MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – A statement was made in Gillis Gymnasium on Thursday night as the Brewton-Parker men's basketball program hosted William Carey (Miss.) to open SSAC play.

The Barons (2-1, 1-0 SSAC) downed the Crusaders (1-3, 0-1 SSAC) in a hard-fought 64-49 battle. Thursday night's win marks the first victory over WCU in SSAC play, dating back to 2011.

How It Happened | 1st Half

• William Carey utilized a 6-1 run in the first minute and a half to take an early lead.
• A trey from Lance Smith pulled the Barons' deficit to just one possession shortly after.
• The Crusaders responded with a three of their own to lead 11-6 with 17:03 on the clock.
• After a good jumper from Smith, WCU swiftly scored back-to-back buckets to lead by seven.
• A high-flying slam from Grant Sanders off an alley-oop pass from Smith sparked the BPC offense, moving the Barons closer to a level score.
• Brewton-Parker went on a 6-0 run to pull William Carey's advantage to just one point with 14:17 left in the half.
• After a few moments of back-and-forth action, the Barons captured the lead at the 10:03 mark with a huge three from Jordan Johnson, the first score of an 8-0 run.
• With a 22-16 lead in hand, BPC's advantage was diminished to one point as WCU scored a quick five points.
• Brewton-Parker jumped out to a five-point lead with five minutes remaining, highlighted by another alley-oop from Sanders with the help of Chance Hatcher.
• BPC managed to get to a six-point lead at the 2:08 mark.
• William Carey connected on a three-pointer with 1:41 left before Smith closed the half with a layup to give the Barons a 33-28 lead at the break.

How It Happened | 2nd Half

• A 5-0 opening run from the Crusaders quickly diminished the Barons' lead, leveling the score at 33-33 in the first minute of the half.
• Smith connected on a three-pointer to give Brewton-Parker the needed edge to reclaim the lead.
• William Carey answered right back to pull the deficit back to just one point, but the Barons continued to respond.
• Over the course of the next few minutes, Brewton-Parker went on an 11-2 run to pull away to the first double-digit lead of the evening.
• The run was capped off with a jumper from Hatcher to give BPC a 49-38 advantage with 11:28 remaining.
• William Carey took advantage of a few missed opportunities from Brewton-Parker, finding six points within a minute to pull the score back to a two-possession game with less than eight minutes to play.
• The Barons fought through the final stretch of the game, besting the Crusaders by outscoring them 15-6 in the final seven minutes.
• BPC outscored WCU 31-21 in the half to secure the 64-49 victory.

Inside The Statistics

• As a team, Brewton-Parker shot for 39.3% (24-of-61) from the field, 21.7% (5-of-23) from three, and 64.7% (11-of-17) from the foul line.
• Smith led the charge for the Barons with 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
• Johnson scored 12 points and gathered three steals on the night followed by Damarcus Johnson Jr. with 11 points and eight rebounds.
• Sanders led the Barons off the glass with 10 boards and picked up three steals while joining Hatcher with nine points.
• Defensively, BPC produced 10 steals on the 18 turnovers from WCU.
• Off the glass, the Barons picked up nine boards on offense and 33 on defense.

Other Notables

• William Carey narrowly held the edge 43-42 in overall rebounds.
• Brewton-Parker notched 30 points in the pain and 14 points off turnovers.
• The win marks the first program win over WCU in SSAC play, dating back to 2011.

Next Up

• The Barons continue SSAC action with a home matchup against Blue Mountain (Miss.) on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET for Community Appreciation Day.