The Brewton-Parker College men's basketball team reached the 20-win mark

The Brewton-Parker College men's basketball team reached the 20-win mark Monday night with a 75-59 victory over Emmanuel College in Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference action in Franklin Springs.

With the win, the Barons (20-10 overall, 13-3 conference) maintained a half-game lead in the GACC standings with two games to play.

They play Faulkner University (Ala.) on Monday, March 3, in Montgomery, Ala. The Eagles are 12-3 in the GACC and tied for second with Auburn University-Montgomery after both teams won Monday.

"We have been number one in the conference for three consecutive weeks and we need to get some momentum going into the conference tournament," said Barons coach Steve Barker, whose last 20-win team in 2000 qualified for the NAIA Division I national tournament.

Senior guard Gabe Bubon broke through a recent shooting slump to lead all scorers with 32 points that included 7-for-11 shooting from 3-point range and 11-for-17 overall. Bubon also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The Barons bolted to a 22-9 lead but saw Emmanuel (6-23, 2-13) after a time-out climb to within one at 29-28 at halftime.

Brewton-Parker held the Lions to just 25 percent shooting in the second half and 29.7 percent for the game while shooting 54.8 percent after halftime and outscoring Emmanuel 46-31 in the second half.

"We defended them well," Barker said. "They have played people tough up there. Gabe kept us focused because he was scoring, then Hector (Solano, junior post) got going off the bench."

Solano finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and sophomore guard Tre Hill added 10 points with a game-high seven assists.

Junior forward Joey Isaac and junior guard Dion Johnson had 13 points apiece for Emmanuel and senior forward Chris Bearden had a game-leading 10 rebounds for the Lions.

The Barons played the game without sophomore post Bryan Jett and junior guard Ben McGlynn, who respectively suffered ankle and shoulder injuries in Brewton-Parker's 66-51 homecoming win Saturday over North Georgia College and State University.

"Now we have a week to prepare for Faulkner, and they have been playing well too," Barker said.

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