BRISTOL, TENN. – Lees-McRae men's basketball used a balanced offensive attack in tonight's "Battle for the Blue Ridge Cup" 104-90 victory over King.
Timon Jones led six Bobcats in double figures with 19 and Bristol, Tennessee native
Brandon Brown followed with 17.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae – 104; King – 90
LOCATION: Student Center Complex – Bristol, Tennessee
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (11-14/7-10), King (6-18/5-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Lees-McRae shot a season-best 60.6% (40-66) from the field in tonight's 104-90 win at King. The field-goal percentage is the best since the Bobcats had a shooting clip of 65.4% at North Greenville on Feb. 5, 2020.
- Jaylin Stewart joined Brown and Jones with 16 points on 7-10 shooting and recorded four assists. Nico Ashley and Williams Onyeodi each had 13 points in tonight's contest and Jeremy Golson accumulated 12 points in the evening.
- Ashley started the jump with an alley-oop dunk from Brandon in the opening 12 seconds of the game and Jones drained a three to make the score 8-3 in favor of the Bobcats. Jones knocked down another three with 15:42 left in the first half to give Lees-McRae the eight-point advantage.
- Jones capped a 9-0 scoring run for the Bobcats at 36-20 after his third of the half at the 9:44 mark of the first half. Ashley added to the Bobcats' run at 44-22 off a Jones' assist and Lees-McRae claimed the 61-40 lead at the halftime break.
- King answered in the start of the second half as the Tornado cut the deficit down to 13 in the first 3:37 of the half. Golson pushed the Bobcat lead back to 15 and Ashley sent home another dunk with 15:47 left in the half.
- Michael Mays of King made his presence known in the second half as he continued to cut into the Bobcats' lead as the margin was down to nine with 7:27 left in regulation.
- The Bobcats regained the double-digit lead after a quick basket from L.J. Rogers. Lees-McRae pushed the advantage back to 16 points on a dunk by Ashley and Lees-McRae secured the 104-90 win in Conference Carolinas play this evening.
FOR THE TORNADO:
- Mays scored his second 30-plus game against Lees-McRae this season after dropping a career-high 38 points in Banner Elk on Nov. 30, 2022. Mays went 11-20 from the field with five three-pointers to have a game-high 34 points in 37 minutes played.
- Brandon Lamberth recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Tornado.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae men's basketball travels to Central, South Carolina for a league matchup with Southern Wesleyan on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on Twitter (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics).
