Box Score by Benny Benton
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Barton College men's basketball team erased a 12-point first-half deficit and took a brief lead with just over 12 minutes to play on Jake Veasley's 3-pointer, but host Fayetteville State University moved back in front 45 seconds later and went on a 91-83 victory Tuesday night at Capel Arena.
The Bulldogs (2-1) could do little with junior guard Joshua Dawson, who scored 35 points, handed out nine assists and hauled in six rebounds to help the Broncos (1-2) to their first win of the year. Dawson was 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and was a nearly perfect 16-of-17 from the free throw line.
As a team, Fayetteville State went to the charity stripe 38 times in the contest, making 29 of them (76 percent). Barton had 27 free throw chances and made 18 (67 percent).
Barton, which entered the game shooting nearly 50 percent from the field for the season, made roughly 41 percent in each half. BC held the Broncos to 39 percent in the opening frame, but FSU made 50 percent in the second half to shoot 44 percent for the game.
Veasley paced the Bulldogs with 20 points, collected on 8-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. R.J. Claypool added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Tyler Thayer chipped in 12 points, all on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, and Dominique Byrd contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
In addition to the 35-point night from Dawson, FSU received 19 points from Xavier Robinson, 11 points from Michael Tyson and a game-high 11 rebounds from William Tibbs.
Barton took its largest lead of the game at 13-7 on a free throw by Byrd with just under 14 minutes left in the first period, and still enjoyed a five-point cushion at 16-11 following a 3-pointer by Claypool with 11:39 remaining before intermission.
Over the next five minutes, however, the Bulldogs turned the ball over five times, went 0-for-2 from the field and 0-for-3 from the free throw line. Fayetteville State took advantage by making two layups, two 3-pointers and six free throws in producing a 16-0 run and an 11-point lead, 27-16.
After falling behind 30-18 with 4:40 left in the period, Barton used jumpers by Ryan Canoy and Nick Ellison, along with 3-pointers by Thayer and Matt Woods, to close within five points at 33-28, eventually pulling as close as three points on a layup by Dorian Johnson with 1:09 remaining before intermission.
Fayetteville State scored the final bucket of the half to take a 37-32 advantage into the locker room and scored the first basket of the final half to go up by seven. The Broncos still led by that margin when a putback by Claypool, two free throws by Byrd and a layup by Veasley helped BC close within one at 41-40.
FSU pulled away to a six-point cushion once more, but a 3-pointer by Claypool and five straight points from Veasley, two on a layup and three on a long-range shot, put Barton back into the lead at 53-51 with 12:14 to play. However, a pair of free throws by Tyson tied the game at 53-all less than a minute later, and a 3-pointer by Robinson at the 11:19 mark put the Broncos into the lead for good at 56-53.
Barton remained within one possession of the lead at 60-57 following a 3-pointer by Veasley with 9:37 to go, but Dawson countered with a 3-pointer of his own and then added two free throws as FSU began to pull away again. The Broncos went up by as many as 12 once more before the Bulldogs trimmed the final margin to eight with some late 3-pointers.
Veasley scored all 20 of his points in the second half, while Dawson scored 20 of his 35 in the period.
Barton will face UNC Pembroke, regionally ranked No. 4 in the Southeast Region by D2SIDA, on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the opening game of the 50th Annual Pickle Classic in Mount Olive, N.C.
