Newberry, S.C. - The Newberry College men's basketball program (0-2) fell to the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith (1-1) by a score of 76-73 on Saturday as Marcus Ford's game-tying three-point attempt rims out.
The Golden Bulls would start the game out swinging, going on an 8-0 run before a layup from Malakhi Stremlow would stop the bleeding. After going down 24-17, a pair of clutch three-pointers from Jalen Johnson and Devario Sheppard cut the lead to one. The Golden Bulls answered with free throws, but a Tai Giger three-pointer and a layup from Ford tied the game at 28-28. Shortly after, Newberry would run an inbounds play that resulted in QuanDaveon McCollum tying the game at 30-30 with two seconds remaining in the half to send the game into the break.
McCollum would start off the scoring in the second half with a free throw. Both teams would then trade blows. Brown would give Newberry a 3-point advantage, but the Golden Bulls would answer with a three-pointer of their own. After going down by five points, the Wolves answered with an 8-0 run behind three-pointers from Malik Joseph and Ford. A few minutes later, Sheppard would hit a three that pushed the Wolves' lead to six, their largest of the night. However, the Golden Bulls would go on a 12-0 run to take a 65-59 lead with just under five minutes remaining. TJ Brown would hit a three to cut the lead to three points. Two more three pointers from Joseph and Brown cut the lead down to one, bringing the crowd to its feet. After more Golden Bull free throws put the Wolves down by three points with 4 seconds left, Ford would take the inbounds pass and try a three off the buzzer that looked good coming out of his hands. Unfortunately, Ford's shot rimmed out, ending the game, and breaking the Wolves' hearts.
Strong performances by the trio of Ford, Brown, and McCollum helped to carry a majority of the workload. Ford would finish the game with 15 points and 7 assists. Meanwhile, Brown contributed a strong 16 points and 7 rebounds. McCollum led the way on the glass with 13 rebounds, 8 of which were offensive, while scoring 11 points for the double-double. Rounding out the box score, Stremlow had 8 points and 8 rebounds while Johnson had 8 points of his own. Sheppard and Joseph each had 6 points and Giger had 3.
As a team, the Wolves also managed to out rebound the Golden Bulls by a margin of 47-39, resulting in 26 second chance points. They also won the turnover battle, forcing 13 turnovers to their 9 while scoring 18 points off of them.
The Wolves return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. when they open up South Atlantic Conference Play at Mars Hill.
