CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Brevard College's Sly White totaled a career-best performance, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double, but the BC men's basketball team (2-5) fell in a nail-biting finish, 75-74, to Johnson & Wales Charlotte (5-6) on Thursday night in Charlotte, North Carolina.
White, a junior forward from Raleigh, North Carolina, scored a career-high 22 points on a highly-efficient 8-of-9 mark from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 effort from long range. The junior also hauled down a career-high 10 rebounds to lead all Tornados.
Carson Evans, a native of Charlotte making a homecoming appearance in his hometown, added 13 points and six boards, while LB Boyette added 10 points and tied a team-best four assists in his homecoming contest.
JWU was paced by a 25-point night from Anthoney Ray, while Fred Patterson added 18 points and seven rebounds.
The hosts held a slight advantage from the field shooting 48.3%, but Brevard drilled eight shots from beyond the 3-point line. The Tornados were hampered by a 6-of-13 effort from the free throw line, while JWU also struggled from the line shooting 64%.
The Wildcats were able to maintain a rebounding advantage, 42-32, while their most significant advantage was scoring in the paint, notching 48 points down low to BC's 32. Brevard's bench contributed 33 points in a contest that featured two ties and five lead changes as BC's deficit was within single digits all evening.
The Tornados started things off quickly, scoring seven unanswered points to force Johnson & Wales to use a timeout at the 17-minute mark. The Wildcats answered back as both teams traded leads. Sly White provided a spark immediately for Brevard, hitting a 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup on consecutive possessions.
White extended BC's lead back up to five points, 19-14, with another 3-point bucket at the 8:42 mark in the first half. The junior forward's hot first half continued with his third made 3-pointer at the 5:46 mark, giving the Tornados the lead back, 22-19.
With the score a one-point margin, 24-23, White nailed his fourth 3-pointer from the top of the key at the 4:06 mark. Johnson & Wales was able to use a 7-0 scoring run to take a four-point lead, 31-27. Watson halted the scoring stretch with a 3-point bucket from the corner, as the Wildcats held a slim one-point lead going into the intermission, 31-30.
JWU held a slight shooting edge from the field in the first half, but the Tornados made six 3-pointers to the hosts' one. The Wildcats used a 24-18 rebounding advantage and outscored Brevard 20-10 in the paint to keep pace in the first stanza. White led all scorers with 14 points at the break, going 5-for-6 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
The second half remained closely contested as both sides traded buckets. Johnson & Wales was able to extend its lead up to seven points, 49-42, on just its second made 3-pointer of the contest at the 12-minute mark.
Kavan Horton was able to score on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit down to four points, 53-49, midway through the second half.
Quincy Carter was able to drain a big 3-pointer at the six-minute mark to cut the deficit down to one possession, 61-58. Boyette anchored BC's late run, scoring four-straight points to cut JWU's lead back down to three points, 66-63, with just over two minutes left to play. Carter hit a layup at the 2:06 mark to answer a Wildcat bucket on the other end, as the hosts maintained a three-point advantage, 68-65.
Johnson & Wales used a layup and a pair of free throws to extend its lead, 72-65, with 1:03 left to play. The Tornados did not waiver, however, as a Boyette layup and White bucket sandwiched a pair of made Wildcat free throws, with the hosts holding a five-point advantage of 74-69. BC forced a JWU turnover before Evans drilled a pivotal 3-point bucket that trimmed the deficit to just two points, 74-72. The Wildcats missed one of two free throws on their final possession, setting up Brevard with one final chance to tie things up with the score 75-72 with 11 seconds left to play.
JWU's strong defense on the final possession forced BC's 3-pointer to fall short, and White's putback layup as time expired was too little too late as the hosts escaped with a one-point victory, 75-74, in a heartbreaking finish for the visitors.
The Tornados will return to action on Saturday as Brevard renews a long-standing regional matchup with NCAA DI Western Carolina University at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina, with tip-off slated for 4 p.m. BC's last meeting with the Catamounts in the sport of men's basketball was in 1947, as the two sides meet on the hardwood for the first time in 75 years.
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-BC-