Box Score by Benny Benton
FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – Senior Daniel Westbrook led five Barton College players in double-figures with 21 points as the Bulldogs downed Emmanuel College, 85-74, on the road Tuesday night to claim their seventh straight victory.
Freshman Michael Boykin contributed 20 points, half of them coming on a perfect 10-of-10 night from the free-throw line. Senior R.J. Claypool collected 16 points and added a career-high 11 rebounds, while freshman Isaiah Buck-Lowman chipped in 12 points and freshman Jeff Gordon tossed in 10. Westbrook also posted seven rebounds in the win.
The victory improved Barton to 9-1 in Conference Carolinas play, setting up a showdown on Friday in Gaffney, S.C., between the Bulldogs and Limestone College for first place in the league. The Saints hold a half-game lead on BC entering the contest, but the Bulldogs own a win in the previous meeting last week in Wilson, N.C., 67-66.
Although Barton (14-4 overall) led for all but about 30 seconds against Emmanuel (11-8, 6-5), the Bulldogs struggled to finish off the Lions. BC led by 11 points with 5:27 left to go in the first half, but Emmanuel completely erased that lead over the next five minutes, tying the game at 36-all on two free throws by Austin Greene with 25 seconds left before intermission.
Barton scored the final basket of the half to take a 38-36 lead into the break, but Emerson McClung drained a 3-pointer to open the second period for the Lions, giving Emmanuel its only lead of the night at 39-38.
However, Buck-Lowman answered with a 3-pointer for Barton, then added a layup up on BC's next possession to give the Bulldogs a small cushion.
Barton still led by just two at 47-45 following a Greene layup, but Boykin scored four straight points, Gordon added a layup and Buck-Lowman fired in a 3-pointer to comprise a 9-0 run that put the Bulldogs back up by 11 points once more.
The margin was still 11 with 9:18 to play when a jumper by Kurtis Robinson, a block by McClung on the defensive end and a dunk by Zach Lillie fired up the Lions again. Emmanuel pulled as close as four points, 61-57, following a pair of free throws by McClung, but Barton responded with four straight free throws to ease away again.
Barton, which fell from the national top-10 in free throw percentage after two sub-par games from the stripe last week, returned to form on Tuesday, making 24 of 28, almost 86 percent.
Emmanuel was also strong from the foul line, sinking 78 percent (22 of 28), but had considerably less success from the field, shooting 38 percent from the floor overall and 23 percent from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs eventually pulled away to a 15-point advantage, 79-64, with 2:13 to play, but even then Emmanuel made things interesting. The Lions climbed back to within seven on a pair of free throws by Greene with 55 seconds to go, but Boykin was fouled and finished off his perfect night at the line to stop EC's rally hopes.
Barton is now 6-2 on the year in road or neutral-site games heading into its big matchup at Limestone on Friday night. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. in the Timken Center.
