Resilient Pioneers pick up holiday win versus Bryant & Stratton

It was another typical start for the Pioneers of Indian River from the tip. Still struggling to come out of the gate ready to play IRSC found themselves down 21-16 in the opening quarter of the game. Defensively unable to find their groove, Bryant & Stratton took advantage of their instability and continued to challenge the Pioneers in the second quarter. After going on a 20-8 run Bryant & Stratton had the Pioneers down by a 22 point deficit at the half.

After a brief halftime discussion the Pioneers took back to the court, but this time they were ready to play. Focused and determined to get defensive stops they did just that. Within the first five minutes the Pioneers outscored the visiting team from Virginia 0-7, but that was just a preview of what was to come from the River. Behind the scoring efforts of sophomore Annette Dukes and the team's strong defensive performance, the Pioneers outscored Bryant & Stratton 21-2. Finding themselves only down by three with a third quarter score of 50-47 IRSC was ready to take over after holding B & S to two points in ten minutes of play. A strong fourth quarter performance by sophomore Keona Cadore helped to outscore Bryant & Stratton yet again 21-6. The Pioneers solid defensive performance held B & S to only 8 points in the second half of the game allowing the Pioneers to pick up their second win of the season by a score of 68-56 after being down 22 points at the half.

Leading the Pioneers in scoring were Keona Cadore with 24 points, Annette Dukes records a double-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds, Miracle Simon gives solid performance with her first double-double of the season 11 points, 11 rebounds.

The Pioneers end 2016 with a record of 2-12 with one more non-conference game remaining Jan 3rd at Santa Fe.