Brooks scores 31 in season finale versus No. 9 Queens
The Mars Hill men's basketball team (9-19, 3-17 SAC) wrapped up the 2018-19 season versus No. 9 Queens (27-3, 19-1 SAC), falling by a score of 108-91 on the road Saturday afternoon.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team (9-19, 3-17 SAC) wrapped up the 2018-19 season versus No. 9 Queens (27-3, 19-1 SAC), falling by a score of 108-91 on the road Saturday afternoon.
Tied at seven with 4:28 played, Mars Hill's Javonte Cooke provided the Lions a 9-7 lead. Chris Barnette extended the lead to three by hitting both free throw opportunities with five minutes played. Queens battled back to take the 15-13 lead later in the half, but two Reggie Wright free throws knotted the game at 15 with 11:20 left in the half.
Queens, trailing 18-17, went on a 4-0 run to regain their lead and would build it up to as many as seven points with 7:14 remaining. Matthew Powell's jumper at with 14:45 played pulled Mars Hill within one, but a Royals' 8-0 run gave them a 40-31 advantage with under three minutes left in the first. They closed out the half with an eight-point lead.
Van Turner led all players with 15 points followed by Daniel Carr's 10 in the opening 20 minutes. Both Austin Gilyard and Ja'Shawn Brooks paced the Lions' offense with eight points.
The teams combined for 113 points in the second half, with Queens outscoring Mars Hill 61-52. The Royals extended their lead to 11 points just 2:30 into the half, going up 55-44 off of a Lewis Diankulu layup. With 12:20 remaining in regulation, Queens began a 7-2 run to go up 20 points. Mars Hill closed the gap to 16 with 8:32 left, but the Royals responded with a 12-0 lead to balloon their lead to 97-69 with just over five minutes remaining.
Mars Hill, down by 25, closed the contest on a 12-4 run to pull within 17 before the final buzzer.
Brooks scored 23 points in the second half, going 8-of-11 from the floor and hitting all four three-point attempts. Turner had 13 points in the half while Shaun Willett added 11 in the half.
Brooks recorded his fifth 30-point game of the season and second 31-point performance in the last three games to lead all players. Gilyard ended the contest with 20 points. Turner led the Royals with 28 points.
Mars Hill ends the regular season with a record of 9-19, 3-17 in the SAC.
