MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – A statement was made in Gillis Gymnasium on Thursday night as the Brewton-Parker men’s basketball program hosted William Carey (Miss.) to open SSAC play.
The Barons (2-1, 1-0 SSAC) downed the Crusaders (1-3, 0-1 SSAC) in a hard-fought 64-49 battle. Thursday night’s win marks the first victory over WCU in SSAC play, dating back to 2011.
How It Happened | 1st Half
William Carey utilized a 6-1 run in the first minute and a half to take an early lead.
A trey from Lance Smith pulled the Barons’ deficit to just one possession shortly after.
The Crusaders responded with a three of their own to lead 11-6 with 17:03 on the clock.
After a good jumper from Smith, WCU swiftly scored back-to-back buckets to lead by seven.
A high-flying slam from Grant Sanders off an alley-oop pass from Smith sparked the BPC offense, moving the Barons closer to a level score.
Brewton-Parker went on a 6-0 run to pull William Carey’s advantage to just one point with 14:17 left in the half.
After a few moments of back-and-forth action, the Barons captured the lead at the 10:03 mark with a huge three from Jordan Johnson, the first score of an 8-0 run.
With a 22-16 lead in hand, BPC’s advantage was diminished to one point as WCU scored a quick five points.
Brewton-Parker jumped out to a five-point lead with five minutes remaining, highlighted by another alley-oop from Sanders with the help of Chance Hatcher.
BPC managed to get to a six-point lead at the 2:08 mark.
William Carey connected on a three-pointer with 1:41 left before Smith closed the half with a layup to give the Barons a 33-28 lead at the break.
How It Happened | 2nd Half
A 5-0 opening run from the Crusaders quickly diminished the Barons’ lead, leveling the score at 33-33 in the first minute of the half.
Smith connected on a three-pointer to give Brewton-Parker the needed edge to reclaim the lead.
William Carey answered right back to pull the deficit back to just one point, but the Barons continued to respond.
Over the course of the next few minutes, Brewton-Parker went on an 11-2 run to pull away to the first double-digit lead of the evening.
The run was capped off with a jumper from Hatcher to give BPC a 49-38 advantage with 11:28 remaining.
William Carey took advantage of a few missed opportunities from Brewton-Parker, finding six points within a minute to pull the score back to a two-possession game with less than eight minutes to play.
The Barons fought through the final stretch of the game, besting the Crusaders by outscoring them 15-6 in the final seven minutes.
BPC outscored WCU 31-21 in the half to secure the 64-49 victory.
Inside The Statistics
As a team, Brewton-Parker shot for 39.3% (24-of-61) from the field, 21.7% (5-of-23) from three, and 64.7% (11-of-17) from the foul line.
Smith led the charge for the Barons with 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
Johnson scored 12 points and gathered three steals on the night followed by Damarcus Johnson Jr. with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Sanders led the Barons off the glass with 10 boards and picked up three steals while joining Hatcher with nine points.
Defensively, BPC produced 10 steals on the 18 turnovers from WCU.
Off the glass, the Barons picked up nine boards on offense and 33 on defense.
Other Notables
William Carey narrowly held the edge 43-42 in overall rebounds.
Brewton-Parker notched 30 points in the pain and 14 points off turnovers.
The win marks the first program win over WCU in SSAC play, dating back to 2011.
Next Up
The Barons continue SSAC action with a home matchup against Blue Mountain (Miss.) on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET for Community Appreciation Day. (Courtesy of BPC)
