HICKORY, N.C. — The Newberry Wolves men’s basketball team snapped a three game losing streak Saturday afternoon as they defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 73-72 on the road. With the win, Newberry improves to 8-6 (4-4) on the season.
The game got tight in the last six minutes of the contest. After Marcus Ford made a short jumper to give the Wolves a 65-55 lead, Darius Simmons made a layup to cut the lead to eight points. He was fouled in the process and converted the old-fashioned three-point play to pull the Bears within seven. Marshall Lange made two free throws to extend the Wolves’ lead back out to nine, but Tyson McClain made a three pointer to cut it to six. He then stole the ball and converted a three-point play to get Lenoir-Rhyne within three points.
Newberry leading scorer Angelo Sales Jr. then made a short jumper to extend the lead back out to five points at 69-64. After Lenoir-Rhyne responded with an RJ Gunn three pointer, Sales made another short jumper to keep the lead at four points with less than three minutes to play. The Bears made two free throws with 1:21 on the clock to pull within two points; then the teams traded missed shots before Luke Gibson was fouled with less than ten seconds to play. He sank both free throws to give the Wolves a crucial four point lead at 73-69. McClain made a three pointer at the buzzer to provide the final margin.
The game was tightly contested early on as both teams looked to gain the early momentum. Gibson made his first three pointer of the contest to tie the game at five just a minute and a half in, sparking a Newberry run. TJ Brown and Callan Low made layups before Sales made his only three pointer of the afternoon to give the Wolves a 13-5 lead. Brown continued to attack from there on as he made his next two shots to keep the lead at 18-10.
Marshall Lange’s first made shot of the game was a three pointer that gave the Wolves their first double digit lead at 25-14 with exactly ten minutes to play until halftime. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before Gibson netted another three pointer to keep Newberry’s lead at 34-25. He would make two more three pointers before halftime, buoying Newberry to a seven point halftime advantage at 42-35.
Coming out of halftime, both teams were potent offensively as Gunn scored for the Bears before Lange and QuanDaveon McCollum made short shots for Newberry to keep the lead at nine points. Gibson then made a short jumper of his own to extend the lead to 48-37 before Lenoir-Rhyne’s Mason Hawks made a three pointer and Cooper Fowler made a free-throw. Lange converted a three-point play to give the Wolves a ten point lead at 51-41, but Hawks and Fowler combined for five points just two minutes later to keep the lead at five points.
Brown and Fowler then traded baskets before McCollum scored another layup to extend the lead to 57-51. Gunn then made another bucket to keep the lead at four points before Gibson scored again. McCollum then made consecutive shots for the Wolves to give them an eight point lead before the frantic final sequence.
Gibson led Newberry offensively on the evening with 18 points on 6-9 shooting, including 4-6 from three point range. Lange had 14 points on 5-8 shooting, McCollum had 13 on 5-10, and TJ Brown joined them in double figures with 10 points. Brown also led the Wolves with a season and career-high 13 rebounds.