BEREA, Ky. – The Brevard College Tornados men's basketball team (3-10,2-4 USAS) overcame a slow start and kept within striking distance for a majority of the second half, however, its comeback attempt came up just short as the Berea College Mountaineers (6-5, 2-2 USAS) took a 71-65 victory to earn a split in the season series on Wednesday night at the Seabury Center.
With a 3-pointer at the 14:35 mark in the first half, Levi Lamb became the BC men's basketball program's NCAA-era leader in career 3-pointers made, as the senior drilled his 124th career long-range bucket to pass former Brevard College player Gaither Hendrix (2010-12) for most made 3-pointers in the NCAA-era.
Junior forward Cannon Lamb produced his fifth 20-point outing of the 2019-20 season on Wednesday night, scoring a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting that included a team-best pair of 3-pointers. The Marion, North Carolina native posted his third double-double effort of the season by hauling down 10 boards on the night.
Levi Lamb capped off his record-breaking night by adding a 17-point performance that included six made field goals, the record-breaking 3-pointer, and a 4-of-4 showing from the free-throw stripe. The Atlanta native also put in work on the defensive side by racking up a season-high three blocked shots.
BC guards Qadhafi Turner and Mike Williams each recorded seven-point outings, while senior guard Demari Hopper grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a team-best five assists.
Berea featured four different players who produced double-digit scoring totals, led by Isaac Caudill who racked up a team-best 19 points. Berea guard Torell Carter made a habit of getting to the free-throw line, as 10 of his 14 points came by way of the charity stripe.
Turnovers told the biggest story in the contest that the Mountaineers were able to lead wire-to-wire in. Brevard committed a costly 21 turnovers on the evening that led to 20 Berea points-off-turnovers. The Tornados fell in spite of outshooting and outrebounding their hosts.
Much like Brevard took the two sides' first meeting back on December 7, 2019, with a hot start, the Mountaineers returned the favor by starting Wednesday's game on a 16-2 scoring run through the game's first five minutes. Levi Lamb's record-breaking long-range bucket halted the stretch at the 14:35 mark and kickstarted a 13-4 run for the Tornados that trimmed Berea's lead to 20-13 with 9:04 left in the first half.
With the score sitting at 30-18 in favor of the hosts, Brevard was able to string together another 13-4 scoring run that cut Berea's lead to just three points, 34-31, as the contest entered the halftime intermission.
Berea was able to start the second half with six unanswered points before the Tornados mustered a response, cutting Berea's lead to just two points, 40-38, at the 14:40 mark in the second half. The Tornados were able to keep Berea's lead within single digits for a majority of the rest of the second half until the Mountaineers pushed out their lead to an 11-point margin, 67-56, with only 3:43 left to play.
Brevard made a last-ditched effort to come back, cutting Berea's lead to three points following an 8-0 scoring run to make the deficit 67-64 with 1:51 left to play, however, key made free throws down the stretch sealed the 71-65 USA South Conference victory for Berea.
The Tornados will now have six days in-between game action before getting back into USA South play with a trip to Lookout Mountain, Georgia for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against USA South West Division-leading Covenant College (7-4, 4-0 USAS) on Tuesday, January 14.
To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube and SoundCloud, and like 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook as well as follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for the latest photos from all Brevard College events.
-30-