BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard men's basketball program will host its fourth annual Red Out game on Tuesday evening when it clashes with Piedmont at 7:30 p.m. in Boshamer Gym.
The game will serve as a way to memorialize Jimmy Griffin. Fans and students in attendance are encouraged to wear red in conjunction with the American Heart Association's Heart Month, which promotes heart health awareness in the Brevard community. The first 50 students in attendance wearing red will receive a Zaxby's coupon.
Griffin was a teammate of assistant coach Kaylin Johnson at Samford University and played under current Brevard head coach Lee Burgess during his time as the Samford assistant coach. Griffin passed away in his sleep in September 2009 from an undetected heart condition. His death shocked the Samford community and left a lasting impact on Burgess and Johnson.
In 2010, both Burgess and Johnson took part in the first "Red Out" game at Samford, as the Bulldogs hosted Elon. Samford raised $2,200 for the American Heart Association and played in front of the second-largest crowd in program history.
The Griffin Family is determined that Jimmy's life and legacy will never be forgotten. Therefore, they have set up The Jimmy Griffin Legacy Foundation which has benefited and will continue to benefit places Jimmy so loved including St. Bede Church and School, Marist High School, Mother McAuley High School and Samford University. It will also benefit the American Heart Association.
Over the last seven years the Foundation netted over $272,000, which was distributed in tuition scholarships, purchases and upgrades to the church and schools he attended.
The Tornados (4-12) are looking for back-to-back home wins after posting a 78-77 victory over N.C. Wesleyan in its last outing at Boshamer Gym on Jan. 21. Brevard is led offensively by the tandem of JaMarquis Johnson (14.4 ppg) and Stevie Williams (12.1), who anchor an offense that is averaging 72.2 points per contest.
Johnson and Williams have also been active on the glass for Brevard, grabbing 70 and 68 rebounds, respectively.
Piedmont (10-8) has enjoyed a solid month of January, winning six of eight contests and five consecutive between Jan. 3 and Jan. 18. Among those five wins during early January was a 72-56 victory over the Tornados, while the others included Lions downing of LaGrange (70-68), William Peace (80-72) Huntingdon (83-78) and Covenant (89-82).
Taylor Mills emerged with a game-high 26 points while teammates Marquise Lanier and Justin Vallejo added 14 and 10, respectively, to help provide Piedmont with the 16-point win. Brevard was led by the play of Johnson, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds, and Williams who tallied 12 points. Johnson finished 5-of-13 from the floor, knocking down three 3-pointers along the way, while Williams was 3-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Vallejo is one of four players averaging double figures for the Lions, averaging a team-best 16.8 ppg (302 points). Vallejo has converted 121-of-227 (53.3%) of his field goal attempts, while Mills has provided the punch from beyond the arc by hitting 44-of-117 (37.6%).
For more information on Brevard men's basketball check out www.bctornados.com.
