CENTRAL, S.C. – A four-point game at halftime turned into a lopsided loss for the Warriors as Newberry scored 73 in the second half en route to a 118-78 win over Southern Wesleyan on Friday night in Tysinger Gymnasium.

The Warriors (1-6) trailed early by 14 midway through the first half but used a 14-2 run over a three-minute stretch to close the gap to four at 36-32. After the Wolves (7-0) stretched the lead back to eight at 45-37, the Warriors scored the final four points in the half to head to the break down just four, 45-41.

Both teams shot 43 percent in the first half as Cameron Solomon and Dwayne Bryant both reached double figures in the half with 11 and 10 points respectively.  The Warriors turned the ball over 15 times in the half as the Wolves pressured the ball the length of the court all night long. SWU ended the game with 26 turnovers while Newberry gave the ball away just eight times.

Newberry stretched the lead to 10 in the first four minutes of the second half and pushed it out to 17 at 74-57 with 11:16 left in the game. Buster Walker hit back-to-back-to-back threes for the Warriors after that but Newberry scored on every possession in-between as SWU gained just three points on the scoreboard.

After those triples from Walker, the Warriors were outscored 24-4 over the next six minutes as the Wolves essentially ended the game. Newberry went on to make four more threes as they ended the game 15 of 31 from beyond the arc. The Warriors made just 5 of 18 from long range.

The Warriors shot 44 percent for the game while the Wolves connected on 56 percent including a 70 percent mark in the second half. Newberry made 10 of their 15 threes after halftime. 

Cameron Solomon led the Warriors with 17 points while four more players joined him in double figures. Buster Walker added 14 points and six rebounds while Mike Lieberman scored 13 and pulled down eight boards. Dwayne Bryant chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds. Kenny Holmes came off the bench for the first time this year and scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists. Truston Whiteside also dished out five assists off the bench.

These two teams will meet again in two weeks in Newberry on Dec. 13.

The Warriors jump back into conference play on Tuesday at Belmont Abbey. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.