SPARTANBURG S.C. – The Converse University men's basketball team fell 89-71 to Livingstone on Thursday evening inside the Weisiger Center.
With the loss, Converse falls to 3-7 overall on the season and Livingstone improves to 7-4 overall on the year. Junior guard
Kyle Monk, tied the program record for three-pointers in a game with seven made on the evening. Monk becomes just the third person to ever accomplish the feat, the California native joins
Sigurd Lorange and Trey Smith as the only Valkyrie athletes to accomplish the feat.
Livingstone opened the match on a 16-3 run against the Valkyries defense. A few minutes later the Valkyries faced a 20-point deficit trailing 28-8 with 8:26 to play in the half. Converse won the final eight minutes of the half, as they outscored the Blue Bears 20-14 down the stretch. The Valkyries trailed going into the halftime break down 42-28. Converse shot 28 percent from the field, 26 percent from three-point range, and 100 percent from the free throw line in the opening half.
In the early moments of the second half, the Blue Bears led by as many as 17 points against the Valkyries. Converse began to chip away at the Livingstone lead and with 9:58 to play the Valkyries had stormed back within single digits of the Blue Bears. Back-to-back three pointers by Monk had the Valkyries back within striking distance at 61-53. It was the closest the Valkyries would come the rest of the match, as Livingstone raced back to a double-digit advantage over the next two minutes of game action. Converse was outscored 47-43 in the second half, shooting 53 percent from the field, 45 percent from three-point range, and 66 percent from the free throw line.
Stat Leaders:
Points – Monk (21), Jones (8), Burgess III (8), Lorange (8)
Rebounds – Mitchell (4), Burgess III (4), Ahnstrand (4)
Assists – Reams (6), Buffo (5)
Next Up:
The men's basketball team will be back in action against Shorter on Saturday, January 4
th. Tip-off is slated for 4:00 p.m. inside the Weisiger Center.
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