Bristol, Va. – The Brevard College men’s basketball team played their fifth straight road game on Monday night, as they played the Cobras of Virginia Intermont in what proved to be a game of runs, ultimately defeating the Cobras in overtime, 71-70.

 

The win is the first of the season for the Tornados, as they improve to 1-4 on the year, while the loss drops Virginia Intermont to 2-4 for the season.

 

For the third straight game, the Tornados jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the first half, as they led the Cobras 20-6 with close to 11 minutes remaining in the first half. However, Virginia Intermont came back with an offensive surge of their own to knot the score up at 32-32 heading into the halftime intermission.

 

The Cobras came out of the halftime break with a mission, as they built up a 12 point lead over the Tornados with 7:45 remaining in the game.

 

Yet the BC would storm back to close the gap to three points with only seconds remaining in the contest. 

 

With time winding down on the Tornados, sophomore guard Andrew Freeman came through with a clutch shot, hitting a three-point shot with only 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score up at 66-66 and force overtime.

 

In the overtime period, both teams were unable to pull away and the outcome again would come down to the closing seconds of play. Brevard College had the ball out-of-bounds underneath their own basket coming out of a timeout. The Tornados executed the play to perfection, as junior forward Joseph Chilton hit a lay-up with only 2.6 seconds remaining on the clock to put BC ahead 71-70.

 

The Cobras would get off a shot in the closing seconds but it wasn’t even close, as BC came back from behind to steal the 71-70 victory.

 

Sophomore forward Jonathan Whitson led the way for the Tornados with 21 points, a season-high. Chilton added 14 points, while Freeman had 11 points on the night.

 

The men’s basketball team will next be in action on Saturday, December 1, when they will play host to Tusculum College. The game, which is both the men’s team home opener and first South Atlantic Conference game of the young season, is set for a 4 p.m. tip-off.

 

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