BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College men's basketball team shattered its previous season high in points scored in a rare Tuesday night contest at Boshamer Gymnasium, but the hot-shooting North Georgia Nighthawks spoiled the Tornados' home opener in a 104-91 victory.
Brevard (0-3) matched the Nighthawks (2-0) shot-for-shot in the fast-paced contest, making 29 of its 57 field goal attempts while North Georgia knocked down one more field goal in the same number of attempts. But the Nighthawks held a nine-point advantage on an equal number of free throw attempts and outrebounded the Tornados by 11 on their way to their second victory of the season in as many tries.
Brevard was led by Darius Moose, who became the Tornados' leader in field goals made since the NCAA era began in 2008 on a three-point basket with 33 seconds remaining in the first half. The senior from Salisbury, North Carolina scored 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, the sixth-highest point total of his career and most since scoring 29 at Lincoln Memorial on February 19 last season.
Moose led a group of five Brevard players to score in double figures. Trevon Shaw was brilliant in a supporting role, scoring 19 points and shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Alex Moe and Stevie Williams chipped in 12 points, while Phil Wallace added 11 for the Tornados.
Moose, who set Brevard's NCAA-era record for games played in Saturday's contest vs. GRU Augusta, was also one of five Tornados to dish out at least two assists on the evening as Brevard totaled 16 helpers on 29 made baskets. Williams led the team with five assists. Although the Tornados were outrebounded 38-27 in the game, Jaylon Debardlabon pulled down a game-high nine boards in the losing effort.
While Brevard had a tremendous day shooting the ball, the team was matched by the Nighthawks' sharpshooters. Tanner Plemmons came off the bench to score a game-high 34 points on 10-for-15 shooting, with nine of his made field goals coming from behind the arc, in just 26 minutes of action.
Plemmons led a Nighthawks' offense that connected on 51.7 percent of its three-point field goal attempts and was a major contributor to North Georgia's 64-34 advantage in bench points. The teams were virtually even in several other categories, however, with each team notching 13 second chance points and Brevard holding a 30-28 edge in the paint.
The Brevard offense stagnated in the game's early stages, with the Tornados falling behind 17-6 just over seven minutes into the contest and trailing 28-12 midway through the first period. When a Sean Brennan steal led to a fastbreak layup for North Georgia's Ebo Smith, the Tornados found themselves trailing 41-21 with four minutes to play in the first half. But the resilient Tornados ended the half on a 14-5 run to cut the deficit to 11 points at the break.
The second half brought a flurry of scoring, as the teams totaled 114 points over the final 20 minutes of play on a combined 34-for-61 from the floor. Brevard trimmed the deficit to single digits on six occasions, getting as close as seven points with 13:04 remaining, but the Nighthawks slammed the door on every Brevard opportunity.
Brevard will open the conference slate on Saturday after playing three straight games against opponents from the Peach Belt Conference. The Tornados travel to South Carolina to face Newberry, which was picked to finish second in the South Atlantic Conference this year by the league's coaches and boasts a pair of preseason first team all-conference performers in Dondray Walker and Demarkus Smith.
Newberry will also be the third regionally-ranked opponent the Tornados have squared off with this season. The Wolves are the fourth-ranked team in the Southeast Region and are the highest-ranked team from the SAC. Brevard has already faced No. 2 GRU Augusta and No. 9 Clayton State this season.
Tipoff from Eleazer Arena is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., immediately following the women's basketball game with the Wolves.
Featured image courtesy of Tommy Moss.
