Brookland-Cayce headed to the Bruins Den Wednesday with Region 5-3A title aspirations.

Those dreams were crushed by a relentless 8th ranked Orangeburg-Wilkinson boys’ basketball team who handed the Bearcats a 75-50 defeat in the region tournament final.

After taking an early 4-0 lead, Brookland-Cayce quickly found themselves on the receiving end of a 17-0 run to fall behind 17-6 after 1 quarter. O-W used its pressure defense to force 29 turnovers and stretched its lead as many as 36 points in the 2nd half.

Jordan Simpson led the Bruins with 20 points, Jordan Howell had 16 and Horace Jacques finished with 14 for OW. 

Brookland-Cayce (9-4) closed out the 3rd quarter on a 14-0 run to close the gap to 53-31 entering the final quarter. Christian Hall scored 8 points in the 3rd quarter and he and Jahmari Kennerly each finished with 12 points for Brookland-Cayce. 

O-W’s lead dropped no lower than 19 points the rest of the way as it outscored the Bearcats 24-19 in the final stanza.

The Bruins (10-2) will open the Class 3A playoffs at home Saturday against Lakewood. Brookland-Cayce will travel to Marlboro County.