lineup really contributed to the victory. Newton added 12 rebounds to his 18 points while fellow Freshman Charlie Lytle added 7 points and 10 boards. In addition to Newton and Charlie Lytle, Derek Batt contributed 11 points 3 rebounds and 3 assists

     The Lions pushed the lead to 30 at one point, and the Lions were able to get their young players some much needed experience in the final minutes. As the clock wound down, the scoreboard told the final story, Bryan 97, Johnson Bible 73. After the game, Rekoske glowed while talking about his talented newcomers:  “The play of (Mike) Lytle and Scott Newton really made the difference for us. Not just the fact that they scored well, but Mike had 9 assists and only 1 turnover and Scott had the first of what I expect will be many double-doubles.” The team is really beginning to take shape and it’s exciting to see the development of the new players Rekoske has brought in.