BANNER ELK, N.C. – The Barton men's basketball team (15-13, 13-11) closed out the regular season in strong fashion with a 100-81 win over Lees-McRae (14-13, 12-12) Thursday evening at Williams Gymnasium in a Conference Carolinas contest.
Barton, who will play a home league tournament contest, was led by redshirt freshman guard
Marcus Boykin (Clinton, N.C.). Boykin finished with a career-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go along with eight rebounds as the Bulldogs avenged an 83-82 setback to Lees-McRae on Saturday, December 18, at home. Boykin hit six of the Bulldogs' 11 three-pointers on the night.
Barton held a 50-46 advantage at halftime and scored another 50 points after intermission while pushing its lead to as many as 27 points – 100-73 with just under two minutes left – on its way to its sixth victory over its last seven contests.
Freshman guard
Caleb Reams (Rocky Mount, N.C.) came off the bench to score 19 points and four Bulldogs crossed the double-digit line in scoring. Barton shot 51 percent (36-of-71) from the floor including 11-of-17 from behind the three-point line.
Drew Gardner (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) led the Bobcats with 14 points but Lees-McRae hit just six-of-27 from behind the three-point line in the losing effort.
Barton will be the sixth seed in the 2022 Conference Carolinas Championship and will play the winner of seventh-seeded Lees-McRae and tenth-seeded Chowan (8-17, 8-15) Monday at Wilson Gymnasium beginning at 7:00 p.m. Those two teams will play in the opening round on Sunday at 5:00 p.m., at Barton as well.
