Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Seniors R.J. Claypool and Nick Ellison helped Barton College rally from a double-digit halftime deficit to a 76-74 Conference Carolinas men's basketball victory over North Greenville University Tuesday night at Wilson Gymnasium.
Claypool, a guard from Woodbury, Minn., scored a game-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half. He put the Bulldogs (8-4, 3-1) into the lead for the first time in the second half with a three-point play on a fast-break that was started with an Ellison block on the defensive end.
After the lead swapped hands five times, Claypool gave Barton the lead for good at 69-67 on a 3-pointer with 2:30 remaining, and he added two free throws with six seconds left to give the Bulldogs a two-possession lead at 76-71.
Daniel Burchette scored the final three of his team-high 17 points for North Greenville (5-5, 1-3) with less than a second remaining, but Barton in-bounded the ball to run out the clock.
Ellison, a forward from Westminster, Md., recorded a career-high 12 points and also collected eight rebounds to help in the Barton victory. His 12 points came on a perfect shooting night, as he went 4-for-4 from both the field and the free throw line.
Freshman Jeff Gordon added eight points and seven rebounds, while freshman Isaiah Buck-Lowman contributed eight points and five boards. Sophomore Matt Woods also chipped in eight points, including a key 3-pointer in BC's rally, and handed out a game-high six assists.
Barton, which came into the contest averaging just 12.9 turnovers per game, tied for second-best in the league, coughed the ball up an uncharacteristic 10 times in the first half alone, leading to a number of easy baskets for the Crusaders.
Four of those BC miscues came during a five-minute stretch during which North Greenville turned a one-point game into the biggest lead of the night at 30-17 with six minutes left in the opening period.
Barton sophomore Zach Grant had consecutive steals to cap an 8-0 rally for the Bulldogs, but the Crusaders closed the half on a 9-2 spurt to take a 41-29 advantage into intermission.
The Bulldogs still trailed by nine at 45-36 when layups by Claypool and Michael Boykin, a 3-pointer by Woods and a layup by Buck-Lowman made up a 9-2 run that pulled BC within two at 47-45.
North Greenville pushed the lead back to seven on Justin Dotson's fast-break layup with 8:04 remaining, but the Crusaders made just one of their next eight shots – that one a dunk – allowing Barton the chance to come back and take the lead on Claypool's three-point play with 3:52 to go.
Barton, which shot just 38 percent in the first half, made nearly 52 percent in the second half and took better care of the basketball, making just five turnovers in the final period. The Bulldogs were strong from the free throw line all night, making 16 of 19 in the contest (84 percent), including 8 of 9 in the final four minutes.
The contest was the first of six straight home games for the Bulldogs. Barton will host Southern Wesleyan University on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., then host league-leading Limestone College at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
