Men's Basketball Loses at Newberry
Mars Hill lost to SAC rival Newberry in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action Saturday evening in Eleazer Arena, 79-70.
NEWBERRY, S.C. – Mars Hill lost to SAC rival Newberry in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action Saturday evening in Eleazer Arena, 79-70. The Lions fell to 10-15 overall and 5-14 in the SAC. The Wolves improved to 18-8 on the season and 12-8 in the conference standings.
Justin Yeargin came off the bench to pace MHU with 21 points and six rebounds. Isaiah Cuthbertson added 13 points and eight boards while Brandon McCarter recorded 10 points and seven rebounds in the contest. The Lions connected on only 37.7-percent (29-77) of their field goals and 23.1-percent (6-26) of their shots from behind the arc. Mars Hill edged Newberry on the boards, 42-41.
Demarkus Smith led the Wolves with 20 points and eight rebounds while Xavier Holmes tallied 19 points. Mitch Riggs and Brandon Taylor scored 15 and 12 points in the win, respectively. Newberry hit 51.7-percent (30-58) of their total attempts in the contest.
The Wolves began the game on a 9-2 run capped off by a layup from James Stepp with 17:26 left in the first half. The Lions fought back outscoring Newberry 13-5 over the next seven minutes to take a one-point advantage (15-14) at the 9:45 mark after McCarter hit a 3-pointer. The Wolves closed out the first stanza outscoring MHU 24-17 to enjoy a six-point lead (38-32) at the intermission.
Newberry never relinquished their lead in the second half of play. Mars Hill cut the deficit to three points on two occasions but that was as close as they would get. A 3-pointer by Yeargin with 6:42 left in regulation allowed the Lions to cut the Wolves lead to 56-59 but Newberry outscored MHU 12-4 over the next three minutes of play to take their largest lead of the period, 11 points (71-60), with 3:17 on the clock after Smith hit a long-range jumper. The Lions were forced to send the Wolves to the foul line and Newberry answered hitting 6-6 attempts to seal the win.
Mars Hill will host SAC foe Tusculum on Monday night at 8 p.m. in Stanford Arena. This is a makeup contest from February 18. The teams were unable to play the game last Wednesday due to inclement weather.