Men’s Basketball Loses to Brevard
Emile, Harris score 22 apiece
MARS HILL, N.C. - The Lions' men's basketball team lost to SAC rival Brevard College, 73-65 Saturday evening in Stanford Arena. MHC fell to 3-10 overall and 1-3 in the SAC. The Tornados improved to 2-11 on the season and 1-3 in the conference.
Brevard led by as many as 10 in the second half as Darius Moose converted a pair of free throws with 9:03 to play, but Mars Hill battled back behind 13 second half points by Sammy Emile. However, Aleksandar Vasiljevic scored seven points in the final two minutes of the contest to help seal the Tornados' first SAC win of the season.
Hendrix tied a school record with seven three-pointers in recording his first 30 point game with Brevard. He was 10-21 from the floor in scoring 32 points to lead all players, while Moose finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Vasiljevic added 13 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Emile and Terrell Harris both had 22 points for the host Lions as Mars Hill connected on 50.0 percent (22-44) shooting on the evening. Petar Kostic added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Lions in the loss.
Hendrix hit the first of his four first half three-pointers on the opening possession of the game as the Tornados and Lions battled through the first half with the lead changing hands four times in the first 20 minutes. The first tie of the game came after Khouriachi Thiam drove in for the layup at the 14:51 mark, knotting the game up at eight apiece.
Hendrix drilled back-to-back three pointers and Sammy Emile connected from behind the arc as neither team was able to build more than a two possession lead in the contest. The Tornados tied the game for the final time in the half as Dominique Pickett hit a floating runner in the paint to tie the score up at 24 with 4:16 on the clock.
Harris answered with four straight points to put the Lions up 28-24, but Moose hit a jumper and Hendrix connected again from behind the arc as Brevard retook the lead with 1:46 on the clock. Hendrix and Jermichael Tanner advanced the lead to four points from the free throw line at 32-28 and after Austin Patton drove in for the layup, Moose answered with the final points of the half with a layup off the assist from Michael Gist as Brevard held the 34-30 halftime lead.
Cody King scored first for Mars Hill in the second half, connecting on a free throw, but Hendrix answered with a three-pointer as Brevard built a 10-point advantage after a Hendrix layup at the 12:13 mark as the Tornados went up 47-37. Emile and Hendrix traded three-pointers as the Tornados retained the double-digit lead, but Mars Hill continued to fight back, bringing the game back to within two possessions after a pair of Kostic free throws at the 6:49 mark to put the score at 53-48.
Pressure around the perimeter by the Mars Hill defense kept the game tight for the remaining six minutes, but Vasiljevic took over for Brevard in the final two minutes, hitting two layups and three free throws to keep pace with the Lions offense and Brevard was able to close out the game with the 73-65 win.
The Tornados edged the Lions 33-29 in the battle of the boards, while Mars Hill led both teams in field goal percentage by hitting 50.0 percent of their shots, compared to 40.0 percent for the Tornados.
Mars Hill will host SAC foe Lincoln Memorial for their third straight home contest on Wednesday night. Tip-off in Stanford Arena is set for 8 p.m.