Harrogate, T.N. – The Brevard College men’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead, hitting their first seven shots of the game on Saturday night versus the Railsplitters’ of Lincoln Memorial, but fail on the road to LMU, 59-56.

 

The loss drops BC to 2-11 on the year, while the win bumps Lincoln Memorial to 5-9 overall.

 

The Tornados came out shooting lights out, going on an early 9-0 run which was part of a 17-4 run in which BC hit their first seven shots of the contest.

 

Brevard pushed the lead up to 20 points when sophomore Shane Galloway hit a three-point basket with 9:31 to go in the first half making the score 29-9.

 

LMU went on a run of their own in the closing minutes of the first half, cutting the lead to 11 points at 37-26 heading into the halftime break.

 

The second half was a different story as LMU controlled the game, battling back to take a 47-46 lead at the 7:39 mark, their first lead of the game.

 

The Tornados and LMU would trade baskets over the next four minutes, until LMU took a five point lead at the 3:33 mark.

 

Four straight Brevard free-throws cut the Railsplitters’ lead to one, 55-54 at the 2:38 mark, however, LMU would not relinquish the lead, hitting four straight foul shots of their own in the closing minutes to seal the 59-56 victory.

 

The game was a tale of two halves, as Brevard shot 64 percent from the floor in the first half including going 5-of-9 from the three-point line. In the second half of play, the Tornados shot 33 percent, hitting only 7-of-21 shot attempts, including sinking only one three-point basket.

 

The Tornados were led by sophomore forward Jonathan Whitson, who had 17 points and seven rebounds. Junior Sean Ferretti had both a game-high and season-high nine rebounds to go along with eight points. Fellow classmate Joseph Chilton had eight points as well for BC.

 

Leading the way for LMU was guard Ryan Whitaker with 15 points. Fellow guard Beau Brown 14 points, while Wadner Joseph had 11 points off the bench.

 

The Tornados will continue their four-game road trip next Wednesday, January 16, when they will travel to Salisbury, N.C. to due battle with the Indians of Catawba. The tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.

 

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