CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Newberry Wolves men’s basketball team suffered a close defeat Wednesday evening on the road as they were defeated 96-91 by #23 Queens.
The game was closely contested in the opening minutes, and Luke Gibson made the first basket of the game to give the Wolves the early lead. Queens quickly tied the score and went ahead by four points at 12-8 when Daniel Carr made his only three pointer of the contest. A Marcus Ford free throw and a TJ Brown layup pulled Newberry within one point at 12-11 before Van Turner hit one of his eight three pointers to push the lead out to four.
A Ford jumper and a layup by Angelo Sales Jr. tied the score at 15 halfway through the period, and the scoring really kicked up from there on out. Ford hit one of his seven three pointers and Gibson made a three pointer of his own to give the Wolves their biggest lead at 21-15. Another Gibson three pointer extended the lead to 26-19 with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half. Later, Ford and Gibson hit three pointers on back to back possessions to give Newberry a nine point lead at 32-23.
The Wolves took their first double-digit lead when QuanDaveon McCollum made a short jumper to increase the lead to 36-26. After two baskets by Queens, McCollum made another shot to push the lead out to eight, then scored again on the following possession to keep the same distance on the Royals. He was fouled in the process and converted the three-point play to give the Wolves a 41-32 score. Kenny Dye hit two three pointers to keep Queens within striking distance at 42-38, but Marshall Lange ended the half with a made free throw to give Newberry a 43-38 lead heading into the break.
Turner hit a three pointer to begin the second half, but Brown matched him on the next possession. They repeated the same sequence a few minutes later and Newberry held a four point lead with less than 16 minutes to play. Turner then hit another three pointer with just less than 15 minutes on the clock to tie the contest at 56.
Two more Queens baskets gave them a four point lead at 60-56 and forced the Wolves to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout, Sales Jr. made a jumper and Ford made yet another three pointer to regain the lead for Newberry. Queens extended their lead out to six points on a short jumper with less than 12 minutes to play, but a Sales Jr. free throw and a Ford three pointer cut the gap to two points at 67-65.
Another Turner three pointer gave the Royals their biggest lead at nine points and he hit yet another less than a minute later to extend their lead to double-digits at 77-65. The Wolves battled back hard; however, as Gibson and Ford hit consecutive three pointers to keep the game within striking distance. McCollum then made a layup to cut the lead to 77-73, setting up a furious finish.
The teams traded free throws before another Gibson three pointer got the Wolves to within three points with five minutes to play. A three point play by McCollum less than a minute later got Newberry to within 83-81, but Queens converted a three point play of their own on the following possession to extend their lead back to five points.
The Royals had a nine point lead with 1:23 to play and victory seemed assured, but Ford hit consecutive three pointers to make it a one possession game with 12 seconds left. Queens made two free throws after a foul on the ensuing inbounds pass to provide the final margin.
The Wolves were led offensively by Ford, who made seven three pointers and scored 24 points on the evening. McCollum made nine of ten shots from the field and scored 21, while Gibson made five three pointers and scored 17. Brown joined them in double figures with 10, while league rebounding leader Sales Jr. posted nine points and a team-leading 11 boards.