February 2, 2008

 

                Dayton, TN—Its been a strange year for the Bryan Lions this year, as some of the team’s best basketball has been played on the road, while they have struggled at home. Saturday night, the Lions took the floor looking to avenge an early season loss on the road at Montreat College, but fell behind early and never recovered.

                The Cavaliers jumped out to a 25-6 lead in the first 10 minutes, causing Lions’ Head Coach Don Rekoske to call two timeouts and try to refocus his team. The Lions appeared to be getting something going, cutting the lead to just 9 heading into halftime, but 9 was as close as Bryan would get. Montreat came out of the break and imposed their will on the home team, extending their lead back to 21 at one point, and eventually defeating the Lions in front of their home crowd by 15, 74-59.

                After the game, Rekoske was not happy with his team’s effort and felt badly for Bryan fans who have been disappointed by his Lions’ effort at Summers Gymnasium this year: “I want to apologize to our fans that come out and cheer for us every time we’re at home. We’ve let them down this year, but we have a few more chances to get things right before we head to the conference tournament. We’re going to try and put a product on the floor that our fans will be proud to cheer for, and I think we have the talent to do so. We will play better at home the remainder of this season. We’re a better team than we showed tonight. Now we have to get ready to go to Intermont and see what we can do on the road.”

                Bryan’s record now stands at 9-14 overall and 3-9 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.The Lions are scheduled to take on the Cobras of Virginia Intermont College(9-12; 4-8) on Wednesday evening. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.