Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's basketball team put up a very strong first half in its season-opener on Friday night against Young Harris College, but the Mountain Lions roared back to claim an 82-67 victory in the 45-Second Classic at Wilson Gymnasium.
Barton drained six 3-pointers and limited Young Harris to just 30 percent shooting from the field in taking a 37-27 advantage into intermission. However, the tables were flipped in the second half, as the Mountain Lions shot 54 percent while holding BC to 34 percent from the floor.
The missed shots by Barton helped YHC utilize its size advantage. The Mountain Lions out-rebounded the Bulldogs 28-8 in the second half after BC had enjoyed a one-board edge in the first period, 23-22.
Young Harris was also able to get its star player on track in the final frame. C.J. Wilson, a preseason first-team All-American by Sporting News, managed just two points in the first half, but still finished the game as its leading scorer with 20. The 5-11 senior guard made 7-of-9 attempts from the field in his 18-point second-half.
He was one of five Mountain Lions to reach double-figures. One of the other four, Marcellus Roberts, posted a double-double, as he grabbed 10 rebounds to go with his 14 points.
Barton was paced by senior Tyler Thayer, who drilled four 3-pointers in a 14-point night. Freshman Jeff Gordon added nine points in his Bulldog debut, and fellow freshman Isaiah Buck-Lowman added eight. Senior Daniel Westbrook scored eight points as well while also adding eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
In the contest between two teams picked to finish second in their respective leagues this year, it was Barton of Conference Carolinas that made the first move, and it did so with a reserve lineup of four freshmen and a sophomore.
Trailing 8-7, the Bulldogs used a jumper by Gordon, a tip-in and a dunk by Miguel Brown and a 3-pointer by Michael Boykin to go on a 9-0 run and take a 16-8 lead with 10:13 left in the half.
Young Harris closed to within four on a fast-break layup by Damari Edwards, but consecutive 3-pointers by Thayer gave Barton the first double-digit lead of the night for either side, 24-14, with 5:42 remaining before intermission.
BC took its largest lead of the evening, 14 points, at 37-23 on a jumper by Gordon with 1:29 left until halftime, and still held a 10-point cushion at the break.
The advantage was 11 following Thayer's final 3-pointer of the night with 17:42 to play, and was still a somewhat comfortable nine points after a layup by Matt Woods less than 30 seconds later.
However, the Bulldogs missed their next four shots, and a 3-pointer by Bjorn Walker started YHC on a 9-0 run to tie the game. Roberts converted a 3-point play and Ben Waterhouse added a 3-pointer to comprise the spurt for the Mountain Lions of the Peach Belt Conference.
Barton briefly went back in front and held a 52-48 cushion following a layup by Gordon. However, the Bulldogs missed their next 10 shots and went nearly eight minutes without a field goal
A 3-pointer by Wilson put Young Harris back into the lead for the first time since the 13-minute mark of the first half, and the advantage continued to grow with six straight baskets from the foul line, where YHC was 19 of 27 in the game (70.4 percent).
By the time Barton finally scored from the floor again on a jumper by Zach Grant with 5:07 remaining, the Mountain Lions had grown their lead to double-digits. Grant's basket cut the margin to eight, but J.B. Charles immediately answered with a 3-pointer on the other end, and Young Harris went on another run to put the game away with a 16-point lead, 75-59.
After shooting 44 percent in the first half, BC ended the night at 39 percent (25 of 63). It made just 2-of-9 attempts from 3-point range in the second half (22 percent) and finished the game at 36 percent (8 of 22).
Barton did keep its turnovers to single-digits with nine while forcing Young Harris into 10.
The 45-Second Classic will continue on Saturday morning, as Young Harris will take on University of Mount Olive at 11 a.m., and Barton will meet nationally-ranked No. 18 Augusta University at 1 p.m. Augusta, the preseason favorite in the Peach Belt, defeated Mount Olive 82-67 in Friday's first contest.
