CONWAY, Ark. - The Hendrix College men's basketball defeated Birmingham-Southern College 77-72 in Southern Athletic Association Competition at Grove Gymnasium on Friday evening.
The Warriors (9-11, 3-6) avenged a 33-point loss to the Panthers (12-7, 6-3) in Birmingham two weeks ago.
The first half saw five ties and 10 lead changes with Hendrix leading 38-37 at the break. The Warriors shot a blazing 68 percent (17-of-25) from the floor in the opening period.
The second half was more of the same early with six more ties and 10 lead changes. BSC seemed to be in control when a pair of Ross Welch free throws put them up 60-53 with 11:13 to play. Hendrix answered with a 15-3 run, highlighted by eight points from junior forward
Luke Vance, to put the Warriors up 68-63 with 3:24 remaining. A three-pointer by Larry Thomas with 46 seconds left cut BSC's deficit to 74-72, but sophomore guard
Jordan Barrett sunk a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left and sophomore guard
Drew Nikolovski made one with seven seconds on the clock to secure the win for the Warriors.
For the game, Hendrix shot 55.8 percent (29-of-52), their second best performance of the year. They were only 2-of-12 from three-point range, but went 17-of-20 at the free throw line. BSC shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field, 6-of-16 from outside and 20-of-29 at the line. The Warriors had a 31-29 rebounding edge.
Vance led the Orange & Black with a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, to go with eight rebounds. Senior forward
Colton Primm, who was honored before the game, recorded 18 points, six rebounds and tied the school record with five blocked shots. Barrett finished with 14 points. Sophomore guard
Hank Aldous had seven points and three steals off the bench and freshman point guard
Gabe Gumm recorded five points and dished out eight assists.
Larry Thomas, the leading scorer in the SAA, led BSC with 24 points. Griffin Schamp scored 14 points and John Crain added 13.
Hendrix will play their final home game of the seasons against Millsaps on Sunday at 3 p.m.
