MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Brewton-Parker Men's Basketball hosted William Carey (Miss.) on Thursday night for a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup in Gillis Gymnasium.

The Barons (8-16, 4-12 SSAC) battled hard with the Crusaders (15-7, 10-5 SSAC) as the guests extended the game into overtime. WCU managed to slip away in an 86-80 contest to take down BPC in Mount Vernon, Ga.

How It Happened | First Half

The first four shots of the game all came from beyond the arc as William Carey opened with a 9-3 run in the 90 seconds of the game with Dre Burroughs finding one for Brewton-Parker at the 18:53 mark. A lay from Lance Smith and another trey from Burroughs pulled BPC within one with 16:52 on the clock.

William Carey followed up with a 12-4 run over the next few minutes, capping the stretch with back-to-back three-pointers to lead 21-12 with 13:40 remaining in the half. Brewton-Parker pieced together a small 6-1 run to cut the deficit down to four with less than 12 minutes to play.

After five points from WCU, Domanic Betancourt led with the first two points of a 13-0 run from the Barons which claimed a 30-27 lead over the visitors with 7:19 remaining. Burroughs capped the run with a four-point play, scoring from the charity stripe after draining a shot from deep.

A three-pointer from Jordan Johnson and a dunk from Damarcus Johnson Jr. gave the Barons a 38-34 lead with 1:50 to play, but the Crusaders were able to close with a 7-2 run. William Carey and Brewton-Parker battled through some back-and-forth play for the last handful of minutes with WCU besting BPC with a 14-10 margin for a 41-40 lead at the break.

How It Happened | Second Half

Brewton-Parker took a one-point lead twice within the first three minutes with an opening jumper from Betancourt and a layup from Smith at the 17:21 mark. However, William Carey landed a big momentum-shifting blow over the next 2:28, shifting the score in their favor with an 11-0 run for a 54-44 lead with 14:30 to play.

The Barons responded well with a solid run of their own, outscoring the Crusaders 9-2 over the next two minutes and 44 seconds, led by three points from Zailan Blue and two points from three others. With less than 12 minutes to play, both teams went blow for blow over the next 3:35 with BPC edging out an 8-7 stretch of scoring with Smith scoring all eight for BPC, pulling within two points.

Smith and Burroughs continued to be the main offensive producers for the Barons down the stretch as Brewton-Parker held a narrow 11-8 edge over the following six and half minutes to create a 72-71 advantage. Smith netted seven and Burroughs notched four while WCU managed to take care of a free throw with 25 seconds remaining to force the game into overtime at 72-72.

How It Happened | Overtime

Brewton-Parker opened the first two minutes of overtime with a solid showing of an 8-3 run with treys from Smith and Burroughs leading the way. After dropping to an 80-75 deficit, William Carey finished the period with an 11-0 run to seal the game shut. The Crusaders forced the Barons to finish 0-4 in the final two and a half minutes to secure am 86-80 victory.

Inside The Statistics

• Brewton-Parker shot for 47.6% (30-of-63) from the field, 34.6% (9-of-26) from three, and 68.6% (11-of-16) from the foul line.
• Smith led the scoring efforts with a game-leading 22 points and six assists while being followed by Burroughs with 19 points.
• William Carey's bench proved to be a deciding factor, scoring 53 points while Brewton-Parker's bench produced just 21 points.
• The Crusaders led 35-24 off the glass and had three players with five or more rebounds.
• Brewton-Parker split the regular season series with William Carey.
• Head Coach Leonard Epps holds a 3-1 record against the Crusaders.

Next Up

• Brewton-Parker returns to action on Saturday as No. 20-ranked Mobile (Ala.) visits Mount Vernon for a 2 p.m. ET matchup.