HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Brewton-Parker Men's Basketball returned to the court for the first game of the 2024 portion of the season with a battle against William Carey (Miss.) on Thursday night.

The Barons (5-9, 1-5 SSAC) downed the Crusaders (9-5, 4-3 SSAC) in an 81-77 battle in Hattiesburg, Miss. to snap an eight-game skid.

How It Happened | First Half

The Barons started the game in a 6-2 deficit after the Crusaders hit two threes in the opening couple of minutes. Zailan Blue scored the first bucket for BPC at the 18:26 mark before Ferlin Joseph Jr. netted the second to cut the deficit down to two.

Over the next five minutes both teams would be locked in a back-and-forth battle, after an 11-11 stretch led by four points from Lance Smith and three from Dre Burroughs, the Crusaders had a 14-13 lead over the Barons with 13 minutes to play.

With 11:21 left in the half, the Barons took a one-point lead with a jumper from Burroughs. BPC eventually improved to a three-point lead after a 6-4 stretch over the next three minutes, led by Smith with four points and Damarcus Johnson Jr. with two.

William Carey responded with a 12-2 run all beyond the arc to take a 30-23 lead over BPC with 6:10 left in the half. Brewton-Parker found some momentum and produced their own 12-2 run led by Smith with four points, Blue and Burroughs with three, and Ferlin Joseph Jr. with two, to take a 35-32 lead. The half ended with a 6-5 stretch in the Crusaders' favor to cut the Barons lead to 40-38 going into the half.

How It Happened | Second Half

To start the second half, Johnson Jr. put up a layup to extend BPC's lead to four at the 18:26 mark. William Carey tied the game back up at 42-42 with a three and a free throw with 17:12 left to play.

Both teams would go into a back-and-forth battle over the next five minutes of play with a 10-10 stretch, keeping the game tied at 52-52 with 12:50 left to play. A total of five individual Barons managed to find a basket in the stretch with Domanic Betancourt getting his first field goal of the evening in the process.

To follow, Jordan Johnson put up four points, Justin Boston hit a trey, Joseph Jr. put in a jumper, and free throws made from Smith and Zsolt Boros led the Barons through an
11-10 stretch in BPC's favor to take a narrow 63-62 lead with 7:14 left to play.

BPC moved to a four-point lead after a 6-3 stretch, led by a trey from Blue and free throws from Burroughs and Johnson Jr. The Crusaders took back a 71-69 lead with two of their three-pointers, but Johnson tied the game back at 71-71 at the 3:15 mark.

With 2:54 left, Blue put up a trey to give the Barons a three-point lead, and Johnson increased the lead to 76-71 with a pair of shots from the charity stripe. William Carey cut into the lead late trying to squeak out a comeback effort. Fortunately, the Barons were able to handle business in the final moments despite giving up a trey with a few seconds on the clock. BPC managed to secure an 81-77 victory by besting WCU 5-3 in the final 30 seconds of play.

Inside The Statistics

• BPC shot for 51.9 % (28-of-54) from the floor, 38.9% (7-of-18) from three, and 64.3% (18-of-28) from the foul line.
• Blue led the team with 19 points and three rebounds, followed by Smith who notched 15 points and three boards.
• Burroughs also scored 12 points and Joseph Jr. put up 10.
• The Barons gathered six steals on the defensive side of the ball.
• BPC owned the glass, outrebounding William Carey 39-36

Next Up

The Barons will stay on the road as they face Mobile (Ala.) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET.