Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics

Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics

NEWBERRY – Thanks to a 46-point second half, the Newberry College men’s basketball team earned its first South Atlantic Conference victory of the 2023-24 campaign on Saturday afternoon in Eleazer Arena over Tusculum, 79-60.

Malik Joseph’s career-high 23 points showed the way for the Wolves (2-6, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference), as he shot an efficient 8 of 14 from the floor and made 3 of 4 from downtown. Joseph also pulled down seven boards – the Wolves outrebounded Tusculum (3-6, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) 46-33.

Devario Sheppard had a season-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting and four made free throws. Sheppard’s 11 rebounds set a new career-high for the junior.

Jalen Johnson also scored in double figures for Newberry with 12 points and nine rebounds.

The first half was a tight battle between the evenly matched teams with five ties throughout as neither team led by more than seven. Tusculum was the team that held the seven-point lead, 30-23, with four minutes left in the half before the Wolves trimmed it to 30-27 with 2:47 on the clock.

Joseph’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the opening stanza gave the lead back to the Scarlet and Gray, 33-32, before the Pioneers took a 34-33 advantage into the break.

Tusculum grew that lead slightly to 38-34 in the early going of the second half, but the Wolves answered back with a 6-0 run to regain a 40-38 lead at the 16:40 mark. The game was tied twice more – at 40 points and again at 42 – before the Wolves took over for good.

A 12-4 run that included five points apiece from Joseph and Sheppard gave Newberry some breathing room at 54-46 with under 10 minutes to play. The lead grew to 15 (70-55) over the next handful of minutes and eventually hit 20 (75-55) with 1:18 left in the game.

Looking at the stat sheet, the Wolves dominated virtually every facet of the game: They outscored the visitors 42-24 in the paint; had 27 second-chance points to Tusculum’s 11; 15 fast break points to the Pioneers’ 6; and 26 bench points against just 10 for Tusculum.

Newberry’s aforementioned 46 rebounds were a season-high for the team, including a season-best 20 on the offensive glass.

The Wolves will have a two-week break before returning to the court for a road game on Saturday, Dec. 30 against Fayetteville State in North Carolina. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.