NEWBERRY – Though they erased a 10-point halftime deficit and battled back to tie the game, the Newberry College men's basketball team fell at home to visiting Wingate on Wednesday night, 78-66.

James Lovorn poured in a season-high 19 points with five 3-pointers to lead the pack for Newberry (2-8, 1-4 South Atlantic Conference).

Malik Joseph had 16 points and a season-high nine rebounds while Devario Sheppard reached double digits for the fourth straight game, tallying 11 points. As a team, the Wolves outrebounded Wingate (9-3, 4-0 South Atlantic Conference) 42-35, led by a career-best 10 rebounds from Caleb Byrd.

The Wolves jumped out to a 17-8 lead over the game's first seven minutes thanks to a 12-2 run that included four trifectas – three from Lovorn and another from Joseph.

Wingate responded with an 8-0 run to bring the game within a point before Newberry scored five straight to build a six-point lead, 22-16, with 10:20 left in the half. A 10-0 Bulldog run made it 26-22 a few minutes later and they went into halftime with a 40-30 lead.

Lockdown defense paired with hot shooting out of the break brought the Wolves right back into the game in the second half. Jalen Johnson (five points) and Sheppard (four) combined for nine points over the first 5 minutes and 30 seconds of the second half as part of a 13-3 Wolves run to even the game at 43.

After the Bulldogs scored 13 of the next 18 points to regain an 8-point, 56-48 lead at the 10-minute mark, Newberry answered with a quick 5-0 spurt to bring the score within three with 8:38 left in the game.

A 6-0 Wingate run made it 62-53 but Newberry followed that up with a pair of buckets to make it 62-58 with 6:30 to play. The Bulldogs outscored the Wolves 16-8 the remainder of the game for the final score.

For the game, the Wolves' 14 offensive rebounds were converted into 14 second chance points compared to 5 for the Bulldogs. Newberry returns to action this Saturday (Jan. 6) on the road at Carson-Newman. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Tennessee.