MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With a tough challenge ahead of them, the Brewton-Parker men's basketball team traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to take on No, 7-ranked Faulkner (Ala.) to restart SSAC action on Thursday night.

The Barons (3-3, 2-1 SSAC) brought a battle to the highly talented Eagles (9-0, 3-0 SSAC) in Tine W. Davis Gymnasium, coming alive in the second half to surge from a 16-point deficit at the break. Faulkner outlasted Brewton-Parker in the final moments to win, 93-88.

How It Happened | 1st Half

• Damarcus Johnson Jr. opened the scoring for the Barons at the 18:55 mark connecting on a put-back effort to level the score early.
• BPC equalized yet again off the hands of Lance Smith nearly a minute later before claiming the lead 7-6 as Zailan Blue knocked down a three at the 17:39 mark.
• Faulkner answered with a 7-0 run to lead by six points with 15:03 left in the half, but Blue hit another trey to split the difference just seconds later.
• Deep shots from Chance Hatcher at 13:29 and Jordan Johnson at 12:21 gave the Barons a 16-15 lead.
• The Eagles went on to score seven unanswered points for a 23-16 lead before the Barons were able to find a score from Ferlin Joseph with 10 minutes to play.
• Faulkner built up a 35-22 lead off a 12-4 run over the span of three minutes, leaving 6:36 on the clock.
• Brewton-Parker answered with five points as Blue connected for another three followed by a jumper from Emmanuel Green to pull the Barons under a double-digit deficit.
• The Eagles closed out the half on another 12-4 run in the final five minutes of play to lead 47-31 at the break.

How It Happened | 2nd Half

• Blue opened the half with a three with the Eagles knocking down back-to-back jumpers in response.
• The Barons went on a 7-0 run to pull the game down to a 10-point gap with 17:25 on the clock as Blue gathered five points followed by a bucket from Joseph.
• Brewton-Parker managed to find a bit of a scoring rhythm for a couple of minutes, but Faulkner continued to provide answer after answer to remain in control of a double-digit advantage.
• Nearing the halfway point of the period, BPC went on a 6-1 run to pull the deficit under double figures to 62-54 with 12:48 remaining.
• The Eagles swiftly pulled back away to a 14-point lead with two-straight treys.
• Brewton-Parker struggled to pull within single figures for several minutes until Smith scored the first bucket of a 14-6 run for the Barons.
• The run surged BPC back into the game, pulling the deficit down to two possessions down, 64-80 with 2:52 to play.
• After the Eagles produced three points, the Barons found a pair of scores from the foul line from Blue to move the game to 87-82 with 1:59 left on the clock.
• Faulkner took a successful trip down the floor, converting a jumper for a seven-point lead with just over a minute remaining.
• Brewton-Parker found themselves in a three-point ball game as Blue knocked down a pair of monster treys to move the game to 91-88 with 30 seconds left.
• Unfortunately for the Barons, two successful shots from the charity stripe sealed the deal which left little room for BPC to find magic with only a few seconds left in the game.

Inside The Statistics

•  The Barons shot for 50% (33-of-66) from the floor, 42.9% (12-of-28) from three, and 83.3% (10-of-12) from the foul line.
• Blue produced a career-high 33 points in his third game for the Barons which lead both teams for the night. He shot for 69.2% (9-of-13) from three-point range.
• Smith produced a double-double performance with 25 points and a season-high 12 assists, shooting for 60% (9-of-15) from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
• Joseph scored 12 points and nearly picked up a double-double with nine boards.
• Faulkner outrebounded Brewton-Parker 41-30.

Other Notables

• Smith picks up his second-best scoring effort of the season and ties his second-best field goal percentage of the year. He has scored 20+ points in four of the six countable contests and recorded his second-consecutive double-double performance.
• Blue's performance in Montgomery was the second-highest scoring effort of the season for the Barons. His nine treys are a team-best this season while his 10 made field goals tied the season-high set by Smith earlier this week.

Next Up

• BPC returns home for an SSAC contest against Stillman (Ala.) on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Gillis Gymnasium.