MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Brewton-Parker Men's Basketball returned to Gillis Gymnasium with a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup against in-state foe Dalton State (Ga.) on Wednesday night.

The Barons (8-14, 4-10 SSAC) were dropped by the Roadrunners (13-7, 9-4 SSAC) by a score of 71-60.

How It Happened | First Half

The Barons struck first to start the first half with a layup from Lance Smith three seconds into the game. Dalton State responded with a layup and a jump shot of their own to take a two-point lead just over two minutes into the game.

Over the next three minutes, the Roadrunners continued their momentum taking a 10-4 stretch to drop the Barons into an eight-point deficit with 13:07 left in the half.

BPC began chipping away at the deficit, cutting the DSC lead to two at the 9:09 mark with an 11-5 run led by nine points from Jordan Johnson and two from Damarcus Johnson Jr. A trey from Zailan Blue and a jumper from Johnson Jr. gave the Barons a 22-21 lead with 7:40 on the clock.

Brewton-Parker kept the momentum going and picked up a 5-2 stretch to increase their lead to four with just under six minutes on the clock, with Smith knocking down a trey at the 5:59 mark. Dalton State responded with a 6-2 stretch to tie the game up at 29-29 with 2:55 left on the clock before closing out the half with an 11-0 run to drop the Barons into a 40-29 hole at the half.

How It Happened | Second Half

BPC picked up the first points of the second half with a trey from Blue to cut the Roadrunners' lead to eight. Dalton State responded by producing a 12-5 run over the next six minutes to put Brewton-Parker in a 52-37 deficit with just over 14 minutes left in the game.

A jumper from Domanic Betancourt sparked a 9-0 run from the Barons to cut the deficit to six with 11:05 left in the game. Both teams were locked in a back-and-forth battle for the next four minutes, ending with the Barons behind 59-53 after a 7-7 stretch.

Three-pointers from Smith and Johnson cut the Roadrunners' lead to only three with just over five and a half minutes left, but that was the closest BPC would get to DSC for the remainder of the game. Dalton State held onto a 9-1 run in the final moments of the game to slip away to a 71-60 victory, scoring the five of the nine points from the foul line.

Inside The Statistics

• BPC shot for 32.2% (19-of-59) from the floor, 38.5% (10-of-26) from three, and 60% (12-of-20) from the foul line.
• Blue led the team with 19 points and produced three assists as well as two boards.
• Johnson put up 16 points and a team-leading four assists and was followed by Smith's 10 points.
• The Barons' defense gathered four steals on 12 DSC turnovers.
• BPC narrowly won the rebounding battle 38-37, as Johnson Jr. snagged a team-leading 10 rebounds and was followed by Kendall Norrington Jr. with seven.

Next Up

• The Barons will take on Middle Georgia at home on Monday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET.