SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Converse University men's basketball team overcame an eight-point deficit to North Greenville on Wednesday evening and pulled out an 81-78 victory inside the Weisiger Center.
Converse (2-5, 1-1 Conference Carolinas) picked up their first conference win of the season and improve to 2-0 against North Greenville (1-5, 0-1 Conference Carolinas) in games played inside the
Weisiger Center. The Valkyries are now 2-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points.
The Valkyries won the opening tip-off and immediately found
Earl Burgess III for the first points of the game. Seconds later Burgess III forced the Crusaders turnover and the big man had four points in the early moments of the game. North Greenville countered with a quick 5-0 run and the Crusaders enjoyed their first lead of the match with 16:24 to play.
The two squads then played relatively clean basketball as they played almost seven minutes without in the action. Converse took a 16-14 advantage following a
Kevin Vance jumper with 10:02 to play in the period. Following a Converse foul, the teams went to their respective sidelines following the first media timeout of the period.
With 7:59 to play in the opening period, Savion Brown hit a three-pointer which triggered an 8-0 run by the North Greenville offense. Converse used a timeout to slow the run down, the timeout worked as the Valkyries went on a 6-0 run and cut the Crusaders lead down to three-points with 4:37 to play in the half.
For the remainder of the half the two sides traded shots, but it was North Greenville who went into the halftime break ahead 37-29. Converse shot 52 percent from the field in the opening half, 25 percent from three-point range and 75 percent from the free throw line.
Coming out of the halftime intermission,
Uzziah Dawkins found
Jordan Warlick for a fastbreak three-pointer to give the Valkyries there first points of the period. A few moments later and the Valkyries had all but eliminated the deficit following a
Sigurd Lorange fastbreak three-pointer.
With 14:13 remaining in the game, Dawkins knocked down a mid-range jumper and the match was tied at 42. A few possessions later and
Mikal Gjerde and Dawkins made back-to-back baskets to give Converse a 52-47 advantage over North Greenville. Another fastbreak three-pointer with 8:15 to play gave Converse an eight-point edge over the Crusaders.
Going into the final moments of the game the Valkyries defense began to feed off the crowd and rise to the occasion as they made stop-after-stop against the Crusaders offense. Time ran out as the Valkyries stifled the Crusaders comeback attempt in the final minutes of the game.
Lorange led the team with 19-points and 5-assists in the win against North Greenville. Mitchell finished second on the team with 15-points, Warlick finished third with 13-points and Dawkins scored 12-points. Warlick led the Valkyries with seven rebounds, while Mitchell had a team high two steals.
Next Up:
The Valkyries will be back at home this Saturday afternoon as they battle Mount Olive. Tip-off for the match on Saturday will be at 4:00 p.m. inside the Weisiger Center.
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