BREVARD, N.C. - Playing in front of a raucous home crowd and a television audience for just the second time in school history, the Brevard College men's basketball team used a 25-5 second-half run to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne 74-63 and continue to climb the South Atlantic Conference standings.
Lenoir-Rhyne (7-11, 5-9 SAC) led 47-42 after Darrion Evans' layup in transition with 15:13 to play. Evans' bucket capped a 20-second span that saw the Bears score five points on fast breaks started by Jake Wilson rejections on the defensive end. But the Bears would combine to miss seven of their nine shots in the ensuing nine minutes as the Tornados (9-11, 7-7 SAC) put together a 25-5 outburst sparked by an Alex Moe basket and punctuated by seven points from Trevon Shaw and five from Miles Leathers.
Leathers had arguably the most complete game of his career, leading a balanced scoring attack that saw three players score at least 15 points. Leathers had a game-high 20 points, surpassing a 16-point effort against then-No. 20 Newberry for his highest scoring total this season, and set career highs by making 85.7 percent of his field goal attempts and all five of his shots from beyond the arc.
Leathers also tied season highs with four assists, a pair of steals, and six made field goals, while Alex Moe set a season high with seven rebounds and had a pair of assists and blocks. Darius Moose was the team's second-leading scorer with 17 points and moved into third place on Brevard's all-time assists list with the 177th and 178th of his career.
Brevard dismantled the conference's second-best three-point field goal percentage defense by shooting at a 54.2 percent clip from beyond the arc, over 20 percent higher than Lenoir-Rhyne had allowed coming into the game. The Bears also boasted the nation's 11th-highest shooting percentage from long range but were humbled by making just 23.8 percent of their 21 attempts. At one point during Brevard's 25-5 run, the Bears went seven and a half minutes without attempting a two-point shot but scored on just one of their possessions.
The Tornados recorded assists on over 73 percent of their made field goals as six players totaled at least two helpers on the afternoon. Tying Leathers and Lenoir-Rhyne's Rob Noyes for the game high was Shaw, whose four assists supplemented a 15-point outing, his 15th double-digit effort of the season.
Brevard opened the contest by making each of its first five field goal attempts and building a seven-point lead just over five minutes into the game, but suddenly went cold. Lenoir-Rhyne responded with a 13-1 run and held the Tornados without a field goal for exactly seven minutes. When Leathers finally knocked down a three in transition, it stopped a string of 12 consecutive misses by Tornados' shooters.
But Brevard battled back to retake the lead late in the half before Phil Wallace personally extended the advantage to two possessions at the half. His bucket in the paint with 46 seconds remaining returned the Brevard lead to three points. After a Moe defensive rebound, Wallace coolly sank a three-point attempt as time expired, giving the Tornados a six-point lead at the break.
Lenoir-Rhyne was paced by the duo of Wilson and Will Perry, who scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. Noyes was limited to eight points and six rebounds after entering the game with five double-doubles on the season.
With its win, Brevard sweeps the season series with Lenoir-Rhyne. The Tornados also pass Catawba in the conference standings and are now tied for sixth with Coker at 7-7 in league play. Queens sits in sole possession of second place just two games ahead of the Tornados, while Newberry, Wingate, and Carson-Newman are a game ahead in third place.
The Tornados will return home on Wednesday evening to face Mars Hill, currently 12th in the standings with a 3-11 record in the SAC. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
