Box score
NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry Wolves trailed Mars Hill by 21
points with seven minutes in the first half but stormed back in the
second half and hit clutch shots down the stretch to earn a 104-100
overtime win in South Atlantic Conference at Eleazer Arena on
Wednesday night.
Donterious Hughes scored 29 points and added eight rebounds to
lead MHC. Sammy Emile followed with 21 points and six boards. Dion
Malachi recorded 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.
In a game that took nearly three hours to play, the Wolves were
led by a career night from Tony Davis. The senior recorded his
second consecutive double-double with 34 points and 17 rebounds. He
blocked six shots, 13 of his rebounds came on the offensive end of
the floor and he also connected on 16-of-21 free throw
opportunities in a spectacular performance.
Mars Hill
started the game off with the hot hand, scoring the first 13 points
of the game before a Davis layup with 16:41 left in the first half
finally got Newberry on the board. With 6:49 left in the first
half, a fastbreak layup by Stewart gave Mars Hill its largest lead
of the game at 33-12.
The Wolves were
not deterred though, scoring the next seven points. Remarkably,
Newberry managed to narrow the deficit to six points at 36-30 with
2:26 left in the half, but Mars Hill scored the final six points of
the half to take a 42-30 lead at the break.
Newberry shot
only 10-of-38 (26.3%) in the first half while Mars Hill was
15-of-35 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Mars Hill scored
two quick baskets out of the half to get back out to a 16-point
lead. The Wolves continued to trail by 16 points until the 12:42
mark of the half, but a 6-0 run cut the lead to 10 points at 64-54
with 11:55 to play.
A Hughes
three-pointer gave Mars Hill a 15-point lead with 10:48 to play,
but a 12-0 Wolves rally would set the tone for the rest of the
night. Newberry made four straight baskets with four free throws
mixed in to bring the deficit down to 70-67 with 9:02 left in
regulation.
Once again Mars
Hill took off and took a nine-point lead with 4:58 to play, but the
Wolves went on a 12-3 run and tied the game at 86-all with 2:44 to
go on a Davis layup. The two teams traded baskets and Newberry took
its first lead of the game with just under 30 second to play on a
Davis three-point play that made it 91-90. Emile tied the game at
91-all when he made his first free throw with 22 seconds to go, but
he missed the second. Akins' shot attempt with time running out did
not find the net, sending Newberry to overtime for the first time
this season.
Newberry shot
18-of-41 (43.9%) from the field in the second half and limited Mars
Hill to 13-of-35 (37.1%) in the second half. Davis had a
double-double in the second half alone with 24 points and 10
rebounds.
An Emile jumper
gave MHC the early lead in the extra frame but Newberry immediately
responded with an Akins triple. Mars Hill scored six straight
points to take a 99-94 lead with 2:45 left in OT, but a Davis dunk
and two Charles layups gave Newberry a 100-99 lead with 39 seconds
left. Newberry went 4-of-6 at the charity stripe from there on out
to close out the game and earn its first SAC win of the
season.
Davis' 13 offensive rebounds obliterates the previous conference
record of nine offensive boards, which has been in place since
1994.
MHC will play at Brevard College on Saturday, January 8. Game
time is set for 4 p.m. The Coca-Cola Tip-Show will begin at 1:30
p.m.