NEWBERRY, S.C. — The Newberry College men’s basketball team used a 20-4 run in the second half to lead the Wolves to a 93-61 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum Tuesday afternoon in the league opener for both teams.
Newberry (4-1, 1-0 SAC) outscored Tusculum 58-31 in the second half while shooting 19-of-31 from the field (61%) and did not commit a single turnover in the final 20 minutes.
Drew Robinson led five Newberry players in double figures with his 24 points, while Drake Downs added 19, including 15 in the second half. Malakhi Stremlow and Kayzin McDowell scored 12 points each, while Makhi Rivers finished with 10.
Newberry’s Matthew Foor added nine markers including his three-point play with 10:51 remaining in the game, to give the Wolves a 63-44 lead.
Tusculum (2-3, 0-1 SAC) was led in scoring by junior TJ Printup‘s 13 points as he also accounted for four rebounds and two steals while shooting 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Graduate student Wesley Johnson senior Malachi Hale scored 10 points each for the Pioneers.
The Wolves, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led by as many as 13 in the first half, including 25-12 with 9:15 left in the period.
The Pioneers responded with an 18-6 spurt to trim the deficit to one at 31-30 with one minute left in the half following a triple from Johnson and two Printup free throws. But the Wolves closed out with a pair of baskets including Stremlow’s fast-break layup after a steal with three seconds to go as Newberry led 35-30 at the intermission.
Tusculum would get within a possession following Amari Allen‘s three-pointer at the 18:14 mark of the second half as TU trailed 40-38.
With Newberry ahead 43-40, the Wolves went on a 20-4 run which spanned 6:28 to extend the lead to 63-44. TU would cut the deficit to 15 (63-48). But Newberry would push its lead out to as much as 34 and used a 14-0 run in a four-minute span to put the contest out of reach.
Newberry finished the game shooting 58.2 percent, including 12-of-27 from three-point territory (44%) and 17-of-22 from the free throw line (77%). Tusculum was held to 19-of-54 shooting on the day (35%), 7-of-22 from three-point land (32%)and 16-of-19 from the free throw line (84%).
The Wolves held a 35-27 advantage on the boards and forced 17 TU turnovers, resulting into 23 points for the home team.
The Pioneers, who played four of their first five games away from Greeneville, will play their next five at home beginning with Saturday’s 4 p.m. contest against Coker University.
