Newberry outlasts Silver Bluff at home in hard-fought low scoring game

NEWBERRY — After losing their previous two games, Newberry bounces back to win their next two games including a huge win at home on Friday night. The Bulldogs(9-12, 3-2 region 4-AAA) outlasts Silver Bluff(11-8, 1-4 region 4-AAA) 48-38 to win their second consecutive game.

Newberry had a tough test at home when they faced off against the Bulldogs of Silver Bluff for the second time this season on Friday, Jan. 31st. The home team Bulldogs wanted to close the final day of the January with a strong win to keep their hopes alive of a playoffs berth.

Both squads got off to a slow start on offense and couldn’t throw it an ocean. Newberry still led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter wasn’t exactly an offensive show either, but the home team Bulldogs managed to close the first half on a 11-3 run to go into halftime with a 21-11 lead.

Newberry had their best scoring quarter of the game in the third quarter, but so did the visiting Bulldogs of Silver Bluff. The visitors went on a 9-5 run to cut down their deficit. Newberry contributed to the run with a fair share of turnovers that lead to easy baskets for Silver Bluff.

The home team Bulldogs picked their pressure to stop the run and end the third quarter on a small run. Newberry led 38-28 going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter began with another offensive surge from Silver Bluff to tighten things up. Silver Bluff cut the deficit down to just four points with about four minutes left in the game, but Newberry pulled away to secure their ninth win of the season.

Junior forward AJ Jeter had 10 points, four blocks and a crowd pleasing dunk in the game. Junior guard Kenton Caldwell finished with a team-high 13 points and junior center Jamel Howse added nine points.

“You are going to have those kind of games where you are just not shooting good, the energy is not there, it was raining outside and the crowd wasn’t in it. Everything was not going well for us, but our kids grind it at the end. Ed Dawkins came into the game at the end and brought some energy. Shep[Jamarius Sheppard] our senior brought energy in the first half and it got us going late,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Adonis Hill.

Newberry will be on a revenge tour headed into the last two weeks of the regular season. Their next two opponents, Fox Creek and Keenan, both have early season wins against the Bulldogs at their place. So, they will look to give them both losses on their hone courts starting with Fox Creek on Tuesday, Feb. 4th.