ANDERSON — The Newberry College men’s basketball team used a strong second half to earn its second consecutive road victory and third straight overall, winning by a final score of 77-72 over the Anderson Trojans.
Down five after a closely played first half, 37-32, the Wolves quickly brought the Trojan lead down to 41-39 and later tied the score at 48 thanks to a TJ Brown (Columbia) 3-pointer with just under 14 minutes to play.
After two game minutes without a basket for either team, Andrew Robinson (Lexington) put Newberry (13-8, 6-5 SAC) back on top 50-48 to give the team its first lead of the second half after being down by as many as seven.
Over the next nine minutes, Newberry and Anderson (7-14, 4-7 SAC) traded blows, the lead never eclipsing four points for either team. The game was tied on four occasions during that stretch – including at 67-all with 2:34 remaining.
QuanDaveon McCollum’s (Clio) layup put the Wolves ahead 69-68, and two clutch offensive rebounds by Malakhi Stremlow (Traverse City, Mich.) led to his successful 3-point play to give Newberry a 72-70 advantage with 1:31 on the clock. Two Anderson free throws evened the score once more, but another 3-point play – this one from Brown – and two Robinson free throws following a pivotal McCollum block secured victory for the Wolves.
A second straight double-double from McCollum (22 points, 11 rebounds) paced Newberry; it was the seventh double-double of the season for McCollum. Stremlow also recorded a double-double, his fourth of the year, scoring 11 points while pulling down a team-high 12 boards. Malik Joseph (Eleuthera, Bahamas) added a season-high 17 points, and Brown, 12.
As a team, the Wolves made 80% of their free throws (12 of 15) and outworked the Trojans on the glass, holding a 38-26 rebounding advantage.
Myles Jenkins led Anderson with 15 points, followed by Jalen Hillery’s 14.