MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Brevard College men's basketball team (5-11, 3-3 USAS) won a tight USA South Conference road contest 74-72 over host Huntingdon (6-10, 0-5 USAS) on Saturday afternoon in Montgomery, Alabama.
The victory gave Head Coach Lee Burgess his 50th career victory.
Junior Chancey Watson led BC with 14 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Watson drained three 3-pointers en route to his second-highest scoring output in a Tornado uniform.
Sophomore guard Carson Evans also came off the bench to record 12 points in 13 minutes, shooting an efficient 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Starters LB Boyette and Quincy Carter each registered 13 points and five assists. The two Tornados also were effective on the glass, combining for seven rebounds.
Freshman Ryan Smith was the team's leading rebounder with a career-high six rebounds. Fellow frosh Garrett Sutherland added five boards to match a career-high of his own.
The Hawks took an early lead on their home floor with both teams initially struggling from the field. Huntingdon led 14-9 after nine minutes in the low-scoring start to the contest before a 10-2 scoring run propelled BC into the lead. Trailing 16-14, Watson buried a 3-pointer off an assist by Evans. Watson then returned the favor on the defensive end with a steal that led to an Evans jumper to cap off the run.
The score remained tight between the two clubs for much of the first half with the exception of a stretch of back-to-back 3-pointers by David Sealy and Smith to give the Tornados a 34-25 lead with 2:41 until intermission. The Hawks responded with a 7-0 run of their own to conclude the opening stanza as BC took a 34-32 lead into the halftime locker room.
The score seesawed back-and-forth for much of the second half as well. However, Evans became hot scoring eight straight points for the Tornados over one stretch to give BC a 57-52 lead with ten minutes to play.
A Carter jumper put BC ahead by seven points with four minutes to play, yet Huntingdon came back again tying the game 70-60 with just over 1:17 remaining.
A jumper by David Sealy off a Carter assist followed by a defensive stop and a strong rebound by Smith then gave BC a 72-70 lead and the ball. Boyette was fouled and sank two free throws to give Brevard a four-point advantage.
HC scored again to make it a 74-72 ballgame and had the opportunity for a final shot, but the BC defense was able to get the definitive stop and come away with the two-point road win.
The game featured eight tied scores and seven lead changes. Both teams shot with similar results as BC went 45% from the field compared to a 44% field goal percentage for the Hawks.
The victory marked the third road win in the month of January for the Tornados who will play their seventh away game this calendar year on Sunday at LaGrange College. The Tornados and Panthers will square off at 1 p.m. in LaGrange, Georgia. Brevard will then return home for a non-conference game vs. Bob Jones on Friday, February 4 at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
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-BC-