27 Nov 2024 CBC fights off Blue Mountain Christian to sweep season series

CONWAY — Stepping out of American Midwest Conference play, #11 Central Baptist College men’s basketball hosted the Toppers of Blue Mountain Christian University on Tuesday at A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse. #11 CBC (8-1) led at halftime and fought off a late charge from BMCU (4-6) to win 67-63.

Sage Borbon and Gabe Johnson were the co-leading scorers for the Mustangs with 13 points each, while Jonas Carlisle pitched in with 11 to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Devin Foster had a stellar night defensively, turning the Toppers away four times. The key stats were turnovers, as CBC forced 22 and was able to turn those turnovers into 20 points while outscoring BMCU in the paint 34-28.

GAME FLOW

CBC got off to a slow start and trailed 20-12 with 5:33 left in the first half. An 8-0 run over the next 56 seconds followed to tie the score at 20, but CBC gave the lead back at 22-20 before closing the half on an 11-6 run to take a 31-28 lead into the break.

CBC scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to stretch the lead to 41-30 with 17:31 to play before neither team recorded a bucket for over two minutes. The Mustangs were able to stretch the lead to 14 with 9:16 to go and had to fight off a charge that saw BMCU cut the lead to one with 3:26 to go. A Devin Foster layup with 3:03 left made it 60-57, and a pair of Jonas Carlisle free throws pushed the lead back to five with 2:24 left. A jumper by Keryn Collins made it 64-57 with 22 seconds left before a four-point play cut the lead to three. A layup following a split at the free throw line cut the lead to two before Johnson made a pair with three seconds left to put the game in the win column.

UP NEXT

CBC returns to Reddin Fieldhouse on Saturday when they host the Philander Smith University Panthers. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.