Bryan Opens on Road on October 21st
October 21, 2019
DAYTON, Tenn. – The 2019-20 Bryan College men’s basketball schedule was recently announced by Head Coach Don Rekoske and holds a host of challenging matchups for the Lions. Led by Coach Rekoske, the Lions posted a 16-14 record in the 2018-19 season and finished with the best home record in the Appalachian Athletic Conference at 13-2. Awaiting the Lions in their 2019-2020 campaign is a robust 32-game season that features a pair of NCAA Division I opponents and several impressive teams in the AAC.
Coach Rekoske, assisted by coaches Bryon Lawhon and Des Culpepper, is entering his 16th season as the head coach of Bryan College. In the 2018-2019 season, Rekoske led a young Lions team to a record of 16-14 overall and 12-10 within the AAC. With notable upsets of teams like #11 ranked Union College (Ky.) and #25 ranked Montreat College (N.C.) in their resume, the Lions exuded an enormous amount of potential. Despite injuries and an early stretch of road losses, the Lions managed to post some dominating performances towards the end of the season with three straight wins by 10+ points.
The season will tip-off in Williamsburg, Ky. with the Lions facing-off against Mid-South Conference member University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) on October 21st at 7pm. Shortly after, the Lions open up their home schedule by playing host to USCAA foe Oakwood University (Ala.) on October 24th. On October 29th the Lions will depart for Cookeville, Tennessee where they will face one of their high-profile opponents, Tennessee Tech University. That game will mark one of two NCAA Div. I challengers that the Lions will face this year.
November marks the beginning of conference play for the Lions. Seven of the eight matchups within the month will be against conference opponents, highlighted by games against #12 Union (Ky.) and rival Tennessee Wesleyan University (Tenn.). On November 27, the Lions battle their second Div. I opponent Western Carolina (N.C.).
December will see Bryan taking on NCCAA school Johnson University (Tenn.) at home on the 4th to start the month. The Lions will close out 2019 with a stretch of three consecutive away games against Milligan College (Tenn.), Kentucky Christian University (Ky.), and Johnson University (Tenn.).
2020 opens up with the Lions visiting Reinhardt University (Ga.). January holds exclusively conference matchups for Bryan with a total of 10 AAC contests in the month. February dials back the number of games, permitting only six outings in preparation for the conference tournament. The regular season wraps up with the Lions visiting Oakwood University on February 22nd.
Conference tournament play gets underway on February 26th in Kingsport, Tennessee at the MeadowView Marriott Resort & Convention Center. Coach Rekoske and the Lions plan to make a deep run into the tournament. After tasting success in the post-season last year, the Lions are confident in their ability to better their previous year’s end-of-the-year performance with the hopes of an NAIA National Tournament appearance. With an influx of new talent for the Lions, the goal is certainly attainable but will rely on their discipline and their ability to win games on the road.
To view the full 2019-20 Bryan men’s basketball schedule, click here.
Follow the Lions men’s basketball team on Twitter @bcmbasketball and Instagram @bclionsmensbasketball.