Barons ride comeback win into conference schedule

MOUNT VERNON - After finishing its fall-semester schedule by winning the championship of its own Christmas Shootout, the Brewton-Parker College Barons basketball team showed its play remained strong despite a three-week layoff.
The Barons split their games in the Georgia Southwestern State University Holiday Classic in Americus over the weekend, although Brewton-Parker coach Steve Barker said the Barons had a chance to earn wins in both games.
After losing narrowly to William Carey College (Miss.) 95-93 Friday night, Brewton-Parker quickly erased a five-point halftime deficit Saturday against Tennessee Temple University and scored an 88-77 win.
The split gives the Barons a 7-7 overall record going into Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference play, which begins Thursday with an 8 p.m. game at Shorter College in Rome.
Brewton-Parker then visits Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game.
Brewton-Parker opens its GACC home slate Monday against Southern Wesleyan University (S.C.), with tip scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Student Activities Center.
The Barons continue their first GACC home stand with a Jan. 16 game against Auburn University-Montgomery (Ala.) at 8 p.m., with Faulkner University (Ala.) visiting BPC on Jan. 18 at 2 p.m.
"We're going to find out really quick what we're about and how we stand in the conference," Barker said of the GACC-opening, five-game run in 10 days.
After trailing Tennessee Temple 39-34 at halftime, Barker said he challenged the Barons to take advantage of the Crusaders' lack of height inside.
Brewton-Parker responded with an 8-0 run to open the second half and outscored Tennessee Temple 54-33 in the second half.
Junior post Hector Solano paced the Barons' five double-figure scorers with 20 points, hitting 9 of 10 shots to lead the team's 54.5 percent shooting effort.
Senior guards Gabe Bubon and Derrick Hairston followed with 14 points apiece, with Bubon hitting four of the team's seven 3-pointers and grabbing a team-leading seven rebounds.
Sophomore guard Tre Hill added 13 points and had a team-high seven assists, while sophomore post Bryan Jett scored 12.
Josh Templeton scored a game-high 30 points for Tennessee Temple (13-3), which shot just 40 percent as a team.
In Friday's game, Bubon scored a team season-high 30 points, hitting eight 3-point shots and shooting 11-for-21 overall to lead the Barons.
However, a late turnover against William Carey denied Brewton-Parker a last-second shot and resulted in overtime.
William Carey then took the win with a pair of free throws with 3.3 seconds left in overtime.
"We had the ball with 30 seconds left and called timeout and I said, 'Let's ice it until about six seconds left,' but we turned it over with 7.3 seconds left," Barker said. "So we had our opportunity to win."
Sophomore post Bryan Jett scored a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Solano followed with 14 points. Junior guard Jarvis Smith added 11 points and Hill netted 10.
Four William Carey players reached the teens in scoring, led by Keena Robins with 19 points.

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