MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With a tough challenge ahead of them, the Brewton-Parker men’s basketball team traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to take on No, 7-ranked Faulkner (Ala.) to restart SSAC action on Thursday night. 

The Barons (3-3, 2-1 SSAC) brought a battle to the highly talented Eagles (9-0, 3-0 SSAC) in Tine W. Davis Gymnasium, coming alive in the second half to surge from a 16-point deficit at the break. Faulkner outlasted Brewton-Parker in the final moments to win, 93-88. 

How It Happened | 1st Half 

Damarcus Johnson Jr. opened the scoring for the Barons at the 18:55 mark connecting on a put-back effort to level the score early. 

BPC equalized yet again off the hands of Lance Smith nearly a minute later before claiming the lead 7-6 as Zailan Blue knocked down a three at the 17:39 mark. 

Faulkner answered with a 7-0 run to lead by six points with 15:03 left in the half, but Blue hit another trey to split the difference just seconds later. 

Deep shots from Chance Hatcher at 13:29 and Jordan Johnson at 12:21 gave the Barons a 16-15 lead. 

The Eagles went on to score seven unanswered points for a 23-16 lead before the Barons were able to find a score from Ferlin Joseph with 10 minutes to play. 

Faulkner built up a 35-22 lead off a 12-4 run over the span of three minutes, leaving 6:36 on the clock. 

Brewton-Parker answered with five points as Blue connected for another three followed by a jumper from Emmanuel Green to pull the Barons under a double-digit deficit. 

The Eagles closed out the half on another 12-4 run in the final five minutes of play to lead 47-31 at the break. 

How It Happened | 2nd Half 

Blue opened the half with a three with the Eagles knocking down back-to-back jumpers in response. 

The Barons went on a 7-0 run to pull the game down to a 10-point gap with 17:25 on the clock as Blue gathered five points followed by a bucket from Joseph. 

Brewton-Parker managed to find a bit of a scoring rhythm for a couple of minutes, but Faulkner continued to provide answer after answer to remain in control of a double-digit advantage. 

Nearing the halfway point of the period, BPC went on a 6-1 run to pull the deficit under double figures to 62-54 with 12:48 remaining. 

The Eagles swiftly pulled back away to a 14-point lead with two-straight treys. 

Brewton-Parker struggled to pull within single figures for several minutes until Smith scored the first bucket of a 14-6 run for the Barons. 

The run surged BPC back into the game, pulling the deficit down to two possessions down, 64-80 with 2:52 to play. 

After the Eagles produced three points, the Barons found a pair of scores from the foul line from Blue to move the game to 87-82 with 1:59 left on the clock. 

Faulkner took a successful trip down the floor, converting a jumper for a seven-point lead with just over a minute remaining. 

Brewton-Parker found themselves in a three-point ball game as Blue knocked down a pair of monster treys to move the game to 91-88 with 30 seconds left. 

Unfortunately for the Barons, two successful shots from the charity stripe sealed the deal which left little room for BPC to find magic with only a few seconds left in the game. 

Inside The Statistics 

 The Barons shot for 50% (33-of-66) from the floor, 42.9% (12-of-28) from three, and 83.3% (10-of-12) from the foul line. 

Blue produced a career-high 33 points in his third game for the Barons which lead both teams for the night. He shot for 69.2% (9-of-13) from three-point range. 

Smith produced a double-double performance with 25 points and a season-high 12 assists, shooting for 60% (9-of-15) from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. 

Joseph scored 12 points and nearly picked up a double-double with nine boards. 

Faulkner outrebounded Brewton-Parker 41-30. 

Other Notables 

Smith picks up his second-best scoring effort of the season and ties his second-best field goal percentage of the year. He has scored 20+ points in four of the six countable contests and recorded his second-consecutive double-double performance. 

Blue’s performance in Montgomery was the second-highest scoring effort of the season for the Barons. His nine treys are a team-best this season while his 10 made field goals tied the season-high set by Smith earlier this week. 

Next Up 

BPC returns home for an SSAC contest against Stillman (Ala.) on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Gillis Gymnasium. (Courtesy of BPC)