BREVARD, N.C. - Trailing by 15 points with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, the Brevard College men's basketball team (7-18, 6-12 USAS) mounted an inspired comeback effort led by its trio of senior student-athletes Demari Hopper, Levi Lamb, and Qadhafi Turner. The Tornados tied the contest in regulation with a late 3-pointer before outscoring the visiting Huntingdon Hawks (12-13, 9-9 USAS) 15-11 in overtime to earn an 84-80 victory on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Senior forward Levi Lamb capped off his illustrious career by coming alive in the second half and overtime period. The Atlanta native tallied 23 of his 25 points after the first half. BC's fourth-leading NCAA-era career scorer made eight field goals, including a trio of 3-point baskets late, while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw stripe. Levi Lamb put in work on the defensive end of the floor as well, blocking four shots and recording a pair of steals in his final game as a Tornado.
Turner tied his career-high by scoring 20 points, all coming in the second half and overtime. The senior guard also hit a team-best five shots from long-distance and recorded a season-high five steals.
Hopper added 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting while hauling down six rebounds and adding three steals.
BC's Cannon Lamb scored 14 points on five made field goals while stuffing the stat sheet with a career-best eight assist alongside six rebounds. Sophomore Josh Wilson added six points and three rebounds, including a critical steal-and-score late in the overtime period.
Huntingdon was paced offensively by four double-digit scoring outputs, with Jacob Champion leading all Hawks with 18 points on a game-best six made 3-pointers.
Brevard jumped out to an early 14-4 advantage before a 10-0 Huntingdon scoring stretch erased BC's lead, tying the contest at 14 points apiece with 8:47 left in the first half. The Hawks took a brief 17-16 lead at the 7:34 mark following a Champion 3-pointer, as the two sides jockeyed back-and-forth with six lead changes. The Tornados established a six-point cushion, 31-25, after a Paris Crawford layup. Huntingdon scored the final five points of the first half, leaving BC with a one-point, 31-30 advantage at the intermission.
Hopper and Cannon Lamb led BC's scoring output at the halftime break, with each pouring in nine points.
BC relinquished the lead early on when Huntingdon's Champion sunk consecutive 3-point baskets as the Hawks maintained the advantage until the last minute of the second half.
Huntingdon extended its lead to a game-best 15-point margin, 59-44, with 9:37 left to play. However, 13 straight points from Levi Lamb and Turner cut the Hawks' lead to single digits, 66-57. With the score sitting at 69-60 with 3:37 remaining in regulation, Brevard's Cannon Lamb and Levi Lamb drilled long-range buckets to cut Huntingdon's lead to three points at 69-66. With 21 seconds left in the contest, Turner received a Cannon Lamb pass and hit a critical 3-pointer on the right-wing to tie the contest, while Huntingdon's last-second attempt to win the game was rejected by Hopper, sending the Senior Day contest to overtime.
BC fell behind by as many as four points early in the extra period before back-to-back Turner 3-pointers put BC up by two points, 77-75, with 1:24 left to play. Huntingdon responded with a long-range bucket of its own by Champion, but BC's Levi Lamb once again came up clutch with a jumper to put Brevard on top for good. Wilson secured a steal near the sideline and went the distance to score, putting the Tornados up by three points, 81-78, with 29 seconds left to play. A crucial Hopper block on the other end led to a pair of free throws by Levi Lamb, extending BC's lead to an 83-78 margin. Following a pair of technical free throws, Huntingdon came up empty with a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, and BC's Turner fittingly wrapped up his Tornado career by tying his career-high with a late free throw, sealing Brevard's 84-80 senior day victory.
The victory put a bow on the careers of BC's three-member senior class.
Hopper, a senior from Gastonia, North Carolina, has averaged a career-best 12.6 points-per-game through the course of his senior season. His 117 career steals ranks top-five in BC's NCAA-era, and he has accumulated 612 career points.
Lamb, a senior from Atlanta, has had a record-breaking senior campaign in which he eclipsed the 1,000 career point threshold and set the BC NCAA-era record for career 3-pointers made with 149. Lamb is placed right behind his classmates Hopper and Turner in the record books with 105 career steals, and his 86 career blocks are second-most in BC's NCAA-era. All told, he has amassed 1,181 career points, which ranks fourth in BC's NCAA-era.
Turner, a senior from Wilmington, North Carolina, has swiped 109 career steals to vault into the top-five in BC's NCAA-era record book. Making starting appearances in 34 games over the last two seasons, Turner has racked up 481 career points. In his junior season, Turner averaged a career-best 9.8 points-per-game and swiped two steals-per-contest.
The BC men's basketball team, under the direction of eighth-year Head Coach Lee Burgess, improved on its record from last season by finishing with seven victories. BC's six victories in USA South Conference play are the most for a Tornado team in conference action since the 2014-15 team won 10 games. Brevard's five victories this year at home are the most for a BC team since the 2010-11 campaign.
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