NEWBERRY- The Newberry Wolves came up short at #15 Queens on Wednesday night by a score of 92-86.

RECORDS
Newberry is now 11-8 overall and 6-7 in the South Atlantic Conference. Queens is now 16-2 overall and 10-2 in the SAC.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Newberry shot 36.9% from the field (31-84) while shooting 26.3% (10-38) from three point land.
• The Wolves tallied 49 rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and forced 19 turnovers.
• Xavier Holmes led the way for the Wolves with a double-double, 16 points and 10 rebounds. James Ashby tallied seven rebounds and eight total points.
• Brandon Taylor finished the night with 14 points while Gerald Evans notched 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
• The Royals shot 52.6% (30-57) with 50 total rebounds, 11 assists, and five blocks.
• Sean Morgan held game high in points with 29 while Marquis Rankin notched 22 points for Queens.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

The Wolves got off to a slow start as Rob Lewis made a couple of free throws to put the Royals up 11-2. Newberry scored three quick points with a DJ Copeland layup followed by a James Stepp free throw to make the score 11-5.

With about 10 minutes to go, the Wolves pulled within one when Gerald Evans made a fast break layup and made the score 20-19. The Royals came right back down the floor and hit a layup of their own followed by another quick basket by Xavier Holmes.

Newberry took the lead around the five minute mark when Brandon Taylor hit a three which made the score 34-33. The Royals went on a 6-0 run in the final minute to go back up by seven (49-42).

Brandon Taylor hit a three at the end of the first half to go into half time with Queens leading 49-46.

SECOND HALF

Each team opened up the first half with a quick layup. First by Queens, Sean Morgan and then 10 seconds later Ronell Crockett hit a layup for the Wolves. James Ashby hit a three a minute later to tie the ball game at 51.

The Royals made a layup to go up by three with about 15 minutes remaining in the game. James Ashby hit a three once again to tie the game up at 57. Brandon Taylor then tied the game at 60 with a three of his own after the Royals, Marquis Rankin made a couple free throws.

With about 10 minutes to go, Xavier Holmes made a free throw which put the Wolves up 67-74. Gerald Evans kept the Wolves on top with a jump shot to go up 71-68. The Royals went on a 5-0 run as Rob Lewis scored a quick five points to give the Royals a 73-71 lead.

The Royals never let Newberry back into the game as the closet the Wolves got to the lead was two points. With about a minute and a half to go, Xavier Holmes hit a layup to cut the gap to five and then another layup in the final 20 seconds but the Wolves fell to Queens 92-86.  

UP NEXT FOR THE WOLVES

The Wolves are on the road on Saturday, January 30 to play Anderson University at 4 p.m.