SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On a night that will go down in the history books, the Converse men's basketball team defeated Mars Hill 93-82 on Friday night in front of a sold out crowd in the Weisiger Center.
 
"It was unbelievable, first off the crowd was tremendous," Converse University head men's basketball coach Ryan Saunders said. "First game in program history and for me it is my head coaching debut…you get those pregame jitters but once that ball goes up it all goes away. The atmosphere was electric and our team was tremendous tonight."
 
Converse (1-0) held the lead for 33-minutes on Friday night and controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish. Mars Hill (0-1) won the opening tip and scored the opening basket, but it was Sigurd Lorange (Trondheim, Norway) who will go down in the history books as the first player to score in Converse men's basketball history. Lorange took a pass from teammate Jimmie Sanders III (Dallas, Texas) and gave the Valkyries a 3-2 lead in the first minute of the game.  
 
"I think it's pretty cool. We've come a long way since coach Saunders started to recruit me and how we envisioned this night would be," Lorange said. "For me it feels special to knock down that first shot and get things started for our team. We want to create a good environment and a good culture for our fans and students to come and watch us play."
 
Less than a minute after Lorange scored the opening basket for Converse, local prep standout Earl Burgess III (Spartanburg, S.C.) sent the crowd into a frenzy as he threw down the first official dunk inside the Weisiger Center. Seconds later Burgess came away with a huge defensive stop as he swatted away a layup attempt by KJ Marshall.
 
The two teams began to settle down and started trade basket-for-basket. The Valkyries took a 12-10 advantage into the first media timeout of the first half. Over the next several minutes the two squads stayed within a possession of each other until Jordan Warlick (Irmo, S.C.) hit a three-pointer with 7:55 to play. The triple gave the Valkyries a four-point edge over the Lions midway through the first period of action.
 
With 3:05 remaining in the opening half of action, Warlick went on a personal 4-0 run to give the Valkyries a 34-26 edge over Mars Hill. A few moments later and freshman Nate Gordon (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Eli Pitts (Gainesville, Ga.) each threw down a dunk to give Converse a 12-point lead late in the half. However, Mars Hill ended the period with the momentum as they made three consecutive baskets to close out the opening period.
 
Converse went into the halftime break leading 38-32 over the Lions of Mars Hill. The Valkyries shot 39 percent in the opening period and 66 percent from the charity stripe. Converse scored 10-points off of turnovers in the opening half and their bench led the way with 14-first half points as the Valkyries showed off their depth against Mars Hill.
The Lions put the pressure on the Valkyries early in the second half as they scored six consecutive points to start the period. The 12-0 run from the end of the first period to the 18-minute mark of the second period help the Lions erase a Valkyries advantage. Lorange kept the Valkyries ahead with a pair of buckets in back-to-back possessions.
 
However, Isayah Johnson gave Mars Hill a 43-42 advantage with 16:45 to play in the period. For Mars Hill it was their first lead of the match since the 13:04 mark of the first half. The lead was short lived, as the Valkyries offense came alive from Lorange, Sanders III, Warlick and freshman Jay Mitchell (Clemmons, N.C.). The quartet helped the Valkyries go on a 7-0 run and sent the crowd into a frenzy, forcing the Lions to call a timeout with 13-minutes left in the game.
 
The Valkyries offense continued to score at a high pace and with 8:16 to play Lorange knocked down a fast break jumper to give Converse a nine-point advantage. Moments later Wes Morgan (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a three-pointer near the top of the key to give Converse an 11-point lead over the Lions. With 2:05 to play in the game the Valkyries put the game out of reach with a pair of baskets by Sanders and Gordon.
 
The Valkyries ran out the clock and celebrated their first win in program history on Friday evening. Converse played 14-different players and nine players ended up in the scoring column for the Valkyries. Converse shot 54 percent from the field in the second half and scored 55-points to help seal a win over Mars Hill.
 
Lorange led the team with 26-points and three steals on the night. Sanders finished second on the team with 19-points, but led the team with six assists in the victory. Warlick finished third on the team with 17-points and Mitchell contributed 10-points off the bench. Mitchell played a big defensive role for the Valkyries on Friday night as he recorded four of the teams eight blocks against the Lions. Eli Pitts led the team with eight rebounds on the night.
 
As a team the Valkyries scored 23-points off turnovers, 44-points in the paint and 28-points off of fast break attempts.
 
Mars Hill had five players end the game in double figures, Johnson led the way with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance. Kadyn Dawkins scored 14-points, Jackson Reid added 12-points and Trey Belin and Michael Hodge each contributed 10-points in the loss.
 
Next Up:
The Valkyries will have a short turnaround as they battle Wingate tomorrow night in the Weisiger Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.  
 
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