By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
 
HATTIESBURG – It might have been rust, or it could have been complacency, but whatever it was, it wasn't good for the William Carey University men in their first game back after the holidays.
 
Brewton-Parker College outplayed the Crusaders for much of the game and left Clinton Gymnasium with an 81-77 victory Thursday night in Southern States Athletic Conference action.
 
Carey dropped to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in conference. The Barons (5-9 overall) got their first SSAC victory after five losses to open league play.
 
"This is college basketball, and it's going to be physical," said Carey head coach Steve Knight. "Some of our guys are OK with it, and some of them aren't.
 
"I'm really disappointed in the guys, but give them credit. They played a good game, and shot the ball really well. But this is the third game we've lost to a team with a losing record, and I think our guys look at records a little too much."
 
Although the outcome wasn't to the liking of the hometown fans in attendance, everyone got their money's worth in a thrilling contest that featured 15 lead changes and seven ties.
 
"Some of our guys were too lackadaisical tonight. I don't think we played with great effort, except in spurts," said Knight. "Every time we were down and came back a little bit, they made plays, big plays."
 
The Crusaders started out in decent shape, converting three of their first four shots from 3-point range, taking an early five-point lead.
 
But the Barons quickly found the mark and took their first lead with 11:21 to play in the first half at 15-14 on a jump shot by junior Dre Burroughs.
 
BPC built a three-point lead, 21-18, when the Crusaders went on their best stretch of basketball the whole game, a 12-2 run that allowed them to build a 30-23 lead with 6:10 to play in the first half.
 
Brewton-Parker answered with an 8-0 run to regain the lead, it was close the rest of the way. Hot shooting played a big role for the Barons. They were good on 16 of 29 shots from the floor in the first half, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range.
 
"I don't know if we were rusty," said senior Earl Smith, who led the Crusaders with 17 points. "We just played a little too laid-back. But we're going to get it together. We just have to practice harder. We didn't practice as hard as we should have this week."
 
BPC did its best work, however, in the paint – at both ends of the court. The Barons outscored Carey 26-12 in the paint, using a size advantage to keep the Crusaders on the perimeter.
 
At times, the Crusaders made the Barons pay, as Carey converted 12 of 36 shots from beyond the arc. But it was tough for Carey to get anything consistent going with its inside game.
 
"I don't think I did a good enough job, I guess, of convincing our guys that this team could beat you," said Knight. "I knew, and they came back after the Christmas break and got after us. We're 0-3 in our last three games with them, and it's because they're tougher than we are."
 
Brewton-Parker built a five-point lead on several occasions, but each time the Crusaders were able to narrow the margin.
 
The Barons took a 69-64 lead with 5:11 to play in the game, but Carey responded with a 7-0 run to take a 71-69 lead after back-to-back 3-balls from senior Kolby Moore and junior Ashton Campbell.
 
But junior Jordan Johnson drove the lane for a layup, and after a missed 3-point attempt by Smith, the Barons took the lead for good with 2:54 to play, on a 3-pointer by sophomore Zailan Blue.
 
Blue led all scorers with 19 points, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Senior Lance Smith added 15 points, and Burroughs finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds for the Barons.
 
"They played more aggressive than us," said Smith. "We took them for granted a lot of the time, and they played harder than us. We deserved to lose this one."
 
BPC twice built leads of five points in the final three minutes, but the Crusaders fought back, and Moore's 3-point shot with 5.9 seconds left closed the deficit to 79-77.
 
However, sophomore Justin Boston swished a pair of foul shots to seal the deal for Brewton-Parker.
 
Moore added 16 points for Carey, and junior Dylan Brumfield scored 12 points, but was shut out in the second half.
 
WCU will get a chance to get back on track against another team from the bottom of the SSAC standings when Middle Georgia State comes into Clinton Gym Saturday in a 2 p.m. scheduled tip off.