NEWBERRY – The Newberry College men's basketball team dominated the overtime period in front of a raucous crowd in Eleazer Arena on Wednesday night, outscoring Mars Hill 19-6 en route to a 97-84 win.

James Lovorn – who has now scored in double figures in six consecutive contests – netted a career-high 30, including five in the extra five-minute period. Lovorn made 7 of 12 from long distance and added seven free throws on the night.

Malik Joseph and Drake Downs each scored 20 and combined for 10 of the Wolves' points in overtime. Downs pulled down seven rebounds for Newberry (4-11, 3-7 SAC).

Jalen Johnson registered his second career double-double, scoring 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with a team-high 10 boards.

The Wolves raced out to a 12-3 lead in the game's early going and extended the lead to 11 after the first media timeout. Mars Hill (2-15, 1-9) went on a 15-4 run over six minutes to even the score at 18 with 9:37 left in the opening half.

The teams had a back-and-forth battle from there in a half that featured seven ties before the Lions eventually gained a 39-35 lead heading into the break.

Newberry tied the game in short order to open the second half thanks to five points from Lovorn and a three-point play from Johnson made it 43-all with 17:16 left. Mars Hill just as quickly restored a six-point, 51-45 lead and later made it 55-47 with 12:56 to play.

That lead held relatively steady for the next few minutes as the score read 59-52 Lions at the 9:38 mark before Joseph and Downs combined for seven straight points to even it at 59 with eight minutes left.

A 12-5 Mars Hill run gave them a 71-64 advantage with 5:04 to play. The Lions maintained that seven-point lead over the next 1 minute and 16 seconds after making a pair of free throws to bring their lead to 76-69 with 3:48 to go.

Downs slammed one home, Joseph had a fastbreak layup and Lovorn drilled another 3-pointer as part of a 7-0 spurt to even it at 76 with 1:25 remaining.

Downs put the Wolves ahead by a pair with 48 seconds to play but the Lions had an answer 30 seconds later to tie it back up. Caleb Byrd's 3-point try at the buzzer glanced off the back rim and brought the game to overtime.

In the OT period, the Wolves were not to be denied, jumping out to an 86-81 lead before calling timeout. Mars Hill made it 89-84 with 1:23 left before the Scarlet and Gray scored the final eight points of the game – Joseph put the exclamation point on the night with a thunderous alley-oop jam after Byrd set him up.

For the game, the Wolves shot 56.9% (37 of 65), making 8 of 9 in the extra frame, and made 10 of 25 3s (40%). Newberry tied their season-high mark in points scored (97) and set new season-bests in field goals made (37), assists (22) and steals (9).

The Wolves outworked the visitors in the paint to the tune of a 48-44 margin, outscored the Lions 25-10 in fastbreak points and the reserves scored 22 points to the Lions' 12.

Newberry hits the road for a date with Emory & Henry this Saturday (Jan. 27). Tipoff in Virginia is set for 2 p.m.