Emile powers Men's Basketball over Limestone

MARS HILL, N.C. - A Mars Hill 11-0 run midway through the second half keyed an 86-83 comeback victory over Limestone on Sunday inside Stanford Arena.

The Lions (3-6) opened the game on a 10-3 run, highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play by Terrell Harris. Mars Hill's Cody King drilled a trey from downtown at the 14:05 mark, making the score 16-11.

Charles Blue scored 12 of the Saints (6-5) first 23 points, including a bucket at the 11:16 mark, to give his team a 23-22 upper hand. A Josh Corry shot from distance increased the Saints' lead to 33-24 with 8:25 remaining in the first period.

Both teams opened the game on fire offensively, with the Saints 59.2% from the field and the Lions at a 52.1% clip. Limestone hit eight of its first 12 three-point attempts, and Mars Hill made seven of its first 10.

A three by Harris with just under one minute left on the clock made the score 43-41 in favor of the visitors, but a steal and fastbreak layup from Limestone's Nick Debnam as time expired gave his team a 46-41 lead at halftime.

Blue (15) and Corry (14) combined for 29 first-half points and were a combined 7-of-11 from three-point range.

An offensive rebound and putback by Mars Hill's Sammy Emile three minutes into the second half cut the deficit to 48-45. A Corry trey five minutes into the second half made the score 56-48.

The Lions began to make their move, as a King three in transition made the score 59-54 Limestone at 13:10 mark.

A steal and layup by Marquis Sloan pushed the Saints' lead to double digits, 71-61, with 8:30 left in the game. Mars Hill answered with 11 straight points, highlighted by a 23-foot three from the top of the key by Emile cut the margin back to five points, 71-66, with 7:41 remaining. An offensive rebound and putback by Harris gave the Lions a 72-71 upper hand with 5:17 remaining.

Corry answered with a trey on the next possession to give his team a two-point advantage. After a missed Debnam free throw attempt, Mars Hill's Austin Patton scored a layup on the next possession to make score 81-80 in favor of visitors. Mars Hill's JaShawn Anderson drew a charge on the next trip down the court to set up Harris' go-ahead free throws with 53 seconds left on the clock.

Blue had the ball stripped by King on the next possession, and Patton made both free throws of the double bonus to increase the lead to three points with 17 seconds left on the clock. An offensive rebound and putback in the paint by Blue cut the deficit to one, but Cameron Shuford broke Limestone's fullcourt press on the next offensive trip for a layup for the final margin.

Emile finished with a team-high 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead five Mars Hill double-figure scorers. Harris came up with 15. King, who was 4-of-7 from behind the arc, and Patton added 14 and 13, respectively, while Petar Kostic had 11. Anderson recorded three steals.

Blue and Corry finished with a combined 54 points, with Blue scoring 28 on 11-of-17 shooting. Corry hit 8-of-17 three pointers in the contest. Ryan Bogdan had nine points on 3-of-8 made treys.

The Lions were 31-of-64 (48.4%) from the field over the course of 40 minutes, 12-of-27 (44.4%) from three-point range, and 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the free throw line. Limestone hit 31-of-67 (46.3%) shots and was 15-of-36 (41.7%) from distance but only 5-of-17 (29.4%) behind the arc in the second half. Limestone hit 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.

Mars Hill will face Georgia College and State on Friday, Dec. 30, in Savannah, Ga. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.