BPC Splits With Blue Mountain

The Brewton-Parker Cpollege basketball teams were at Blue Mountain on Saturday to wrap up the regular season. The Barons split with the Toppers with the Lady Barons getting the win and the men falling.

Women

Brewton-Parker women’s basketball wrapped up the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a road contest at Blue Mountain (Miss.). The Lady Barons (21-6, 13-5 SSAC) defeated the Toppers (15-12 7-11 SSAC) in a 63-58 win to finish third in the conference, securing the No. 3-seed for the SSAC Tournament next week.

“We wanted to end the regular season on a good note, and we did so by beating a dangerous Blue Mountain group today,” Head Coach Steve Edwards said. “They are tough to beat at their place, and we made plays down the stretch to grind out the win.

“We finished the regular season 21-6 and closed out the second half of the season with an 12-1 record,” Edwards added. “We have matured as a group, and we are ready to compete in the postseason.”

After an opening layup from the hosts, BPC jumped to a 7-2 lead with scores from Madison Evans, Chardell Jones, and a trey from Angel McRae to get things started for the Lady Barons. Brewton-Parker moved to a fivepoint advantage with 4:25 left in the quarter with a pair of free throws from McRae falling before the Toppers took control of the scoreline. BMCU closed out the quarter with an 8-0 run to claim a 12-9 lead, but McRae connected for a jumper in the final seconds to move the BPC deficit down to just one point to end the quarter.

Blue Mountain moved to a four-point advantage to open the period, but Brewton-Parker responded with a 5-2 effort to cut the deficit back down to one point with 7:18 on the clock. After a jumper from the hosts, BPC went on an 8-1 run to reclaim the lead and to hold a 26-22 advantage with 3:39 to play in the half.

The Toppers responded with a 7-2 run of their own to retake the lead, leaving 60 seconds on the clock before Cisley Copper closed out the quarter with a five-point effort to shift the Lady Barons back into the driver’s seat with a 33-29 lead at the break.

Both teams came out of the break rather slow as the first score came nearly two minutes into the third quarter from the Toppers with the Lady Barons struggling to respond until the 5:36 mark with a free throw from Keonya Mincey for a 43-31 lead. After an and-one opportunity from Mincey, Blue Mountain put together five unanswered points to recapture the lead with a 38-37 advantage and less than four minutes to play.

The final few minutes proved to be rather tight with both teams trading possession of the lead and not extending past a onepoint edge either way until BPC secured back-to-back buckets from Evans and Copper late to lead 44-40 with the Toppers closing out with a layup to move the BPC lead back to two.

A trey from Daisha Terry at the 8:19 mark and a three-point, and-one play from Evans at the 7:09 mark boosted the BPC lead to eight points to open the fourth quarter. The Toppers quickly cut the deficit back down to one with a 7-0 run to move the game to 50-49 before eventually claiming a 5552 lead with six points in response to a score from Sy-Marieona Williams.

Williams then leveled the score for the Lady Barons with a trey, which was the first three points of a 10-0 run, giving BPC a seven-point advantage with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. After a three from the Toppers, BPC found one final point from McRae’s trip to the charity stripe to seal the 63-58 win.

As a team, Brewton-Parker shot for 31% (22of-71) from the floor, 16% (4-of-25) from three, and 62.5% (15-of-24) from the foul line. Evans led the way with 17 points while McRae recorded a doubledouble, scoring 12 points and snagging 16 boards. Jones also scored 12 points to round out the Lady Barons in double figures. BPC held a 48-44 advantage off the glass while also leading 9-8 in steals, scoring 12 points off turnovers.

Brewton-Parker finishes the regular season with a 21-6 record and closes out the second half of the season with a 12-1 record after starting 2023 with an 11-game winning streak.

The Lady Barons wrap up SSAC play with a 13-5 conference record to secure the third-seed in the SSAC Tournament next week with a matchup against sixth-seeded Stillman (Ala.) on Thursday in Montgomery, Ala.

Men

Brewton-Parker men’s basketball traveled to Blue Mountain, Miss. to take on Blue Mountain in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. The Barons (8-20, 6-14 SSAC) wrapped up the regular season with a loss to the Toppers (17-10, 11-9 SSAC), falling 70-60. BPC managed to secure a bid to the SSAC Tournament next week as the No. 10 seed set to face off against the No. 7 seed on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round.

Blue Mountain opened the game with a jumper nearly a minute into action before the Barons began their scoring efforts with a 7-0 run highlighted by a layup and a deep perimeter score from Lance Smith, leaving 16:25 on the clock.

After nearly two minutes of scoreless play, the Toppers notched six unanswered points to reclaim the lead with an 8-7 advantage with just under 13 minutes to play in the half. Chance Hatcher gave BPC the lead at the 12:24 mark, but the advantage was wiped clean with a score from BMCU after roughly three minutes was erased from the clock. Aaron Udell connected for a trey at the 9:26 mark to give the Barons a 12-10 lead yet the Toppers continued to provide a response, scoring back-to-back treys for a four-point edge with eight minutes to play.

Brewton-Parker went on a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Smith to answer Blue Mountain, reclaiming the lead with a 19-18 advantage. After taking a 23-20 lead with 2:37 left in the half, BPC slipped into a four-point deficit to close out the half as the Toppers finished with a 7-0 run for a 27-23 lead at the break.

Blue Mountain began the second half with a score to advance the lead to six points before threes from Jordan Johnson and Kenny Colwell cut the deficit down to three twice in the first three minutes of play.

With 17:06 left to play, Damarcus Johnson Jr. scored in the paint to pull the Barons within one point, but the hosts responded a minute later with a score of their own in the paint to lead 34-31. The Barons found themselves level with the Toppers at the 15:25 mark as Johnson knocked down a jumper from the perimeter and nearly three minutes later, BMCU answered to pull back to a two-point lead.

BPC was able to tie things up at the 11-minute mark with a pair of free throws from Johnson and followed with a leveling score from Smith at the 9:02 mark but was unable to capitalize on the position. The Toppers took the next three minutes to advance to a 45-38 lead and eventually moved to a 15-point lead after going on a 10-2 run, leaving 3:48 on the clock.

Brewton-Parker managed to gain eight points back with Udell leading the way with a pair of treys to move the deficit to seven points with 2:19 remaining. With hope still alive, the Barons pulled within a two-possession game as Smith got a threepointer to fall with 57 seconds left. The Barons were able to get within four points late, but the Toppers held off the Barons down the stretch to slam the door shut with the 7060 win.

The Barons shot for 31.1% (19-of-61) from the floor, 29% (9-of-31) from three, and 92.9% (13-of-14) from the charity stripe. Smith led with 15 points, three steals, and two assists followed by Johnson’s 12 points and Udell’s 11. Johnson Jr. led the rebounding efforts for BPC with eight boards as the Barons held a narrow 34-33 rebounding advantage.

Brewton-Parker gave up 13 turnovers while Blue Mountain gave up 10. The BPC defense gathered four steals and scored 11 points off turnovers while BMCU scored 12. Brewton-Parker wraps up the regular season with an 8-20 overall record and a 6-14 SSAC record, earning the 10th seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

BPC is set to face Life (Ga.) on Wednesday afternoon for game two of the opening round in Montgomery, Ala.