BANNER ELK, N.C. –
Jaylin Stewart called game one last time on the McNair & Debi Tornow Court this season as the junior guard connected on the game-winning basket with 1.9 seconds left in tonight's contest with North Greenville.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae – 64; North Greenville – 62
LOCATION: McNair & Debi Tornow Court – Banner Elk, North Carolina
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (13-15/9-11), North Greenville (7-22/5-15)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Sidney Dollar, the reigning Conference Carolinas Defensive Player of the Week, had a team-high 11 points on 4-7 shooting to go along with five steals and two assists. Stewart joined Dollar in double figures with 11 and Nico Ashley tallied 10 points and five rebounds.
- North Greenville opened the game on a 14-0 run after Seth Hewitt knocked down a three with 13:11 left in the first half. Ashley stopped the run with a layup at the 12:25 mark.
- The Crusaders elevated their lead to 17 points off two free throws from David Muncy, but the Bobcats cut the deficit to four off a layup via senior Follie Bogan.
- Savion Brown and NGU went into the halftime break up by nine points after a fastbreak layup at 34-25.
- Lees-McRae quickly got back within a possession of the Crusaders after a big-time dunk by senior Gabe Bryant off a Dollar pass at 39-36. NGU capitalized on a 6-0 scoring run with 13:24 remaining in the contest.
- Dollar finished strong at the hoop with 4:15 remaining in the game and scored the three-point play with a made free throw to knot the score at 55. LJ Rogers tied the score at 57-57 after a mid-range jumper with 2:55 left in regulation.
- The Bobcats took their first lead of the game with a three-point play by Stewart at 60-57, but North Greenville regained the one-point advantage after a four-point swing by C.J. Jamison.
- Dollar went to the free-throw and made both free throws once again to put the Bobcats back in front and NGU tied the contest at 62-62 on a front-end make at the free-throw line by Caleb Williams.
- Stewart drove the basket and finished with the game-winning shot for the Bobcats and Dollar stole the in-bounds for the 64-62 victory.
FOR THE CRUSADERS:
- Brown led all scorers on the night with 16 points and hauled in five rebounds. Seth Hewitt collected 11 points and Mason Zick followed with 10 points for the Crusaders.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae will now head into Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament as the Bobcats will face Mount Olive in the opening round on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Chowan University.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on Twitter (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics).
