BREVARD, N.C. - With the game on the line, everyone expected Darius Moose to get a chance at the final shot.
Instead, he drew a double-team on the right wing and found Phil Wallace open in the corner, where the junior guard knocked down the biggest shot of his Brevard career.
Wallace drained a triple with 0.7 seconds remaining to send the Boshamer Gymnasium crowd into a frenzy and lift Brevard to a 97-96 win over No. 20 Newberry, the team's first victory over a ranked opponent in nearly four years.
The Tornados set a school record with 37 made field goals as the team shot at a 50.7 percent clip on its 73 attempts, surpassing a 36-for-68 shooting night against Catawba nearly four years ago for the program's high water mark. Brevard also broke a school record with 18 three-point baskets and shot 47.4 percent on its attempts from beyond the arc.
Brevard was up to the challenge of Newberry's frenetic style of play, which is predicated on a pressing defense, sprinting back on offense, shooting early in a possession, and substituting a fresh five players roughly every two minutes. The Tornados matched the Wolves shot for shot, outpacing the visitors 14-7 over the final minutes to score the upset.
Brevard was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor on its decisive run that spanned the game's final 3:16, including making all four of its three-point attempts. Wallace sparked the rally with a triple that cut the lead to 89-86. After the Wolves failed to convert on their next possession, Trevon Shaw connected from long range to tie the game with 2:21 remaining. The Wolves were errant on their next shot before Moose gave the Tornados their first lead since the 15:22 mark of the first half with a third three-point basket.
The teams traded points on their next possessions before Mitch Riggs connected from beyond the arc to give the Wolves a 95-94 lead with 27 seconds to play. Moose was fouled with 14 seconds remaining on Brevard's next trip down the floor but was well off the mark on his ensuing free throw attempt that gave the ball back to Newberry. The Wolves knocked down one of their two free throws with 13 seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Wallace's heroics on the final possession.
Wallace finished the day with 14 points and contributed four assists, two blocks, and three steals to the winning effort. Darius Moose had a season-high six assists, helping the Tornados to their highest output of the year with 23 assists on 37 made baskets.
Moose had 22 points and six rebounds, while Shaw tied Newberry's Mitch Riggs for the game high with 23 points and had a pair of assists and blocks. The Tornados set a season-high with seven blocked shots and tied a 2009 effort at North Greenville for sixth-most points scored in NCAA era history.
Riggs led a Newberry squad that had four scorers in double figures and shot 54.8 percent from the field. While impressive statistically, the Wolves were undone by cold shooting over the final 3:30, when the Wolves managed to knock down just one of their five attempts from the field before a desperation three fell well short at the buzzer.
The Wolves were in front for the bulk of the afternoon, rarely seeing its lead swell to double digits but consistently finding a way to hit a shot that quieted the large Boshamer Gymnasium crowd and squelch a potential Brevard run. The resilient Tornados, however, finally broke through on an 18-9 run spanning five minutes in the second half that turned a 12-point deficit into an 80-77 Newberry lead and served as a precursor to the excitement to come.
Saturday's victory gives Brevard its first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 5 Lincoln Memorial 82-77 on February 21, 2011 and snaps a nine-game losing skid to Newberry dating to January 26 of that same year. Brevard has now won six of its last 10 contests, its best performance since winning six of nine games from January 31-February 21, 2011.
The Tornados will attempt to avenge a 78-75 loss on December 3 when they travel to Anderson for their next contest Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
