Barons Kick Off Basketball Season

Courtesy of BPC

Women

The women kicked off their season with a challenging road test at Coastal Georgia on Saturday night. The Lady Barons (1-0) pulled away from the Mariners (0-1) in a convincing 60-45 road win in Brunswick.

After an opening three from Coastal Georgia, the Lady Barons moved into control of the score by responding with six unanswered points sparked by a jumper from Tajahnae Wiggins nearly three minutes into the contest.

Keonya Mincey knocked down a trey ball with the assist from Madison Evans to move to a 9-5 lead with 3:52 on the clock, but Coastal Georgia remained in tight proximity of the Lady Barons.

Both teams managed to close out the quarter with a pair of buckets each with Brewton-Parker closing out with a 13-9 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

Forty seconds into the quarter, the Mariners found themselves just down by two after knocking down an early threepointer. Brewton-Parker answered with a three from Angel McRae and four points from Samerria Bryant to lead 22-13 with 7:21 on the clock.

Coastal Georgia pieced together an 8-2 run to knock the deficit down to just three points with three minutes to play in the half before Brewton-Parker closed out the final moments by outscoring the hosts 6-4 for a 30-25 lead at the break.

A pair of free throws from A’Aliyah Clay and a layup from Evans boosted BPC back to a nine-point advantage in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. The Mariners scored a lay of their own with 7:49 remaining before scoring cooled down for the hosts.

Nearly three minutes later, Brewton-Parker managed to build up a 41-27 lead over Coastal Georgia capped by a threepointer from Bryant. Both teams took nearly two minutes away from scoring before the Mariners were able to put together six points to pull back into a singledigit deficit.

Tori Dorsey and the Lady Barons scored with 52 seconds remaining to close out the quarter with a 43-33 lead, outscoring CCGA 13-8 in the third frame.

Coastal Georgia managed to cut BPC’s lead down to seven points with 8:08 on the clock, and that was the closest the hosts were able to go for the remainder of the contest. Back-to-back buckets from McRae moved the Lady Barons back to a double-digit edge, but the Mariners were able to pull the deficit down to eight points twice in the quarter.

Fortunately for BPC, an “and-one” play from McRae and six points from Evans in the final minute of play iced any chance of a late comeback as the Lady Barons held onto a 60-45 victory to open continued from page

the season.

Men

Brewton-Parker Men’s Basketball is officially back in action as the Barons hosted Paine (Ga.) on Saturday afternoon for the 2023-24 season opener in Gillis Gymnasium. The Barons (1-0) took down the Lions (0-1) 95-83 in a tough battle on the home hardwood.

Paine hit Brewton-Parker hard early, coming out with a 10-2 lead in the first three minutes of play. The Barons responded with a run of their own to level the game at 12 points apiece, led by Grant Sanders with five of the 10 points scored.

A pair of huge back-toback treys from Jordan Johnson at the 13:40 and the 13:23 marks moved Brewton-Parker into its first lead of the night, holding an 18-14 edge over the Lions. Paine quickly answered to level the game at 18 apiece.

Johnson put BPC on his back once again with an “and-one” opportunity with 12:13 to play, giving BPC a three-point advantage. The first half proved to be quite the battle as both sides were trading shot for shot. Paine eventually moved to a 28-26 lead over BPC with nine minutes to play, but the Barons battled back into control.

Three-pointers from Sanders and Dre Burroughs gave BPC a four-point lead before a jumper from Burroughs with eight minutes to play slid the Barons forward with a 34-28 advantage. Brewton-Parker advanced to a nine-point lead with 6:30 on the clock as Burroughs knocked down another trey followed by a jumper from Lance Smith.

Paine pulled the deficit down to four points with 5:50 remaining, yet Brewton- Parker continued to press forward by taking advantage of trips to the charity stripe. The Barons eventually closed out the half with a 55-45 lead at the break, capped off by a pair of free throws from Domanic Betancourt.

Brewton-Parker came out of the break with a long shot from Burroughs to keep a double-digit lead. The Lions clawed their way back into the game with a 12-2 run that covered the first five minutes of the half.

Sam Faraday-Bensley sparked an 11-2 run with four points to help boost Brewton-Parker back into a double-digit advantage over the visitors with a 72-59 lead with 12:56 remaining. BPC held a 16-point lead over PC after Johnson netted another trey ball with 11:10 on the clock.

The Lions continued to respond well, pushing back with a 16-4 run late in the half which covered about six and a half minutes. The Barons remained in control of an 81-77 lead despite giving away double figures.

Brewton-Parker gave themselves a 10-point cushion over two minutes of play, leading 88-78 with 2:02 remaining as a dunk from Sanders capped a 7-1 run. Fouls and a late threepoint play from Johnson down the final stretch doomed Paine as Brewton-Parker managed to hold on to a double-digit lead, winning 95-83.