Box Score by Benny Benton
FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – On Saturday, the Barton College men's basketball team posted a season high in turnovers for the second straight outing, this time handing the ball over 27 times in an 84-65 Conference Carolinas loss to host Emmanuel College.
Barton (15-9, 10-6) committed just 24 turnovers total in a three-game stretch earlier in the year, but had 22 in a home loss to first-place King University on Tuesday and added 27 against the second-place Lions (16-5, 11-4), the most by a Barton team in at least nine years.
The Bulldogs also suffered significant stretches of poor shooting in Saturday's loss, ending the contest making 40 percent from the field (20 of 50) and 61 percent from the line (19 of 31). Emmanuel was not significantly better, making 43 percent from the floor (26 of 61) and 65 percent from the charity stripe (24 of 37), but had many more opportunities because of all the Barton turnovers.
Barton got off to a very quick start, making five of its first six attempts from the floor in racing to a 12-4 lead four minutes into the first period. However, it would take the Bulldogs almost the rest of the half to make the next five, as Barton went four of its next 17 with 13 turnovers in falling behind 35-23 with 2:02 left in the half.
A three-point play by Dorian Johnson and five straight points from Jake Veasley helped the Bulldogs close within four points at 35-31 with 55 seconds left in the period, but the Lions scored a 3-pointer on the final shot of the half to take a 38-31 lead into the locker room.
Emmanuel scored on its first shot attempt of the second half to go up nine, 40-31, before Barton's Matt Woods answered with a 3-pointer to close the gap to six at 40-34. Barton would climb within six points on six more occasions, the final time at 52-46 on a layup by R.J. Claypool with 13:05 to play.
But the Lions used two technical free throws and a layup to go back up by double-digits, the start of a 15-0 run that put the game on ice at 67-46 with 10:20 to play. Emmanuel went 4-for-6 during the spurt, including a 3-pointer and a dunk, while Barton went 0-for-3 and turned the ball over five more times.
Barton's Dominique Byrd actually led all scorers in the game with 17 points. Veasley added 10 points for BC and Claypool pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Emmanuel had four players reach double-figures, led by Austin Greene and Kendrick Colvin with 14 points each. Greene also had a team-high eight rebounds and Colvin collected six. Nathan Williams chipped in 12 points, all coming on four 3-pointers, and Kurtis Robinson added 11.
The loss will likely drop Barton out of third place in the league standings, and could drop the Bulldogs to as far as fifth pending the outcome of Saturday's other results.
Barton has four games remaining in the regular season, beginning with a visit to Southern Wesleyan University on Wednesday night.
