Wingate, NC – The Brevard College men’s basketball team played their fourth-straight game away from home and their third straight road contest in four days on Saturday afternoon, falling to SAC foe Wingate University, 84-66 in Cuddy Arena.

 

Coming off a disappointing outing on Thursday night at Erskine, the Tornados came out of the gates with determination, battling with the pre-season SAC favorite toe-to-toe in the opening 20 minutes. 

 

After a Jonathan Whitson lay-up put the score at 17-10, Wingate answered with a three by Ernest Mangum to take a 20-10 lead at the 11:57 mark. The Bulldogs would keep the Tornados at arm’s length, holding off any BC run with a big basket of their own and pushing their lead as high as 14 points in the opening period.

 

Yet BC would hang tough and would not give in, battling back to cut the Wingate lead to 10 at 42-32 going into the halftime intermission.

 

Coming out of the halftime break, Wingate would find their offensive stride with Sean Barnette and Bryan Grier and go on a 16-6 run over BC in the first seven minutes of the half, taking a 58-38 lead.

 

A three-pointer by freshman Jermichael Tanner cut the Bulldog’s lead to 17, as the Tornados would fight their way back into the contest, cutting the lead down to eight points, 66-58 with 7:22 remaining in the game.

 

However, the senior leadership of the Wingate Bulldogs began to take over as Wingate once again went to their two preseason all-conference performers in Barnette and Grier to push the lead back up to 18 points and secure the 84-66 home victory.

 

The Bulldogs out shot the Tornados, shooting 29-of-53 for 54.7 percent from the floor, while Brevard connected on 23-of-63 for 36.5 percent for the game.

 

Sophomore forward Jonathan Whitson led the Tornados with 28 points, his second game of 28 points this week having scored 28 on Wednesday night at Catawba.

 

Also scoring in double figures for the Tornados was sophomore Andrew Freeman with 14 points, while Shane Galloway had nine points off the bench for BC.

 

The Bulldogs had five players in double figures on the afternoon led by Sean Barnette’s 17 points. Forward Bryan Grier had 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Ernest Mangum came off the bench to pour in 14 points. Brandon Plummer and Sam Holmes added 12 points apiece in the Wingate win.  

 

The Tornados fall to 2-14 overall, while Wingate improved to 11-4 overall and 9-0 at home this season.

 

The Brevard College men’s basketball team will return home next Wednesday, January 23, when they will play host to SAC opponent Carson-Newman College at 8 p.m. in Boshamer Gymnasium on the campus of Brevard College. 

 

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