BOILING SPRINGS –
David Efianayi scored 20 points,
Jose Perez added 18 and Gardner-Webb put five men in double figures to lead a 105-37 win over Bob Jones University Thursday morning in Paul Porter Arena.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (5-5) won their third in a row and led by as many as 73 points in the second half. Gardner-Webb posted a 53-18 lead at halftime and shot 60 percent after the break to pull away even further.
In addition to Efianayi and Perez, Gardner-Webb got 16 points from
DJ Laster, 15 from
Jaheam Cornwall and 12 from
Nate Johnson in the rout. Efianayi added eight assists (no turnovers) and Perez finished with five rebounds, four assists and four steals (one turnover).
Cornwall made 5-of-6 from three-point range and had three assists and a pair of steals in 18 minutes off the bench.
Jaylen Alston came off the bench to supply six points and eight rebounds in just 13 minutes and
Ludovic Dufeal finished with seven points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in only 18 minutes – knocking down 3-of-5 shots from the field. A total of 10 different players scored and seven different Runnin' Bulldogs notched at least one assist.
Gardner-Webb turned the ball over just five times and held a 33-5 edge in points off of turnovers and forcing 19 Bruins' miscues. In fact, the Runnin' Bulldogs did not turn the basketball over at all in the first half and had only one turnover – on an offensive foul call in traffic – through 36 minutes of play.
After a slow start shooting the basketball (44.2 percent in the first half), Gardner-Webb finished the game at 51.3 percent (40-of-78) from the floor after its sizzling second half. The 'Dogs shot 13-of-24 from long distance (54.2 percent) and held a 54-29 edge on the backboards. The missed shots in the opening half helped a dominant effort on the offensive glass, which saw GWU end the game with 21 offensive caroms (18 second chance points).
It marked the second game in a row for Gardner-Webb with 48 points in the paint.
Bob Jones shot just 21.6 percent for the game (11-of-51) and made only one of its 18 three-point attempts. Wing Jayson Barnhart scored 20 of the Bruins' 37 points, knocking down 6-of-17 shots and all seven of his free throws. Quiyante Burroughs added seven points and Jon Allen had five.
Gardner-Webb will remain at home for its next outing, hosting Johnson & Wales (NC) at 3:00 pm on Saturday (December 8). For ticket information, call (704) 406-4340.