Lions Fall to Newberry

MARS HILL, N.C.- Newberry pulled away from Mars Hill late in the second half to earn an 88-75 victory over the Lions in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.

A 14-2 Wolves run spanning 4:52 in the second half opened up a 15-point lead and proved too much for the Lions to overcome. Kacey Holt notched his first career double-double to pace Mars Hill, scoring 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds. Xavier Holmes came off the bench to pace Newberry with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Mars Hill fell to 3-14 overall and 0-9 in SAC play. Newberry improved to 9-8 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

Khouraichi Thiam recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds, and added five blocks. Jalen Witherspoon added 15 points, while Carter Wright also reached double-figures with 11 points and dished out five assists. Mars Hill shot 45.5 percent from the field (30-of-66).

Demarkus Smith scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Newberry. Dondray Walker added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The Wolves got 56 points from their bench and held a 52-40 edge in the paint.

The first half remained tight through the first 10 minutes before Mars Hill was able to break through with a 12-0 run to take the lead. Witherspoon found Will White in transition for a layup and hit a three to start the run. Thiam added a dunk to give the Lions a 24-22 lead, and an old-fashioned three-point play by Wright pushed the lead to five. A Thiam block led to a run out, and Witherspoon found Thiam trailing the play with a behind-the-back pass for a thunderous dunk to cap the run and make the score 29-22 with 6:56 to play in the half.

Newberry would respond later in the half with a 17-0 run to open up a 10-point lead. The Wolves spread the ball around during the run, with six Wolves scoring during the stretch. A dunk by Thiam snapped a five-minute scoring drought for MHC and cut the score to 41-33 with 1:34 to play.

The Wolves took a 44-36 lead into the half. Newberry shot 38.5 percent in the first half (15-of-39). Mars Hill connected on 14-of-30 from the field (46.7 percent) in the half.

An 11-0 run to start the second half gave the Lions the lead back. A pair of Holt threes, a dish from Kevin Haynes to White for a lay-in and an old-fashioned three-point play by Holt accounted for the points in the run, which ended with MHC holding a 47-44 advantage with 17:15 to play.

Newberry was quick to answer, with an 8-0 run to take the lead right back. Smith capped the run with a three. That run was part of a 14-4 surge that pushed the Wolves lead to 58-51 with 13:13 to play.

The deciding 14-2 run turned a 68-65 Wolves lead into an 82-67 advantage with 4:59 to play. Holmes led the way with five points during the run. Four other Newberry players scored during the run. Mars Hill would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Mars Hill will travel to Anderson for a SAC matchup this Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4:00 p.m.