CENTRAL, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan got off to a hot start on Tuesday but fizzled late as Barton stormed back for a 109-96 win in Tysinger Gymnasium.

The Warriors led by over 30 consecutive minutes but Barton closed the game on a 25-12 run in the final 4:52 that broke open an 84-84 tie. The Bulldogs included a 9-0 and a 6-0 run during that time. Barton outscored the Warriors 76-59 in a wild second half.

SWU got things going early on offense, using a 12-0 run after Barton's Kendall Patterson opened the game with a triple. Cameron Solomon responded with a trey of his own before Buster Walker scored a layup. The duo repeated themselves as Solomon hit another three and Walker added another layup.

Another layup from Walker forced a timeout from Barton as the Warriors led 12-3 with 15:47 left in the half. After Jake Veasley hit a jumper for the Bulldogs to end the run, Walker added another lay in and Dominique Byrd added a jumper for the Bulldogs before Solomon and Walker threw down back-to-back dunks which caused another timeout from Barton as the Warriors led 18-7 with 14:06 to go.

The Warriors pushed the lead out to 13 at 22-9 but the Bulldogs cut it down to four at 37-33 at the half. Walker and Solomon combined for 22 of the team's 37 points in the first half but both were in foul trouble with two on Walker and three on Solomon.

In the second half Walker was never able to get on track after picking up his third foul just 17 seconds into the half. His fourth was whistled before the first media timeout of the half at 15:38 and he headed to the bench for a long stretch.

Darius Sharpe stepped up in his absence, scoring 14 of his career-high 19 in the second half. The sophomore hit 6 of 10 from the floor and made 6 of 8 from the free throw line. Kenny Holmes added 11 of his 13 after the break, hitting 3 of 6 triples in the second half.

The Bulldogs never let the Warriors run off with a big lead in the second half, keeping the game in single digits. Barton finally took the lead for the first time since 3-0 at 76-75 as Byrd made a pair of free throws with 7:01 remaining. Sharpe answered for the Warriors on the next possession with a driving layup in traffic.

The teams traded leads three more times and tied the game two others before a Byrd jumper put Barton on top 86-84 with 4:29 left. That started a 9-0 run that essentially put the game out of reach for the Warriors.

Cameron Solomon led all players with 28 points on 8 of 11 shooting. The senior made 9 of 10 from the free throw line before fouling out. He also added three assists.

Holmes added seven assists to go along with his 13 points. Dwayne Bryant added eight points and five rebounds. Jemiah Wimphrie added seven points off the bench, hitting 5 of 6 from the free throw line.

Barton was led by Veasley's 24 points and Byrd's 23. Khari Faison recorded a double double of 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.

Overall 56 fouls were called in the contest and 78 free throws were attempted, 54 in the second half.

Barton owned the glass, pulling down 41 rebounds to just 24 for the Warriors. Barton turned 15 offensive rebounds into 23 second chance points.

The Warriors are back in action at Limestone on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Saints defeated the Warriors 83-49 in Tysinger back on Jan. 3.