Men’s Basketball Falls to Brevard

MARS HILL, N.C. - Brevard erased an 11-point Mars Hill lead to defeat the Lions in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, 76-73, Saturday evening in Stanford Arena. MHC fell to 3-17 overall and 0-12 in the SAC. The Tornados improved to 3-17 on the season and 2-10 in the league.

Khouraichi Thiam recorded his thirteenth double-double on the season in scoring and rebounding in the loss. He posted 20 points and hauled in 19 rebounds in the contest. Will White also scored 20 points to go along with six boards and five assists. Carter Wright tallied 18 points.

Dominique Pickett recorded a game high 21 points to lead the Tornados. Gerel Simmons added 19 points and six rebounds. Manzey Miller and Filip Gujanicic scored 15 and 14 points in the win, respectively. Brevard hit 12 three-pointers in the contest, eight in the second half comeback.

Wright hit a shot from behind the arc with 18:23 left in the opening frame and the Lions would lead the rest of the half. Wright gave the Lions their largest lead of 13 points in the contest with 7:02 remaining in the first half after he hit a shot in the lane. The Lions would hold on to a seven point (35-27) cushion at the break.

The first four minutes of the second half mirrored the first period of play with the Lions maintaining a double-digit lead until the 15:55 mark. After trailing the Lions 47-36, Brevard went on an 18-1 run over the next seven minutes to take an eight point lead (56-48) with 9:48 left in regulation after Simmons hit a free throw. Simmons scored eight points in the run while Gujanicic scored five.

After Brevard took their largest lead of 13 points (72-59) with 3:27 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Gujanicic, the Lions went on a 16-3 run of their own to trim the deficit to just two points (75-73) after a layup by White. Gujanicic was then fouled pulling down an offensive board. He hit one of two attempts at the foul line with 22 seconds left in the game. Again, Brevard hauled in another offensive rebound on the second miss by Simmons and he was sent to the line after a foul by Kevin Haynes. Simmons missed both shots at the charity stripe with 12 ticks left to give the Lions one more chance to tie the game. Haynes' 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short and the Tornados prevailed, 76-73.

Mars Hill will play at Carson-Newman College on February 13. Tip-off is set for a 8 p.m. start.