The University boys returned to the court Friday night after a two-week layoff and outscored Muncie Burris 45-13 in the second half to cruise to a 81-43 victory that earned the Trailblazers the Pioneer Conference North Division championship for the sixth straight year.
The four time defending PAAC champion Trailblazers will play in the championship game on Feb. 12 at the South Division champion.
Sabien Cain led the way for University with 22 points. Kahmi Bracey had 14 and Seth Hogg 10 for the Blazers.
University jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first minutes of the game and never trailed, but couldn’t pull away from the Owls in the first half. Burris hit six three pointers in the first half to stay in the game, including one at the buzzer to cut University’s lead to 36-30 at the halftime break.
Nate Jeffrey hit a three pointer to start the third quarter and Cain’s three point play put University up 42-30 just 42 seconds into the half. After a Burris basket, Bracey stole the ball and was fouled as he scored. He completed the three point play for a 45-32 lead. University led by double figures the rest of the game and pushed the lead to 35 with 1:56 remaining, invoking the running clock for the rest of the game.
All nine Trailblazers who played scored, Russell ended with eight points, Jeffrey and Steven Scott had seven. Bryce Gray and Jackson Bledsoe scored five each and Eli Facey made a three pointer.
Trailblazers coach Brandon Lafferman was excited to get his team back on the court. “I’m really proud of the team getting a big conference win. It was good to get out here and get back on the floor again. It was good to see Sabien (Cain) out there after a long break for him and I thought Kahmi Bracey had a great overall game. We’re excited to get back on the floor tomorrow night against Ritter.”
The win improved University to 7-5 overall, 3-0 in the PAAC North. The Trailblazers will host Cardinal Ritter Saturday night at The U Center. Burris falls to 0-5, 0-1 in the PAAC North.
UNIVERSITY 81, MUNCIE BURRIS 43
University FG FT TP PF
Nate Jeffrey 3 0-2 7 2
Kahmi Bracey 3 8-11 14 1
Robert Russell 3 1-2 8 0
Sabien Cain 10 1-1 22 1
Seth Hogg 4 0-0 10 3
Bryce Gray 2 1-4 5 2
Steven Scott 3 1-4 7 1
Jackson Bledsoe 2 0-0 5 2
Eli Facey 1 0-0 3 0
Totals 31 12-24 81 12
Score by Quarters
Muncie Burris 12 18 11 2 – 43
University 15 21 25 20 – 81
University 3-pointers (7) Hogg 2, Bledsoe 1, Jeffrey 1, Facey 1, Russell 1, Cain 1.