BANNER ELK, N.C. – Lees-McRae men's basketball held off a late surge from Tusculum in tonight's 82-77 win on the McNair & Debi Tornow Court.
Ja'Quavian Florence scored a team-high 16 points on 6-11 shooting and
Jalen Crowder recorded 15 points on five three-pointers on Monday.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae – 82; Tusculum – 77
LOCATION: McNair & Debi Tornow Court – Banner Elk, North Carolina
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (4-1/0-0); Tusculum (2-3/0-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Crowder started the game with back-to-back threes in the first minute and the Bobcats held the 7-4 advantage at the first media timeout of the first half. Florence buried back-to-back to give Lees-McRae the three-point lead at 11-8, but Tusculum gained the lead at 15-13 off a three from Kobe Funderburk.
- Timon Jones gave the Bobcats the one-point lead once again at 16-15 as Lees-McRae went on 7-0 run in 52 seconds at the 11:04 mark.
- Florence pushed the Bobcat lead to six points with 7:05 remaining in the first half, but the Pioneers countered with a 5-0 run at 25-24 in favor of Lees-McRae. Jaylin Stewart ended the half with five consecutive points as Lees-McRae held the 40-36 margin over Tusculum.
- The Bobcats pushed their margin to double digits at 54-43 after a fastbreak layup from Florence at the 12:33 mark of the second half. Williams Onyeodi capped the 11-2 scoring run for Lees-McRae off a pass from LJ Rogers.
- Crowder knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the contest at 68-48 in favor of the Bobcats and continued his hot streak from beyond the arc with a triple at the 5:03 mark.
- Tusculum battled back over the final two minutes after trailing by 10 points with 1:58 remaining. Connor Jordan cut the deficit to five points off a fastbreak basket and Jacob Hobbs put the Pioneers back within one possession with 12 seconds left in the contest. Rodney Smith hit two free throws with 10 seconds remaining as Lees-McRae held on for the 82-77 decision on Monday night.
- The Bobcats shot 44.1% (26-59) from the field with nine three-pointers and made 21-31 from the free-throw line. Florence led all Lees-McRae players with 16 points in 16 minutes of action. Crowder followed with 15 points on 5-9 from three-point range and Stewart tallied double-digit points for the fourth consecutive game. Timon Jones rounded out the Bobcats in double figures with 11 and added two assists and two rebounds.
- The Bobcats held the advantage in fast break points (25-7), bench points (36-34), and points off turnovers (27-14). Lees-McRae collected 20 Pioneer turnovers on the night.
FOR THE PIONEERS:
- Jordan had a game-high 18 points on 5-10 shooting and 6-8 from the charity stripe for the Pioneers. Bryce Jackson and TJ Printup each tallied 11 points and KJ Crump recorded 10 in 34 minutes of play.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae men's basketball hosts Bluefield State for their fourth and final game of the current homestand on Wednesday, Nov. 29. The tip-off from the McNair & Debi Tornow Court is slated for a 7 p.m. start.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on Twitter (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics).
