On Friday night, the Bruins took on the Hawks on in the BYU-Idaho Center, with the Bruins coming out on top 81-71.
Three minutes into the game, the Bruins led 10-6, thanks to five points and an assist from Bruin Tristan Shockley.
The game was tied at 12 after Hawk Lincoln Oldham made a free throw. A charge taken by Hawk Kade Hall led to a Hawk Wyatt Taylor drive, resulting in two more points. The Hawks led 19-18 after the first quarter.
The Hawks started the second quarter on an 8-2 run and led by seven, 27-20. However, Jayden Reinhart made back-to-back threes and cut it to a one-point game. Both teams went on scoring runs in the last few minutes of the second quarter, and the Hawks kept a 38-36 lead going into halftime.
Reinhart scored five straight points early in the third to give the Bruins a 48-42 lead, concluding a 12-4 Bruins run. The Bruins never looked back. They led 64-57 after the third quarter.
The Bruins left the BYU-Idaho Center with their first victory.
“In our past games, we’ve struggled with coming out in the second half strong,” Reinhart said post-game. “Our coach reiterated that at halftime, to come out hard and punch them in the mouth. We were able to keep pushing … and hold onto it at the end.”
Reinhart also talked about the different defensive schemes the Hawks threw at them.
“From watching film before, we figured they’d probably start in a 2-3 zone and so we were expecting that,” Reinhart said. “We’d prefer that … we’re a pretty decent shooting team so we wanted that. We just had to recognize it and play differently when they came out in different defenses.”
Bruins Coach Kobe Peterson discussed what has changed with the team after starting out 0-3.
“I think our players just came together,” Peterson said. “We had a few tough losses at the beginning of the season and didn’t necessarily play our best ball. But we got it turned around, and the boys played good.”
Peterson mentioned how they were able to move past losing their first game because of a last-second coach mistake.
“Honestly, we felt like we won that game,” Peterson said. “I made that mistake and that’s on me, but we shook it off and used it as a chip on our shoulder.”
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