NEWBERRY — Newberry College men’s basketball team came up just short at home in a high scoring battle with Coker. The Wolves(8-10, 5-9 SAC) fell 105-97 to the Cobras on Wednesday, Jan. 22nd.
Coker entered last Wednesday’s contest as the highest scoring team in the South Atlantic Conference, but also on a four game losing streak. The Wolves entered the contest on a two game win streak and were looking to keep things moving in the right direction.
This high intensity game was filled with runs and both teams trying to deliver a knockout blow to one another. Newberry jumped out to an early lead, but the Cobras high powered offense was not to be denied. They went on a 10-5 run that began at the 11 minute mark in the first half. It forced the Wolves to call a timeout.
Devario Sheppard took advantage of his size and athleticism against the smaller Coker guards as he was able to provide a spark for the Wolves. He had 15 points and scored eight of them in the first half. James Lovorn also shot the ball well for Newberry with a game-high of 24 points and knocked down five-of-10 three-pointers in the game.
Drake Downs also was able to dominate as well with 15 points off the bench for the Wolves. The back-and-forth continued as the Wolves trailed 44-43 at halftime.
The track meet continued as both teams got up and down the floor in the second half determined to get easy buckets. Newberry College had 38 points in the paint versus Coker’s 42 points in the paint. The two teams kept exchanging runs until Coker was eventually able to outlast Newberry with their last run of the game.
The Cobras built a 93-86 lead with about three minutes left in the second half and didn’t let that lead go away. They were able to make tough shots, get enough stops on defense and knock down their free-throws to put the Wolves away.
“If we make our free throws today though and its probably a different outcome. We were 13-of-22 in the second half which is really abnormal for us. We shot 80 percent in the first half making 8-of-10. In the second half we went cold for some reason and picked a bad time to go cold,” said Wolves head coach Marcus Kirkland.
Both teams had six players each to score in double figures with only four players taking double digit shot attempts. Newberry College also fell 67-78 against Emory & Henry on Saturday, Jan. 25th. The Wolves will look to shake off the back-to-back losses on Wednesday, Jan. 29th when they go visit Catawba College.
Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on X @TheNBOnews