ANDERSON, S.C. - After losing its first six games of the 2014-2015 campaign, the Brevard College men's basketball team has found its winning ways.
Avenging a three-point loss at Boshamer Gymnasium in December, the Tornados (7-10, 5-6 SAC) took a win on the road at Anderson (8-9, 4-7 SAC), using the 57-54 victory to vault into a four-way tie for sixth place in the conference and place themselves squarely in contention for the team's first postseason bid since 2011.
Phil Wallace played the hero for the second straight contest, taking over the game's final three minutes to singlehandedly give Brevard a lead it would not relinquish. Wallace put the Tornados ahead 50-49 with a jumper just inside the three minute mark, then poked the ball away from Maurice Howard and completed the layup on the fast break to stretch the lead to three points.
After Anderson trimmed the lead back to a point with a pair of free throws, Wallace struck again, this time from beyond the arc, to put Brevard up 55-51 with 38 seconds to play, completing a 2:17 stretch in which he personally outscored Anderson 7-2. It was the second straight game that saw Wallace drain a huge triple inside the final minute, as his shot with 0.7 seconds to go propelled the Tornados to a 97-96 upset of No. 20 Newberry on Saturday.
Anderson's Nick Jackson cut the lead to a point with a three-point basket of his own before the Tornados missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the free throw line. But Trevon Shaw came up with a steal and drained a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds to play to put Brevard up by three. Anderson missed a three-point attempt badly on the ensuing possession, and the officials initially ruled that the ball was last touched by Anderson but reversed their call at the end of a timeout, giving the Trojans a final opportunity to tie the game.
Jackson's last-second heave was off the mark, allowing the Tornados to snap a five-game losing streak to Anderson. In the teams' first meeting on December 3, Shaw had a potential game-tying three-point attempt glance off the backboard at the buzzer, giving the season series remarkable symmetry.
Wallace's 15 points paced the Tornados as the team scored its fewest points in a winning effort since a 54-50 overtime victory at Erskine on January 31, 2011. Shaw was the only other Tornado to score in double figures with 12 points and pitched in a team-high four rebounds. Darius Moose was held to his lowest scoring output since February 25, 2012, mustering just five points against a suffocating Trojans' defense that allowed him just seven field goal opportunities.
The game was tied at 29 at the break with just five of Brevard's 24 shot attempts coming from inside the three-point arc. The Tornados shot 46.8 percent from the field in the game, while Anderson shot a nearly identical 46.3 percent. Brevard was also extremely opportunistic, converting 15 Anderson turnovers into 19 points. Despite being outrebounded 30-21, Brevard gave up just four second-chance points in the game and netted 26 points from its reserves.
Brevard came into Wednesday's contest tied with Anderson in the conference standings on the outside looking in of the eight-team South Atlantic Conference Tournament. But the victory, coupled with losses by Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba, and Carson-Newman, places those three schools into a four-way tie with Brevard for sixth place in the standings while dropping Anderson into 10th place. The Tornados have also now won consecutive games for the third time this season after going three full seasons without accomplishing the feat.
Brevard will try for its eighth win in 12 games on Saturday when the Tornados host Wingate, which is in a three-way tie for second in the conference at 7-4 in league play. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
Featured image courtesy of Tommy Moss.
