MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – In what finished as a day full of celebration, the men's basketball team hosted Life (Ga.) for the home finale on Saturday while also honoring three senior student-athletes prior to tip-off.

The Barons (7-19, 5-13 SSAC) slipped past the Running Eagles (17-8, 10-8 SSAC) in a tough 65-63 battle in Gillis Gymnasium. Before the game, three student-athletes were recognized for their dedication to the men's basketball program. Chance Hatcher, Emmanuel Green, and Corey Thomas were all honored for all they have done as a BPC Baron.

How It Happened | 1st Half

• Life opened the game with a high-flying dunk to lead early before Green knocked down two-straight three-pointers to give BPC a 6-2 lead with 18:15 on the clock.
• The Running Eagles went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 11-6, but the Barons had an answer with a jumper in the paint from Damarcus Johnson Jr. and a trey from Jordan Johnson to level the game nearly two minutes later.
• Lance Smith gave the Barons a 13-12 lead at the 13:28 mark, but the lead was quickly diminished as Life scored seven answered points to lead by three with just over 11 minutes to play in the half.
• After a bucket from Johnson Jr., the Running Eagles moved to an eight-point advantage before Johnson Jr. followed up with a pair of layups to pull the BPC deficit down to four points with 7:52 remaining.
• The Running Eagles jumped back to an eight-point lead taking two minutes off the clock to lead 27-19.
• Brewton-Parker went on a 6-2 run to pull the deficit back down to four points, but the visitors were able to finish out the half with a 7-2 run to close out the first 20 minutes with a 36-27 lead.

How It Happened | 2nd Half

• The Barons began the second half hot, rolling to an 11-1 run in the first four minutes of play to claim a 38-37 lead.
• After a fastbreak score from Life, BPC followed up with six-straight points to move to a five-point advantage with nearly 14 minutes left in the game.
• Brewton-Parker took the next few minutes to extend the lead to 10 points with a 7-2 run highlighted by a trey from Smith, giving BPC a 51-41 lead with less than 12 minutes to go.
• Life went on a 10-3 run over the course of nearly six minutes of play, to pull the deficit down to just a one-possession game as the Barons led 54-51 with just over five minutes remaining.
• The Running Eagles managed to chip away at the BPC lead, eventually breaking through and leveling the game at 61-61 with 1:14 on the clock.
• Smith put together BPC's final four points to aid in securing the 65-63 lead as the visitors were close to knocking on the door of overtime.

Inside The Statistics

• The Barons finished the afternoon shooting for 41.3% (25-of-58) from the floor, 29.6% (8-of-27) from three, and 77.8% 7-of-9) from the charity stripe.
• Three Barons produced double-digit points with Smith leading the way, scoring 15 points while also dishing out three assists. He was followed by Johnson Jr. with 14 points and nine rebounds with Green scoring 12 points.

Other Notables

• Both teams notched 34 rebounds each.
• Brewton-Parker led 30-26 in points in the paint and also led 15-11 in points off turnovers.
• The Barons are now 1-2 all-time against the Running Eagles in the young series.

Next Up

• Brewton-Parker concludes the regular season with a pair of road contests beginning with a trip to William Carey (Miss.) next Thursday.