SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Valkyries led wire-to-wire on Wednesday night as they defeated Johnson & Wales 73-49 inside the Weisiger Center.
With the win the Valkyries improve to 15-7 overall and the Valkyries have now tied the program record for wins in a season. Converse finishes 8-2 against non-conference opponents and boast their first three-game winning streak since early December. Johnson & Wales falls to 3-11 on the season.
Uzziah Dawkins and
Malcolm Morgan each had 16-points in the win on Wednesday evening. For Morgan it was a new season high in points scored for the graduate student transfer.
Joel Pullen stuffed the stat sheet with a 12-point, 8-rebound and 5-assist performance.
Jay Mitchell led the bench with 10-points and
CJ Jamison finished with 6 steals.
First Half Notes:
- Johnson & Wales won the opening tip-off but Converse scored first, when Earl Burgess III found Malcolm Morgan for a three-pointer.
- The Valkyries opened the game on an 8-0 run and forced the Wildcats to use and early timeout. The timeout initially did not seem to help as the Valkyries increased their run to 10-0.
- Ja Benson-Hollinhead scored the opening basket for the Wildcats with 15:48 to play in the half. The dunk ignited a 9-2 run by the Johnson & Wales lineup and forced Converse to take a timeout.
- The timeout proved to be beneficial for Converse, as the Valkyries used a 9-0 run tot take a 20-9 lead over Johnson & Wales.
- Once again, the Wildcats responded to the Valkyries blow with a 9-2 run. Holding onto a 22-18 advantage the Valkyries once again went on the move and scored back-to-back baskets, extending their lead to eight.
- Dawkins nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the half, as Converse went into the halftime intermission up 40-25.
- Converse shot 50 percent from the field, 30 percent from three-point range and 100 percent from the free throw line.
Second Half Notes:
- Just over two minutes of game time ticked off the clock before Jamison scored the opening three-point basket of the second half for Converse.
- Nathan Meshida scored the first basket for the Wildcats at the 16:18 mark. A few seconds later, Morgan drained a three-pointer and Converse led 47-27.
- For the remainder of the half the Valkyries maintained at least a 15-point lead against the Wildcats.
- With 2:58 to play in the game, Morgan scored a fastbreak layup and the Valkyries held a 70-45 advantage over Johnson & Wales. Moments later, Converse held their largest lead of the game at 73-45 following a Mitchell corner three-pointer.
- Converse shot 34 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point range and 66 percent from the free throw line.
Stat Leaders:
Points – Dawkins (16), Morgan (16), Pullen (12), Mitchell (10)
Rebounds – Pullen (8), Morgan (5), Jamison (5), Da Campo (5)
Assists – Pullen (5), Burgess III (4)
Next Up:
The men's basketball team will hit the road this weekend as they travel to North Greenville on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for a 4:00 p.m. start in Tigerville, S.C.
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