BREVARD, N.C. - The Newberry College men’s basketball team led by as many as 18 points and held off a second-half charge from Brevard College for a 68-64 win Wednesday on the road.
Newberry moves to 15-4 overall and 5-3 in South Atlantic Conference at the halfway point in league play. The win also clinches the team’s first winning season since 2003 and only the third since the school joined NCAA Division II in the early 1990’s.
Senior guard Vytautas Valiulis (Vilnius, Lithuania) led the scarlet and gray with a career-high 18 points, while senior forward Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas) netted 17 points. Grant Domsic (Winter Garden, Fla.) scored 11 off the bench.
Brevard (10-8, 2-6 SAC) was led by double-doubles from Jonathan Whitson (17 points and 15 rebounds) and Sam Carlisle (14 points and 13 rebounds).
The Tornados scored the opening four points of the game before Newberry went on a 9-0 run. Valiulis accelerated the run with seven consecutive points. Near the halfway point of the half Brevard scored on two consecutive possessions to tie the score 21-21.
Newberry locked Brevard down for the remainder of the half, allowing only 10 Tornado points in the final 9:39. However, five of those were in the final two minutes, cutting Newberry’s lead from 18 to 13 at the half, as the scarlet and gray took a 44-31 lead into the break.
Brevard answered strongly out of the break, narrowing the margin to 44-37 at the 18:37 mark. But there came another emphatic answer from Newberry, which scored the next nine points on a Valiulis 3-pointer, a Brett Goodwell (Inglewood, Calif.) layup and two free throws each from Martin and Matt Alexander (Norcoss, Ga.).
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the half, but Brevard steadily cut away at the lead in the final 10 minutes. Newberry led 64-51 at the 9:11 mark before Brevard went on an 11-2 surge during the next four minutes to cut the margin to four.
From there, the scoring slowed down with the teams combining for only three points in the final 3:40. Christian Matus drew a three-shot foul for Brevard, while the Tornados trailed by four. But he connected on only one shot, and an Alexander free throw in the final 10 seconds pushed the margin to two possessions, to seal the Newberry win.
Newberry shot 24-of-59 (40.7-percent) from the field in the game and blocked 10 shots in the contest. The scarlet and gray forced 17 Brevard turnovers, 11 of which were Newberry steals.
The second half of league play begins tomorrow, as Newberry travels to Jefferson City, Tenn., to take on Carson-Newman College.
Newberry won, 89-73, in the two teams’ first meeting this season.
Tipoff at Holt Fieldhouse is set for approximately 8 p.m. or 25 minutes following the completion of the women’s game.
Newberry women shutdown Brevard, 74-61
BREVARD, N.C. — The Newberry College women’s basketball team defeated Brevard, 74-62 Wednesday on the road.
Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led the scarlet and gray to victory with a game-high 21 points, six rebounds, and two steals. Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) had a great night as well, earning a career-high 20 points. She shot 8-for-13 from the field and pulled down nine rebounds. Leading Newberry in rebounds was Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) with 11, tying her career high.
Samantha Winn (Candler, N.C.) led her squad in both points (15) and rebounds (11). Holli Flippo (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) also played well and scored 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the floor.
Newberry went up 15-3 within the first six minutes. Brevard immediately answered back with a 9-0 run, which brought them back into the game. Newberry went on a 13-3 run to reestablish the lead. It returned to the locker room at the break leading, 37-24.
Newberry held the Tornados to 8-for-27 shooting from the floor and 3-for-11 shooting from behind the arc. They also dominated the paint, scoring 16 points down low to Brevard’s eight.
Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) opened up the second half with a 3-pointer, which put her team up by 16 points, the team’s biggest lead of the night.
NC’s lead was cut to single digits with 13:27 remaining on the clock and Brevard even took a one point lead with eight minutes remaining. Newberry then took back the momentum by going on another 13-3 run. The scarlet and gray played lock-down defense down the stretch, earning the team a 13 point victory.
Newberry played well in the final period but Brevard answered back by shooting 7-for-14 from 3-point range. Newberry held on for the victory by dominating the paint and earning key second-chance buckets. Twenty-four of Newberry’s 37 second-half points came off points in the paint or second-chance buckets.
The win puts the Newberry College women’s basketball team at 13-6 overall and 6-2 in the South Atlantic Conference. It will stay on the road this Saturday to take on Carson-Newman at 6 p.m.
Newberry ranked as best wrestling program in the Carolinas by The Takedown Report
In the Jan. 25 ranking of the best wrestling programs in the Carolinas, No. 2 Newberry College was ranked as the best regardless of division or affiliation. Newberry is ranked higher than several D-I programs including University of North Carolina, Duke University, North Carolina State, The Citadel and Appalachian State.
Editor of The Takedown Report, Martin Fleming, also ranked 12 scarlet and gray grapplers in the top eight of their respective weight class, regardless of division or affiliation.
Cy Wainwright (Green Cove Spring, Fla.) is ranked as the best wrestler at 285 lbs., beating out Duke’s Konrad Dudziak for the top spot.
Newberry has three wrestlers ranked as the number two wrestler at their weight class; Matt Oliver (Toms River, N.J.) at 125, Vin Salek (Toms River, N.J.) at 165 and Keeno Griffin (Jacksonville, Fla.) at 197. Three scarlet and gray wrestlers also took the number three position at their weight classes; Sheridan Moran (Lafayette, La.) at 133, Latra Collick (Berlin, Md.) at 149 and Brandon Kelly (Fort Myers, Fla.) at 174.
Finishing up the rankings for Newberry was No. 5 Josh Whitelock (Rhodesdale, Md.) at 174., No. 5 Bryant Blanton (Summerville) at 184, No. 6 Andrew Young (Summerville) at 133, No. 7 Tony Washington (Georgetown) at 141 and No. 8 Sean Byrnes (Jackson, N.J.) at 157.
Last year, Newberry earned the title of The Takedown Report’s top wrestling program in the Carolinas regardless of division and Wainwright also took the heavyweight top wrestler award.
The Takedown Report covers all wrestling programs in North and South Carolina and ranks the individual teams as well as the individuals for each season.
NC men’s hoops make history with ranking of 9th in Southeast Region
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Newberry College men’s basketball team in ranked ninth in this week’s Division II Southeast Region poll. The top-10 teams in each region are listed each week, with eight teams from each region making the NCAA tournament in March. The regional rankings will be released weekly on Wednesdays through March 4.
Newberry (15-4, 5-3 South Atlantic Conference) adds the program’s first-ever Division II regional ranking to the achievements of an already remarkable season. The 2008-09 squad’s 15 regular season wins thus far is the most since Newberry joined Division II in the early 1990s, as well as the most since Newberry went 21-10 in 1981-82, the first year the school played in Eleazer Arena.
Courtesy of Newberry College Sports Information
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