Box Score by Benny Benton
DUE WEST, S.C. – The Barton College men's basketball team dropped its 2016-17 Conference Carolinas opener on Tuesday, 96-78, after giving up 15 3-pointers to host Erskine College.
The Flying Fleet (3-2, ,1-0) shot a torrid 55.6 percent from beyond the arc (15 of 27), nearly as well as it did overall (56.4 percent on 31 of 55 attempts).
Barton (2-3, 0-1) also collected a season-low two steals and a season-high 25 fouls in the loss.
Freshman Michael Boykin once again paced the Bulldogs with 16 points, most of those coming from the free throw line, where he was 9-of-10 on the night. Senior Daniel Westbrook added 14 points for BC and freshman Jeff Gordon tossed in 13. Senior Nick Ellison grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and also chipped in seven points.
Erskine was paced by Joby Glymph and Thomas Nolan, who tossed in 19 points each.
R.J. Claypool scored Barton's first five points of the game, helping the Bulldogs get out to a quick 10-4 advantage. However, Nolan drained the first of his five 3-pointers on the night during Erskine's next possession, setting the tone for the rest of the contest.
Barton held its last lead of the night at 25-24 following a 3-pointer by Boykin. The Bulldogs trailed by four at 36-32 after a pair of free throws by Boykin with 2:58 left before intermission, but Barton missed its final four shots of the period – all from 3-point range – and Erskine went on a 9-0 run to close out the half with a 45-32 lead.
The Bulldogs got no closer than nine points in the second period despite a significantly better shooting effort (43 percent compared to 33 percent) over the final 20 minutes.
After a break for Thanksgiving, Barton will hit the road again on Wednesday, Nov. 30, for a 7:30 p.m. league contest at Belmont Abbey College.
