BREVARD, N.C. - Junior guard Stevie Williams (High Point, N.C.) drops 24 points and seven rebounds as the Brevard College Tornados (2-16, 0-12 SAC) fell by a final of 75-70 to the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears (9-8, 8-4 SAC) Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action.
Williams 24 point outburst lead all scores, while junior Shelby Parris (Burlington, N.J.) continued his hot shooting, adding 16 points on 6-12 shooting. Senior Omar El Diraoui (Beirut, Lebanon) finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while senior Harry Singh (Hanover Park, Ill.) dished out a team-high four assists.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Darrion Evans paced the Bears with 22 points, knocking down an impressive 7-10 three-pointers, while teammates Lucas Reed, JacQues Chambers and Jarvis Calhoun each added double-digit point performances. Chambers finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Jalen Variste contributed a game-high eight assists.
Saturday's matchup would a classic from the start to finish as Williams put the Tornados on the board early, drilling a deep three of a Singh assist, adding another triple on Brevard's following possession to give BC a 6-2 lead.
Brevard would benefit from a hot start to the first half as over the opening 10 minutes, the Tornados opened up a 16 point 24-8 lead over the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne would battle back over the second part of the first half, as both teams despite the Tornados shooting nearly 50 percent for the opening frame.
Brevard managed to hold of the streaking Bears to hold a 38-35 lead, as El Diraoui sunk a contested layup by Jalen Variste who picked up the foul, giving the senior forward an and one opportunity that the Beirut, Lebanon native took full advantage, sinking the free throw attempt.
The Tornados would begin the second half similar to the first, opening an eight point lead as junior D.J. Bostick (Marietta, Ga.) connected on a three-pointer off an El Diraoui pass, while Williams and Parris each converted on a pair of free throw attempts.
The Bears, however, would battle back to tie the contest at 50-50 with 12:53 remaining, as Calhoun gave L-R their first lead of the game on a deep three-point attempt.
Lenoir-Rhyne would benefit from two more three-point attempts as Evans, Reed and Evans again connected on back-to-back-to-back three pointers to open up a eight-point advantage, despite Bostick and freshman Levi Lamb (Atlanta, Ga.) finding answers for the Tornados.
The Tornados would not allow the Bears to pull away, however, as the blue and white battled back to tie the game at 66-66 on a three-pointer for freshman JaMarquis Johnson (Minneola, Fla.) and layups by El Diraoui and Williams.
The Bears would hold a slim 69-66 advantage heading into the final media timeout, as Variste connected on two free throw attempts coming out of the break, while Parris hit a baseline jumper to cut the L-R lead back to three at 68-71.
Brevard would than force a Variste turnover that landed in the hands of Williams, as Parris drove the baseline again, sinking a contested jumper of Reed to trim the lead to 71-70 with 31 seconds remaining.
Jacob Skidmore would hit a jumper on the Bears next possession to increase the lead back to three, as L-R would sink two free throws down the stretch to take a 75-70 final.
Brevard will be back in action this coming Wednesday as they begin a two game conference road trip beginning with Tusculum on Jan. 25 and Coker on Jan. 28.
