Anderson S.C. - The Newberry College men's basketball team (11-10, 11-12 SAC) defeated the Anderson Trojans (10-14, 7-13 SAC) in dramatic fashion as Callan Low (Glasgow, Scotland) knocked down a putback layup with less than two seconds remaining to give the Wolves a 69-67 victory on Wednesday.
The first half would start out back-and-forth, foreshadowing how the rest of the game would play out. TJ Brown (Columbia, S.C.) opened the game for the Wolves with a three-pointer, but Anderson would push ahead to build a slight lead of five points. However, that lead would quickly be erased by a three-pointer from Devario Sheppard (Columbia, S.C.) followed by a made bucket from QuanDaveon McCollum (Clio, S.C.). The next few minutes would then see the lead trading hands five different times as both teams traded clutch basket for clutch basket. With about four minutes remaining in the half, Anderson would regain a five point lead, but the Wolves managed to chip away at it until Malakhi Stremlow (Traverse City, Mich.) scored an and-one in response to having his previous shot attempt blocked just moments prior, sending the game into the halftime break all tied up at 30-30.
Stremlow would pick up right where he left off by hitting a three-pointer to open up the second half. This time it would be Newberry pushing ahead as the Wolves raced ahead with a 7-1 run, but the Trojans would not go away, keeping the game close. Anderson would try to respond, but McCollum was there to halt the momentum with a pair of baskets. However, the Trojans were able to put together a 7-0 run of their own to take the lead. The lead would once again trade hands many times as both teams always seemed to have an answer for one another. Anderson was able to go up by five points again with three minutes remaining, but the Wolves were able to put together a 9-0 run that featured a four-point play to take the lead from Marcus Ford (Eatonton, Ga.). Anderson would manage to erase their four-point deficit to tie the game at 67-67 with 32 seconds left, and the Wolves would be content to hold for the final shot. With about eight seconds remaining, Ford drove into the lane and put up a layup attempt that was too strong, but Low was in the right place at the right time to score the game-winning putback layup.
McCollum led the way with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double while Brown had a solid outing with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Meanwhile, Stremlow and Ford each had 10 points with the latter also picking up 5 assists. Sheppard also had 9 points of his own. Low's game-winner gave him his only 2 points on the night to go along with 4 rebounds, and Malik Joseph (Eleuthera, Bahamas) had 2 points of his own to round out the scoring column.
The Wolves return to action on Saturday, Feb. 12 when they host No. 11 ranked Lincoln Memorial inside Eleazer Arena with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.
