BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College men's basketball team (6-5, 0-1 USA South) fell in the USA South Conference opener by a narrow 89-84 margin to Mary Baldwin (6-3, 1-0 USAS) to cap off a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, Brevard stormed back to take a few late leads but were unable to slam the door as MBU escaped with a five-point victory.
Jadon Carnes and Twain Wilson propelled BC's offense, with the duo each scoring 23 points to combine for 46 of BC's 84. Carnes went 10-of-11 from the field, while Wilson drilled five 3-pointers and hit four free throws. Tyler Baldwin led all bench scorers with 11 points and two 3-pointers, and Malachi McLain put up nine.
DJ Via's 24 points and six made 3-pointers led five Fighting Squirrels who reached double figures in the contest. Via accounted for six of MBU's 11 made threes, with Raymond Benton also scoring 20-plus with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
BC's defense caused 17 total turnovers, and turned those MBU miscues into 25 points. Mary Baldwin dominated the glass 40-22, and took advantage of its hot first-half shooting as the Fighting Squirrels went 18-for-28 (64%) from the field and. 7-of-10 (70%) from long distance.
MBU and BC went back and forth through the middle stages of the first half before a late run by Mary Baldwin allowed the visitors to open up a seven-point halftime edge, 47-40.
MBU then pushed its advantage up to 14 points at 60-46 at the 14:36 mark in the second stanza. With the visitors leading by 13 at 64-51 with 13:07 left to go, Brevard went on a dominant 17-3 run to take its first lead of the second half at 68-67.
The game stayed within one possession throughout the final six-plus minutes of action, with MBU holding off BC down the stretch. With Mary Baldwin up by one with 25 seconds left following Dre'Shaun Brown's tip-in basket, Rony Hogarth made a pair of free throws and the Fighting Squirrels got a defensive stop on BC's final possession. Two Marquise Dunkin charity stripe makes sealed the deal for MBU, 89-84.
BC hits the road for a USA South test next Tuesday, January 6 at 2 p.m.
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