NEWBERRY – On the heels of three consecutive losses and a winless start to conference play, the Wolves were in a position to respond.
Facing South Atlantic Conference opponent Mars Hill (4-3, 0-1 SAC) at home, the Newberry Wolves (2-5, 1-2 SAC) came out of the gates firing and rode a career night from
Luke Gibson to claim a 92-83 victory over the Lions.
Gibson's offensive surge began early when the junior guard hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc to help Newberry open the game on a 5-0 run, and it would continue throughout the night as he was able to continually find his shot from long range.
With an average of 10 points per game going into the matchup, Gibson is far from being a stranger to scoring the basketball, but after the early conversion it seemed as if the green light stayed on throughout the afternoon. When the final horn blew, Gibson had tallied 21 points on 5-9 from beyond the arc, both career marks for the junior guard.
Although his impressive offensive display stole the show, Gibson's contributions extended beyond the scoreboard, as he also recorded a career-high seven rebounds.
It was a competitive bout between these two conference foes, as the Lions were also the beneficiaries of a lights out shooting performance from Ja'Shawn Brooks, who poured in a game-high 32 points on 7-10 from long range to keep the Lions in striking distance throughout, but the balanced attack of the Wolves proved enough to maintain their lead from the opening bucket through the final horn.
The first half saw the Wolves open the game with a 12-5 run before the Lions were able to pull back within a single bucket on multiple occasions. Newberry refused to relinquish their lead however, with a balanced offensive attack from Gibson,
Marshall Lange,
Omari Wilson and
Marquis Collins.
One of the game's most notable moments came as the final seconds of the opening half ran down. The Wolves fired up a desperation heave to try and get on the board, but the shot failed to hit iron, seemingly bringing the half to a close; however, with less than a second remaining, Collins sailed in for a put-back at the buzzer to extend the lead to 40-34 going into the break.
Following halftime, the Wolves lit up for their highest-scoring half of the season, led by Gibson's 15 second-half points. Slowly but surely, Newberry crept further ahead of Mars Hill before finding themselves ahead by 19, their largest lead of the night, with only 2:46 remaining in the game.
Five Wolves scored in double-digits on the day, led by Gibson's 21. Wilson (16p), Lange (13p),
Angelo Sales Jr. (13p), and Collins (10p) also scored 10+. Sales Jr. recorded his second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
One of the biggest factors in Newberry's victory was their dominance on the glass, outrebounding the visiting Lions by a margin of 50-31.
The Wolves were also very efficient from the charity stripe, shooting 19-26 (73.1 percent) as a team.
Newberry will be back on the road for their next five contests, with the next home game scheduled to take place on January 9 at 8:00 pm. Their next matchup is with Benedict on Monday, December 3 at 6:00 pm.
