continued from page the season. ….

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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.