Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
BANNER ELK, N.C.-Senior forward Jon Hart recorded game-highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead 11th ranked Barton College to a dominating 94-63 Conference Carolinas road win at Lees-McRae College on Tuesday night in Williams Gymnasium.
Junior guards Brian McNair and Zach Faircloth added 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Bulldogs remained undefeated on the season at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the league. Hart has logged a double-double in both of the Bulldogs conference wins.
Barton's sixth consecutive win to start the season is now the best undefeated start for the program in the institutions NCAA Division II era (since 1995-96). BC head coach Ron Lievense has guided the Bulldogs to numerous great starts in his 17 years at the helm including a 5-1 mark after six games on four separate occasions prior to this season.
After trading the first two baskets, senior sharpshooter Daniel Sepokas scored five consecutive points for Lees-McRae to give the hosts an early 7-2 edge. A three-pointer by McNair sparked an ensuing 12-2 Barton run. McNair's second swished trey in the rally gave Barton its first lead, 12-9, at 15:19 mark.
A pair of made free throws by junior guard Will Lopez provided Lees-McRae with its last lead at 20-19 before Barton finish the half on an 18-4 run over the final nine minutes to take a 37-24 lead at halftime.
Hart put the Bulldog in front for good with a left-side layup at the 9:39 mark. Six different Royal Blue and White players scored during the decisive stretch with Hart pacing the way with six points. A senior Jarrett Jernigan layup with 80 seconds left capped the surge to give Barton its largest lead of 13 at the end of the period.
Hart led all players with 11 points and seven rebounds at halftime. McNair and Jernigan had eight and six points, respectively, at the intermission.
Barton was held to just 31.7% shooting over the first 20 minutes including a dismal 2-of-14 (14.3%) from three-point distance but was able to take advantage of 17 of the Bobcats 25 total turnovers to construct the double digit advantage with a 18-4 surplus on points off turnovers.
A fastbreak dunk by Hart that was set up on a pass by senior point guard Gerald Boston with 17:15 left in the second half increased BC's lead to 19 (48-29). The Bulldogs maintained comfortable double figure lead throughout the final frame and led by as many as 35 on a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Ryan Canoy.
Eleven different Bulldogs scored including nine points by senior Aaron Brown. Jernigan and freshman Trey Lofton both tallied eight points in reserve roles. Boston was held to a season-low seven points by the preseason All-American orchestrated BC's offense with eight assists. Brown dished out five assists and freshman Tristan Thomas scored seven points.
Barton outscored Lees-McRae 57-39 in the second half by shooting 61.8% (21-34) to finish the game at 45.3% accuracy. The Bulldogs also heated up from long range making 7-of-11 (63.6%) from behind the arc in the second half including a trio of trifectas by Faircloth.
A season-best eight rebounds by Jernigan and Hart's 11 boards helped Barton to its best rebounding game of the early campaign. The Bulldogs crashed the glass for a 47-29 rebounding gain while 22 offensive boards led to a 26-9 advantage on second chance points.
Freshman Chris Flemmings paced the Bulldogs with three of the squad's 13 steals while chipping in six points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Barton will step outside Conference Carolinas play for the last time with its last two non-conference games of the season over the next seven days. The Bulldogs – who moved up four spots in the new NABC poll that was released earlier on Tuesday – will next visit Virginia State University on Thursday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Shaw University on Monday at 7:30 p.m. to wrap up play in 2012.
