Box score
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Junior Daniel Sepokas
(Illawong, Australia) poured in a game- and season-high 26 points
to lead the Lees-McRae College men's basketball team to a 73-66 win
over Young Harris College on Saturday evening in Williams
Gymnasium.
Lees-McRae (6-13) posted a field goal percentage of 44.6 percent
on the night, including a scorching 62.1 percent clip in the second
half, while holding Young Harris (16-4) to a mark of 38.1 percent
from the floor in the contest. The Bobcats won the battle on the
glass by a 44-38 margin, including a 32-27 advantage on the
defensive boards, while outscoring the Mountain Lions by a 36-22
spread in the paint.
Sepokas led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting,
including 20 markers in the first half, as DeAndre Tillman
(Charlotte, N.C.) chipped in 12 points with a 6-for-11 night from
the floor. Jeremiah Henry (Semmes, Ala.) added 11 rebounds and six
points, while Tillman posted three blocks. Corey Young (Bluff City,
Tenn.) recorded a game-high five assists, as Sepokas, Asad Lamot
(Mebane, N.C.), and BJ Battle (Orlando, Fla.) each added four
helpers.
Frank Adams paced the Mountain Lions with 21 points on 7-of-17
shooting, as Bryson Robertson nearly posted a double-double with
nine markers and a game-high 17 rebounds. Vince Martin and Steve
Viterbo both added 12 points, as Martin and Robertson chipped in
game-highs of five assists and four blocks, respectively.
The Bobcats got off to a flying start in the first half, as
Sepokas knocked down his first four shots to give Lees-McRae an
11-0 lead with 17:47 left in the period. After Robertson, Adams and
Viterbo each converted a free throw to trim the margin to 11-3,
Sepokas connected on his fourth three-pointer of the evening to
push the lead to 14-3 at the 15:39 mark.
Young Harris would answer with a 13-1 surge, claiming a 16-15
advantage on a triple by Adams at the 11:44 mark. The Bobcats
responded with a 9-5 run of their own, taking a 24-21 lead
following a Sepokas layup with 5:30 left on the clock. After the
Mountain Lions reclaimed the lead at 30-28 with an Adams triple on
the heels of a 9-4 spurt, Young executed a perfect stutter step on
the fast break before laying it in to send the game into the
intermission knotted at 30-30.
The Bobcats carried the momentum into the second half, opening
the period with a 17-11 run to claim a 47-41 lead on a Sepokas
jumper with 14:31 to play. Young Harris answered with a 10-3 run,
taking a narrow 51-50 advantage following an Adams lay-in at the
11:12 mark. After the Bobcats countered with a 12-6 run to snatch a
62-57 lead on a Tillman layup, Viterbo and Adams knocked down
back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mountain Lions a 63-62
advantage with 4:42 to play.
The teams would trade baskets over the next minute and a half
before the Bobcats regained control, taking a 68-65 lead on a
clutch jumper by Sepokas with 2:34 left on the clock. Lees-McRae
would hold on from there, putting an exclamation point on the
evening with an emphatic last-second throw down by Tillman to equal
the final margin of 73-66.
Lees-McRae returns to the court on Monday when the Bobcats
resume their Conference Carolinas schedule with a 7:30 p.m. matchup
against Limestone College in Williams Gymnasium.
- LMC -
