Barons' 7-win streak snapped at Auburn-Montgomery

Basketball coaches preach the vitality of the first five minutes of either half, and Brewton-Parker College Barons coach Steve Barker said the first five minutes of their game Thursday night at Auburn University-Montgomery (Ala.) decided the Barons' fate in a 79-58 loss.

"The first five minutes of the game was what was so determining. We were flat," said Barker, whose team was bombarded by 11 first-half 3-pointers as the Senators built a 42-20 lead by halftime of the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference contest.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Brewton-Parker (17-10 overall, 10-3 GACC)
back into a tie with Southern Polytechnic State University after the Barons had spent the previous five days in sole possession of the conference lead. Faulkner University (Ala.) and AUM (14-7 overall) were tied for third at 9-3 entering the week.

The Senators set a single-season high with 15 3-pointers (60 percent) in gaining a measure of revenge against Brewton-Parker, which defeated AUM 75-51 on Jan. 16 in Mount Vernon.

Senior guard Ellis Powell led five Senators in double figures with 22 points, with 6-for-10 shooting from behind the 3-point line.

Sophomore guard Toms Lokmanis led the Barons with 12 points, while sophomore post Bryan Jett had team highs of six rebounds and three blocked shots to go with 10 points.

"We only attempted seven free throws, and that shows a lack of being aggressive," Barker said.

The Barons look to resume their winning ways Thursday when they entertain Reinhardt College (12-14, 6-6 entering this week) at 8 p.m. in the Student Activities Center.

Brewton-Parker then will play North Georgia College and State University (9-17, 2-10 entering the week) in Saturday's homecoming game, which will follow homecoming coronation at about 4:30 p.m.

"What we need to do now is win out," Barker said of the remaining regular-season schedule, which includes three of the five contests at home. "We have a lot of big games left."

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