Newberry, S.C. – Tommy Wade led all scorers with 21-points on Saturday but NGU’s offense struggled to get going in an 81-69 loss to Newberry College in the final game of the Conference Carolinas vs. South Atlantic Conference Challenge.

The Basics

• Score: NGU – 69 / Newberry – 81
• Location: Newberry College (Newberry, South Carolina)
• Records: North Greenville 1-1 / Newberry 2-0

How It Happened

• The Crusaders jumped out to a very early 4-0 lead as Daniel Burchette knocked down the first bucket of the game followed by a Roderick Howell score.
• Newberry scored the next five but Howell’s second bucket in the early goings made the score 6-5.
• The Wolves then opened it up, going on a 23-3 run which put North Greenville in a 28-9 hole with 7:17 left in the first half.
• North Greenville found some offense late in the half, eventually cutting the gap to just 12-points when Wade’s jumper made it 39-27 with 1:05 left before halftime.
• Newberry wrapped up the opening period on a 6-0 run to take a 45-27 lead at intermission.
• The second half opened with a flurry of NGU points as the Crusaders cut the Newberry lead to just seven points. Tommy Wade knocked down a pair of three-pointers to spark the run Howell and Burchette also got in on the action.
• The quick outburst by North Greenville cut the Newberry lead to just 48-41 with 15:42 left on the clock.
• Later in the game, Kovi Tate put in a pair of scores to cut the lead to 61-57. Newberry never lacked answers, however, extending the lead back to 12-points with 5:24 left.
• The Crusaders continued to battle but were unable to overcome a 34.8-percent shooting performance as the Wolves handed them their first loss of the season.

The Good Guys

• Roderick Howell was the second leading scorer for North Greenville with 12-points with a team-high six rebounds.
• Danielle Burchette finished with 10-points to go along with three steals on defense.

The Other Team

• James Stepp led the starters with 14-points on the night.
• The Wolves got help from the bench, scoring 14-points as well while Rob Valentine tacked on 13-points.

Next Time Out

• The Crusaders will return to Tigerville for their first home game of the season, hosting Piedmont International at 7 pm.