Braves suffer close losses

By Brandon Barber
Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team saw their record drop below .500 for the first time this season after losing two highly-contested games at the Fayetteville State Classic in Fayetteville, N.C.

The Braves let a 16 point halftime lead slip away in an 88-85 loss to Felician College on Nov. 26.

The Braves were outscored 55-36 in the second half, as the team’s shooting percentages dropped off drastically after they built a 49-33 lead before the break. The Braves shot 47 percent from the field in the first half, hitting 5-13 three pointers, and 77 percent from the free throw line.

Photo by Brandon Barber The men's basketball team, shown in a practice session earlier this year, have a 2-3 record this season.

Those numbers plummeted in the second frame, as the team shot 29 percent overall, missing all seven three pointers they attempted, and 64 percent from the charity stripe.

Senior Jeff Brown tied for the team high in points, 19, and is the leading scorer on the year with a 13 point per game average.

Junior Mark Salazar was the only other Brave who reached double figures, also adding a team-high seven rebounds.

Felician’s Thomas Johnson recorded a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

In the first game of the Classic, the Braves battled back from a 14 point halftime deficit against Columbia Union on Nov. 25, but came up short in an 80-79 loss.

Brown led the team in scoring with 15 points, followed closely by Salazar with 14 and sophomore Gabe Pinkston with 12.

Sophomore Scooter Lawrence had a game-high seven assists and recorded 13 over the two-game span. Lawrence has 26 assists on the year.

The Braves opened the season with an 86-80 win over St. Andrews on Nov. 16.

They followed that up with a split at the Mt. Olive Pickle Classic, losing to Chowan College, 74-61, on Nov. 18 and defeating Lees-McRae, 97-58, on Nov. 19.