Box Score by Benny Benton
BRISTOL, Tenn. – For the first 10 minutes of Sunday's game, the Barton College men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the Conference Carolinas leader, King University. But the Tornado showed its full fury by scoring 38 points in the final 10 minutes of the opening period, and rolled to a 111-95 victory over the Bulldogs at the Student Center Complex.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Barton, now 7-6 overall and 3-2 in league play, and soured a 32-point scoring night for junior transfer Jake Veasley, his second 30-plus scoring night for the Bulldogs.
King improved to 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference with its fourth straight victory.
Senior Khari Faison scored seven of the Bulldogs' first 11 points to help the BC to an early lead, and the Barton defense frustrated King into 3-of-10 shooting and five turnovers in the game's first eight minutes.
Barton took a four-point advantage, its biggest of the game, at 18-14 on a pair of Kendall Patterson free throws with 11:48 left in the half, and still held that margin when Danny Shand made one of two free throw attempts with 10:58 to go before intermission.
However, everything suddenly changed as the Tornado erupted by scoring in surprising ways.
King entered the game as one of the nation's top 3-point shooting teams, firing up 31 attempts per game and making more than 11 per contest. But with the Bulldogs doing an excellent job of defending the 3-point line (2-of-3 in the first nine minutes; 4-of-9 in the first half), King took advantage by going inside, scoring with precise backdoor cuts and favorable one-on-one matchups in the paint.
As a result, the Tornado scored on 19 straight possessions, turning that four-point deficit into a 60-42 halftime rout.
Despite the 3-for-10 shooting start, King finished the half shooting 61 percent from the floor (20-of-33) and 89 percent from the free throw line (16-of-18). The Tornado scored 30 points in the paint in the period and 20 off Barton turnovers.
Reserves Mack Owens and Mikquell Jackson contributed heavily in the dominant finish to the first half. Owens, who averaged just seven points per game coming into the contest, had 11 points and six rebounds in the opening period alone. Jackson, finished the half just one point short of his season average of 10.
Down two with just under 11 minutes left in the half, Jackson scored on a three-point play and an offensive putback, the second basket putting King into the lead for good at 24-23 with 9:53 to play before intermission. Jackson then came up with consecutive steals, the first leading to a Shamarae Watts dunk and the second earning Jackson two free throws that put the Tornado up five, 28-23.
Barton was still down just five following a Veasley 3-pointer with 8:05 remaining in the period, but layups by Jackson and James Scales, followed by four free throws from Owens, pushed King's lead into double-digits at 44-30 with 5:52 remaining before the break.
After falling behind by as many as 22 points late in the period and 18 at intermission, Barton used a jumper by Faison and five straight points by Shand to comprise a 7-0 start that cut the deficit as close as 11 at 60-49 two minutes into the second half. However, consecutive 3-pointers by Hunter LeVeau and Logan Lile around the 16 minute mark pushed the Tornado lead back to 20.
From there, Barton got no closer than 13 points late in the game following a pair of free throws by Veasley.
Junior transfer Dominique Byrd collected 15 points, his highest total in a Barton uniform, and Faison finished the day with 11 points and eight rebounds. Shand was held to 10 points, nearly half his season average, but did contribute a season-high eight assists. Ryan Canoy chipped in seven rebounds and six points.
Lile paced six players in double-figures for King with 18.
Both teams made 34 field goals in the game, but the Tornado made twice as many (10 to 5) from 3-point range and made 11 more free throws.
The 111 points allowed by Barton were the most given up since Florida Tech scored the same number in a win over the Bulldogs on Nov. 27, 2010.
Barton will play its first home game of 2015 on Wednesday when it hosts North Greenville University in a 7:30 p.m. league contest at Wilson Gymnasium.
