Balanced Attack Leads Bearcats Past Hardin-Simmons 84-69

Colorado Spring, Colo. - All five Willamette starters scored in double figures and Kai Brown added 15 points off the bench to lead the Bearcats to an 84-69 win over Hardin-Simmons in the first game of the team's trip to Colorado.  Willamette overcame a two-point halftime deficit and pulled away for the fifteen-point victory.

Early on each team traded baskets until the Bearcats went on an 8-0 run to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 14-7 lead just over five minutes into the contest.  Willamette extended that lead to fourteen when two Kahiau Bruhn free throws gave them a 23-9 lead at the midway point of the first half.  The Cowboys cut into the lead and after a Caleb Moore tip-in put the Bearcats up 33-24, Hardin-Simmons scored the final eleven points of the half to take a 35-33 lead to the break.

HSU opened to the second half scoring with a three-pointer to extend their lead to five, but Willamette began to find their offensive rhythm again as a jump shot by Bruhn, a layup by Josiah Frank, and another layup by Brown gave them a 41-40 lead just after the first media timeout. A layup by Annujan Tennathur and a long-range jumper by Deacon Perry put Willamette up by nine at 53-44 and the Cowboys would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.  

The six players in double figures for Willamette were Brown (15), Ryder Hsiung (14), Frank (14), Bruhn (12), and Moore and Tennathur each with 10.  Frank led the Bearcats in rebounds with eight as they outrebounded Hardin-Simmons 45-42.  A quartet of players led the team in assists as Bruhn, Moore, Frank, and Brandin Dantzler each dished out three.  Dantzler also blocked three shots.

The Bearcats conclude their road trip when they face the host school Colorado College on Saturday, December 20th, at 12:00 pm PST.  Willamette's next scheduled game after that is in the new year when they travel to face George Fox University on Friday, January 3, 2025.