Wilson, N.C. – Darius Sharpe was the leading scorer for the Warriors in the loss against the Barton College Bulldogs.  Sharpe scored 21 points and was followed by Justice McCullough and Zalan Richards with 14 points apiece.  McCullough led the team with 18 rebounds in the loss.

The Warriors struck first in the game on Friday night on a layup by Justice McCullough.  The Bulldogs countered to tie the game at two on a layup by Nick Ellison, but the Warriors were able to pull ahead to 5-4 on a jump shot by Zalan Richards.  The Bulldogs rallied to take a 10-5 lead over the Warriors on layups by Matt Woods and RJ Claypool.  That was only the beginning, as the Bulldogs went on to pull ahead to a 22-5 lead over the Warriors before the Warriors were able to score again on a three point jump shot by Darius Sharpe.  Barton College lengthened their lead to 35 points before the Justice McCullough scored a layup for the Warriors to give them 13 points on the board.  A tip-in by Michael Boykin pushed the Bulldogs to a 37-13 lead.  By half time the Bulldogs were leading the game by 55-22.

A jump shot by Justice McCullough and a 3-point jump shot by Darius Sharpe to begin the second half allowed the Warriors to come to 55-27 behind the Bulldogs.  A jump shot by Matt Woods pushed the Bulldogs to a 62-30 lead over the Warriors, and that was not the end as the Bulldogs gained a great advantage over the Warriors on a jump shot by Jeff Gordon.  However, the Warriors countered with a layup by Sharpe to make the score 64-36.  The Barton College Bulldogs surged ahead to 79-45 before Sharpe was able to sink a three point jump shot to give the Warriors 48.  The Bulldogs continued their surge with three point shots by RJ Claypool and Tyler Thayer to give them a 35-point lead over the Warriors.  The Bulldogs won the game 89-59.

"The first half droughts and mistakes are hurting our chances," said Head Men's Basketball Coach Charles Wimphrie.  He continued, "We were 7-29 shooting in the first half with 14 turnovers.  Barton scored 24 points of those mistakes.  We are relying on freshmen guards so there will be some growing pains.  We made progress in the second half and accomplished some goals we set at halftime.  Hopefully the positives I saw throughout the second half will carry on to the next game."

The Warriors made 44 rebounds compared to the 32 rebounds made by the Bulldogs in the loss.  Southern Wesleyan had a 35.1% field goal percentage and had 14 assists in the evening's game.  The Warriors made 25 turnovers.  DJ Dobson, Darrian Brown, Richards, and Sharpe each had a steal in the game.  McCullough and Kevin Stamps each had a block in the game.  Darrian Brown led the team with five assists and was followed with Sharpe with four.

The loss for the Warriors makes their record become 2-11 and 1-4 in Conference Carolina action while the Barton College Bulldogs become 9-4 and 4-1 in Conference competition.  Southern Wesleyan will next travel to the University of Mount Olive to take on the Trojans at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 7.  They will then travel to Erskine College to play the Flying Fleet on January 11.