Tigerville, S.C. – Four players scored in double-figures on Friday night as North Greenville opened its 2016-2017 campaign with an 87-74 win over Coker College.

The Crusaders shot 68.2 percent in the first half en-route to a 44-40 advantage at intermission. Jai Jenks led the first half charge with seven points while DJ Brooks added six. NGU was even more impressive from deep in the first period knocking down 4 of 5 shots from three-point range. Coker countered NGU’s impressive offensive numbers with an equally impressive showing, scoring on 51.7 percent of its shots.

The Crusaders extended their once four-point lead to 12 in the opening minutes of the second period as a Troy Blyden jumper gave NGU its biggest lead of the game at 62-50. The Cobras continued to battle though, eventually cutting the North Greenville lead back to four points as they cut the advantage to 64-60 with 9:43 left in the game.

The Cobras would then take their first lead since the 9-minute mark of the first half with a three-pointer, putting NGU in a 65-64 hole. The offense would then trade jabs before Daniel Burchette evened the score at 74-74 with just over five-minutes left in the game.

The tide of the second half tilted back to NGU’s favor on Coker’s next possession when Justin Dotson converted a Cobra turnover into a three-pointer, giving NGU a 77-74 lead. Dotson’s shot sparked a 13-point run that put the game away as the Cobras failed to score in the final four minutes of the game.

Dotson finished the night with a team high 17-points while also collecting nine rebounds. Jai Jenks had 15-points for the Crusaders while Miguel Reyes Cartagena and Daniel Burchette had 10 and 12 points respectively.

North Greenville will wrap up the weekend with a 4pm tipoff against Newberry College on Saturday afternoon.