Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College men's basketball team closed the regular season with its third consecutive victory to clinch the No. 3 seed in the East Division of Conference Carolinas with a 92-78 conquest of St. Andrews University on 'Senior Night' in the Dog House.
The Bulldogs five seniors of R.D. Dowdy, Joseph Velez, Aaron Suggs, Jaren Haley and Jon Benitez combined for 39 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to lead Barton to the victory in a packed gym that featured over 1,000 energetic fans.
Barton enters the 2012 Conference Carolinas Tournament with a 17-9 overall record after finishing league play at 9-7. The Bulldogs will travel to Belmont Abbey College for its quarterfinals showdown on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
St. Andrews and its senior class of nine finished its campaign at 7-21 overall and 2-14 in the conference.
The Barton junior duo of guard Gerald Boston and forward Keith Manley came off the bench to score 17 points apiece for the Bulldogs. Boston and Manley also led BC with seven rebounds apiece as Barton dominated the backboards, 43-34.
Haley netted 14, Suggs swished 12 and Velez sank 11.
Barton never trailed and shot 57.1-percent in the first half to build a commanding 56-40 advantage at halftime. Five consecutive points by Suggs – a three-pointer followed by a spin move and left-handed layup – gave the hosts its first double digit lead at 30-18. The Bulldogs lead grew to 22 points before SAU cut the deficit to 13 in the final minute with a 12-3 run but a Suggs trey in the final seconds increased Barton's cushion to 16 at the intermission.
The Bulldogs kept a double digit lead throughout the second half before coasting to the win.
Barton made half of its shots going 34-for-68 including 5-of-16 (31.3%) from three-point distance. The Knights fired at 41.9% (26-of-62) but were only 2-of-18 (11.1%) from behind the arc.
BC distributed the ball well with eleven Bulldogs scoring and 21 totals assists on 34 made field goals including seven dimes by Boston.
St. Andrews was led by seniors Ryan Streater and Antonio Moffitt with 20 and 17 points, respectively. Freshman Jordan Baber added 12 points. Streater and Moffitt each corralled seven boards.
