WINGATE, N.C. – The Newberry College (8-6, 1-3 SAC) men’s basketball team was able to outscore the Bulldogs of Wingate University (9-4, 4-1 SAC) by a 44-41 margin in the second half of the contest, but would fall just short of a comeback bid as they dropped a mid-day decision on the road, 82-71.
Senior QuanDaveon McCollum (Clio) exploded in the second half to spark the Newberry comeback attempt as he ended with another double-double on the season, his fifth, with 20 points and 12 boards. Freshman Drake Downs (Simpsonville) chipped in 12 points in the contest while sophomore Malakhi Stremlow (Traverse City, Mich.) and junior Jalen Johnson (Sumter) added 11 and 10 to the Wolves total, respectively. Sophomore Malik Joseph (Eleuthera, Bahamas) corralled eight rebounds in the contest as well.
The Wolves offense got off to a slow start in the opening minutes as the Bulldogs were able to kick-off the game on a 9-0 run before Stremlow was able to get the Wolves on the board nearly three and a half minutes into the game. However, Wingate again put together a 9-0 run before Downs put the Wolves back on the board with a layup, but they trailed by a score of 20-4 heading into the second media timeout.
Over the course of the remaining minutes of the first half, the Wolves trailed by as many as 21 points, but began to claw back into the contest, cutting the deficit to as little as 14 on multiple occasions, including the halftime break where they trailed the Bulldogs 41-27.
The Wolves started the second half with better momentum than the first as they were able to hit three of their first four shots from the floor to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance. Wingate reached their peak lead just on the other side of the first media timeout of the second half, that’s when Newberry would start to chip away at the lead.
A 7-0 run by the Wolves, including a clutch three-point basket by junior Andrew Robinson (Lexington) brought the Wolves deficit below 20 and would continue to lower that deficit by putting together a 6-0 run just a few moments later. Newberry pulled to within 11 points with just under five minutes remaining in the contest and would keep that margin settled by exchanging baskets with the Bulldogs over the next four minutes of action. A pair of free throws down the stretch by freshman Caleb Byrd (Mauldin) brought the Wolves to within single digits for the first time since the opening minutes of the contest, but the Bulldogs were able to dribble out the game, handing the Wolves the 82-71 loss.