Saturday, February 28, 2004

NEWBERRY BREAKS PC MASTERY WITH 68-61 WIN

NEWBERRY, S.C. – No current Newberry Indian basketball player has known what it feels like to beat archrival Presbyterian College—until tonight. Newberry snapped a nine-game Presbyterian win streak in basketball games involving the two opponents with a 68-61 victory in a packed Eleazer Arena Saturday afternoon.

The win propels Newberry (14-12, 8-6 SAC) to its second winning season in 22 years, and its first ever South Atlantic Conference record better than .500. Presbyterian drops to 16-11, 7-7 SAC, and will have the #5 seed in the SAC tournament which begins next Friday at 1 p.m.  That opening game will be a rematch of the contest held tonight. The two teams split during the regular season.

The game opened with a bang.  After a missed Newberry three-pointer, PC’s Grant Herren (Oviedo, Fla.) snared the rebound, but had a passed deflected to Rashaad Carter (No. Charleston, S.C.)  Carter sprinted the other way, planted with both feet, and demonstrated how to execute a left-handed windmill dunk to score the game’s first points. 

Newberry’s lead would be short-lived; Presbyterian got long bombs from Melvin Smith (Roanoke, Va.) and Michael Drum (Rural Hall, N.C.) to grab the advantage. The Blue Hose held the lead for nearly eight minutes of the first half, until a 14-3 Indian spurt keyed by two Michael Dease (Bennettsville, S.C.) treys gave the home team a lead it would not relinquish.

The first half ended in a 32-24 Newberry advantage, twenty of the Indians’ points coming off nine Blue Hose turnovers. Newberry committed only one turnover in the period.

After the break, PC experienced better shooting percentages and reversed the turnover factor to its favor.  Newberry hovered around a nine-point lead for the first ten minutes after intermission, but the visitors cut that lead gradually down to one at 62-61 with a pair of Smith free throws with 14 ticks left on the scoreboard.  Presbyterian was forced to foul, and the Indians connected on six of eight freebies to close out the scoring.

PC’s Drum and Smith put on a two-man show on the blue side of the ball, scoring 18 apiece to tie for game-high honors. Smith set a new career-high with his performance versus the Indians. Newberry’s attack was slightly more balanced, with Carter and Elijah Frasier (Irmo, S.C.) leading the way with 14 and 13 markers. Dease and Reggie Coleman (Orangeburg, S.C.) missed double figures by a free throw, scoring nine each. Carter grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

Overall, Presbyterian out-rebounded NC 33 to 30 although Newberry took more shots (55 to 39). Newberry had 32 free throw attempts to PC’s 27, and made 24 to the visitor’s 18.

The teams will face each other in a 1 p.m. Friday affair on Lenoir-Rhyne’s campus in Hickory, N.C. The winner of that SAC tournament opening round game will advance to play the winner of the #1 vs. #8 seed Saturday at 1 o’clock.