GAFFNEY, S.C. – A halftime lead slipped away from Southern Wesleyan on Friday night as Limestone stormed back behind 76 percent second-half shooting to come away with an 88-70 win in the Timken Center.

The Warriors led throughout the first half en route to a 41-38 halftime lead. The Warriors trailed for only 15 seconds in the first half at 9-8 just over two minutes into the contest. Buster Walker's jumper put the Warriors back on top 10-9.

SWU stretched the lead out to eight as Darius Sharpe made a layup to give the Warriors a 25-17 lead with 11:01 to play in the half. The Saints cut the lead to one at 34-33 on a 3 pointer from Asaad Woods but a five point spurt gave the Warriors some breathing room.

The Warriors held their lead for the first 3:27 of the second half before Woods tied the game again, this time at 47-47 and a layup off an offensive rebound by Shaq Dance put the home team back on top 49-47. SWU tied the game on two occasions before Limestone ran away on a 10-0 run to take control.

Jemiah Wimphrie nailed a jumper – good for two of his 11 points off the bench – with 8:10 to play to cut the lead down to six at 66-60 but Limestone answered again in a big way. Another 10-0 run put the Saints up 16 with 5:50 to play and proved to be too much for the Warriors to overcome.

Limestone shot 76 percent (19 of 25) from the floor in the second half and made 5 of 10 from downtown. The Warriors converted on just 33.3 percent in the second half as they were held to just 29 points.

For the game the Warriors shot 50 percent after a 66.7 percent clip in the first half. Limestone finished the game at 66.7 percent from the floor. The Saints also made 9 of 16 from long range in the game while the Warriors made only 4 of 15.

Both teams turned the ball over 14 times and both were successful in converting those into offense as the Saints scored 24 points off turnovers and the Warriors scored 20. The Saints had a huge advantage in the paint where they scored 40 points, the Warriors scored just 20 in the lane.

Walker led the Warriors with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. The senior was 10 of 15 from the floor. Cameron Solomon added 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting. Solomon connected on 3 of 5 from long range. Wimphrie scord 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting and also made 1 of 2 from beyond the arc.

The Warriors will be in action again on Wednesday, travelling to Erskine to finish off the season series. SWU lost to the Flying Fleet in Tysinger before Thanksgiving 74-67.