BREVARD, N.C. – The Newberry College men’s basketball team dropped its second game in a row on Saturday afternoon against the Brevard College Tornados, 97-96.

Mitch Riggs set a career-high with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Xavier Holmes poured in a season-high 19 points shooting 8-of-12 from the floor.

With 12.5 seconds remaining Hamish Burns connected on 1-of-2 free throws to give Newberry a 96-94 advantage. The ensuing Brevard possession Darius Moose received the ball inside half court and dished it off to a heavily guarded Phil Wallace who connected on a 3-point shot to give the Tornados a 97-96 lead with under one second remaining.

Following a Newberry timeout, Riggs fires a pass down the floor to Demarkus Smith whose last second fadeaway 3-point shot fell short of the mark as time expired. With the loss, Newberry falls to 13-3 overall and 7-3 in South Atlantic Conference play.

In the second half Newberry had a 12 point lead at 71-59 following a pair of Smith free-throws. The Tornados got within three points at the 6:40 mark at 80-77 after a Miles Leathers layup.

The Wolves maintained the lead until 1:46 left in the second half after Darius Moose connected on a 3-point shot from the left corner. Moose recorded 22 points on 8-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-12 from distance.

Four free throws and a 3-point basket by the Scarlet and Gray earned them a two point lead with 13 seconds left before Wallace connected on the game-winning 3-point shot.

In the first half, Newberry fell behind as many as six before surging out on an 11-3 run to take a two point lead. The Wolves did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the first half having a lead by as many as 10 points. Newberry entered halftime with a four-point advantage, 45-41.

Newberry finished the contest shooting 55.7% on 34-of-61 including 10-of-23 from long range. The Wolves only committed 13 fouls in the contest including five in the first half.  The Tornados connected on 18-of-37 from downtown and 37-of-72 from the floor.

The Wolves return to action on Wednesday evening at home against the Coker Cobras at 8 p.m. Newberry defeated Coker earlier this season 90-88 courtesy of a Smith last second layup.