ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Flagler College Men's Basketball Team (1-0) established an eight-point halftime lead and kept Emory & Henry University (0-1) at arm's length throughout the second half to earn a season-opening win at the Southeast Region Crossover Tournament Friday evening. The Saints downed the Wasps by a final score of 87-75.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE – Flagler 87, Emory & Henry 75
LOCATION – St. Augustine, Florida
VENUE – Flagler Gymnasium & Clark Family Court
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (0-1, 0-0 SAC); Flagler (1-0, 0-0 Peach Belt)
How It Happened
- The Saints jumped on the Wasps early as they ran out to a 10-2 lead, forcing an Emory & Henry timeout. The Wasps quickly closed the gap to four, but Flagler answered back to push the advantage back out to 16-8 at the under 12 minute media timeout. The Saints continued to push the pace through the middle of the opening half as they managed to increase their margin to 12 at 28-16 with just over five minutes to play. E&H continued to battle, and a 10-4 run over the following three minutes trimmed the deficit to just six. The teams traded buckets down the stretch and the Saints took a 40-32 lead into the halftime break.
- Flagler came out swinging to start the second frame, as they saw their lead reach its largest point of the game at 57-38 with just under 16 minutes remaining. Once again the Wasps showed fight as they slowly battled back to cut the Flagler advantage to just seven at 68-61 at the 9:38 mark. That was as close as the Wasps would get however, as the Saints had an answer for every E&H rally. The home team eventually earned the season-opening win by an 87-75 margin.
Emory & Henry Individual Leaders
- Senior guard/forward Gabe Brown (Clintwood, Va.) paced the Wasps with a team-high 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Freshman guard Korbin Dixon (Milton, Ontario, CANADA) added 18 points, one rebound and a steal in his collegiate debut while junior guard Omari Curley (Prince George, Va.) finished with nine points and three rebounds.
- Senior guard Jalen Leftwich (Lynchburg, Va.) contributed seven points, five rebounds and an assist along with junior forward Assad Madassalia's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) team-high six rebounds, two points, two blocks and one assist.
Flagler Individual Leaders
- Destin Clark led all scorers with 24 points, seven rebounds, one assist and a block while Jaylen Jordon posted a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jax Boknight recorded 16 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal.
- Max Hrdlicka registered eight points, three assists, two steals and a pair of boards. Mason Manning added eight points, seven rebounds and an assist off of the bench.
A Deeper Look
- Emory & Henry shot 48.4 percent (31-for-64) from the field while Flagler made 30-of-62 (48.4%) of their shots. The Wasps and the Saints both knocked down seven shots from the three-point arc, shooting 26.9% and 33.3% respectively.
- The Saints outrebounded E&H by a 40-31 margin and both teams were dead even with 44 points in the paint.
- The difference was made at the free throw line as Flagler went 20-for-26 (76.9%) at the charity stripe while the Wasps only visited the line 10 times, making six of their attempts.
Up Next
- Emory & Henry wraps up its opening weekend of play at the Southeast Region Crossover Tournament on Saturday when they take on the Sand Sharks of the University of South Carolina at Beaufort. Tip off scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from St. Augustine, Florida.
---E&H---