Box Score by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-Five Barton players scored in double figures Tuesday night as the Bulldogs led throughout and beat visiting Chowan University 84-71 in their home men's basketball opener.
Barton improved to 2-1 overall and will travel to Mount Olive for the 46th annual Pickle Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs will take on Virginia State on Friday and Brevard College on Saturday. Both games start at 5 p.m. Chowan exited at 0-3.
Barton bolted to an 18-4 lead by forcing numerous turnovers and had a 51-33 lead at the break. The Bulldogs outscored the Hawks 24-9 in points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of action. Barton ran the lead to 27 points at 70-43 with 11:26 left in the game and Chowan got only as close as the final margin, thanks to a closing 8-0 run in the final three minutes.
"We knew Chowan was going to be very athletic, very quick and very long, so we were concerned with that," 15th-year Barton head coach Ron Lievense said. "They were quick defensively, and we had way too many turnovers. Most of that had to do with lack of fundamentals on our part."
As for the quick start, Lievense said: "We have been up in every game we have played so far in the first half, but then we've seen leads vanish. This team tends to lose its focus, so we have to rectify that to be the team we want to become."
Senior Jaren Haley (Woodbridge, Va.) led Barton with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting and had a team-high four assists. Senior R.D. Dowdy (Chapel Hill, N.C.) got the Bulldogs off to a hot start by scoring all of his points in the first half. He had a perfect shooting night at 4-for-4 from the floor, including one trey, and 6-of-6 from the foul line. Junior point guard Gerald Boston (Burlington, N.C.) added 13 points, senior guard Aaron Suggs (Wilson, N.C.) contributed 12 points and junior forward Joseph Velez (Woodbridge, Va.) notched 11 points.
"I thought Jaren set the tone right away for us with his steals and layups," Lievense added. "He just throws his heart and soul out there. R.D. was one of the main reasons we were up at halftime. He had his best half as a Bulldog, but he hurt his foot again, so we are concerned about that. I would love to coach him for an entire season."
Sophomore 6-foot-4 swingman Antonia Reddic was a one-man wrecking crew for Chowan, registering game-highs of 25 points, 14 rebounds and five steals. Senior post Mark McGlone netted 12 points for the Hawks.
Chowan finished with a 42-34 rebounding edge, but committed 33 turnovers, compared to 22 for the Bulldogs. Barton shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the floor, including 5-of-20 from 3-point range, while Chowan hit on 47.2 percent (25-of-53) and was 4-of-10 from downtown. Barton cashed in on 23-of-32 foul shots for 71.9 percent and the Hawks were 17-of-32 for 53.1 percent.
The Bulldogs finished with a 42-22 advantage in points off turnovers and posted a 40-22 margin in points in the paint.
"I want us to get tougher," Lievense said. "When you are playing in three Classics to start the season, you have to be tough to win those games because of fatigue."
