BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – Brewton-Parker men's basketball traveled to Blue Mountain, Miss. to take on Blue Mountain in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

The Barons (8-20, 6-14 SSAC) wrapped up the regular season with a loss to the Toppers (17-10, 11-9 SSAC), falling 70-60. BPC managed to secure a bid to the SSAC Tournament next week as the No. 10 seed set to face off against the No. 7 seed on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round.

How It Happened | 1st Half

• Blue Mountain opened the game with a jumper nearly a minute into action before the Barons began their scoring efforts with a 7-0 run highlighted by a layup and a deep perimeter score from Lance Smith, leaving 16:25 on the clock.
• After nearly two minutes of scoreless play, the Toppers notched six unanswered points to reclaim the lead with an 8-7 advantage with just under 13 minutes to play in the half.
• Chance Hatcher gave BPC the lead at the 12:24 mark, but the advantage was wiped clean with a score from BMCU after roughly three minutes was erased from the clock.
• Aaron Udell connected for a trey at the 9:26 mark to give the Barons a 12-10 lead yet the Toppers continued to provide a response, scoring back-to-back treys for a four-point edge with eight minutes to play.
• Brewton-Parker went on a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Smith to answer Blue Mountain, reclaiming the lead with a 19-18 advantage.
• After taking a 23-20 lead with 2:37 left in the half, BPC slipped into a four-point deficit to close out the half as the Toppers finished with a 7-0 run for a 27-23 lead at the break.

How It Happened | 2nd Half

• Blue Mountain began the second half with a score to advance the lead to six points before threes from Jordan Johnson and Kenny Colwell cut the deficit down to three twice in the first three minutes of play.
• With 17:06 left to play, Damarcus Johnson Jr. scored in the paint to pull the Barons within one point, but the hosts responded a minute later with a score of their own in the paint to lead 34-31.
• The Barons found themselves level with the Toppers at the 15:25 mark as Johnson knocked down a jumper from the perimeter and nearly three minutes later, BMCU answered to pull back to a two-point lead.
• BPC was able to tie things up at the 11-minute mark with a pair of free throws from Johnson and followed with a leveling score from Smith at the 9:02 mark but was unable to capitalize on the position.
• The Toppers took the next three minutes to advance to a 45-38 lead and eventually moved to a 15-point lead after going on a 10-2 run, leaving 3:48 on the clock.
• Brewton-Parker managed to gain eight points back with Udell leading the way with a pair of treys to move the deficit to seven points with 2:19 remaining.
• With hope still alive, the Barons pulled within a two-possession game as Smith got a three-pointer to fall with 57 seconds left.
• The Barons were able to get within four points late, but the Toppers held off the Barons down the stretch to slam the door shut with the 70-60 win.

Inside The Statistics

• The Barons shot for 31.1% (19-of-61) from the floor, 29% (9-of-31) from three, and 92.9% (13-of-14) from the charity stripe.
• Smith led with 15 points, three steals, and two assists followed by Johnson's 12 points and Udell's 11.
• Johnson Jr. led the rebounding efforts for BPC with eight boards as the Barons held a narrow 34-33 rebounding advantage.

Other Notables

• Brewton-Parker gave up 13 turnovers while Blue Mountain gave up 10.
• The BPC defense gathered four steals and scored 11 points off turnovers while BMCU scored 12.
• Brewton-Parker wraps up the regular season with an 8-20 overall record and a 6-14 SSAC record, earning the 10th seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Next Up

• BPC is set to face Life (Ga.) on Wednesday afternoon for game two of the opening round in Montgomery, Ala.