BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College men's basketball team (0-2) fell just short in a Western North Carolina-area showdown to visiting Warren Wilson College (1-2), 87-81, on Wednesday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
The contest was neck-and-neck through much of the affair with three ties and six lead changes, as each team kept the score within single digits for a majority of the game.
Junior guard LB Boyette led all players with a 24-point effort on a 10-for-18 mark from the field and a team-best three 3-pointers. The Charlotte, North Carolina product also grabbed eight rebounds, which matched the team high.
Senior guard Quincy Carter added 12 points with six rebounds and a team-high six assists, and sophomore center Ryan Smith contributed a near double-double with nine points and eight rebounds and added a team-best three steals.
Freshman forward Jadon Carnes logged nine points with five rebounds off the bench, while Carson Evans scored eight points while getting the start at point for the Nados. Charles Reed scored four points with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals as well in reserve play.
Warren Wilson featured three double-digit scorers, including a pair of 20-plus point performers in Dashawn Goodine (22 points) and Jeremiah Daye (20 points). O'Darius Cade added 17 points as the starting trio for the Owls accounted for 59 of Warren Wilson's 87 points on the evening.
In addition to his 20-point performance, Daye added a game-high 16 rebounds and also dished out three assists. Cade added five rebounds and three assists, and Goodine totaled three steals.
Each team shot nearly identical from the field and beyond the arc - with the Owls holding a slim margin - but the offensive difference came at the charity stripe where Warren Wilson went 17-for-21 (81%) to Brevard's 13-of-25 mark (52%). BC was able to outrebound (49-45) and log more assists (22-13) than the Owls, as turnovers and points off turnovers were nearly even. Both sides scored 30 points in the paint, and Brevard's bench outscored WWC's 21-16.
Brevard held an early 14-8 edge through the first few minutes of the first half thanks to four 3-pointers. Warren Wilson retook the lead and held a five-point margin, 21-16 after a Waylon Rutherford made 3-pointer. Garrett Sutherland's long-range bucket at the 7:24 mark cut the deficit to one point, 23-22, as the contest remained tight through the remainder of the first half. The Owls extended their lead out to a six-point margin, 36-30, as the halftime intermission came.
BC once again cut the deficit down to just a single point, 50-49 after Carter's 3-pointer at the 14:09 mark. Trailing 55-51, Boyette was able to drain consecutive 3's while Sutherland hit a free throw, Reed made a layup, and Carnes made a layup to cap a game-high 11-0 scoring run for Brevard that gave the Tornados their largest lead of the contest, 62-55, with 9:50 left to play.
Warren Wilson was able to dial up the intensity from that point forward, as the Owls rattled off a game-changing 22-5 scoring run over the next six minutes of game action to take a game-high 10-point lead, 77-67.
Brevard was able to cut the deficit back to within four points, 83-79 with a 12-6 stretch of its own, but the effort proved too late as Cade iced the contest with four made free throws to finish Warren Wilson's 87-81 triumph.
The Tornados will travel to Montreat, North Carolina on Saturday for another WNC-area clash as BC and Montreat College collide at 2 p.m.
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-BC-