Spartanburg, SC - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors were by defeated the Converse Valkyries on Wednesday night. 

The Warriors were led in scoring by Jamal Edmonson with 12 points off the bench. Jonathan Taylor led them in rebounds and assists with five and four respectively. As a team, SWU shot 20-35 (36%) from the field, 5-18 (27%) from behind the arc, and 9-17 (52%) from the free throw line. 






Game Vitals:

Final: Southern Wesleyan University 54, Converse University 84

Records: Southern Wesleyan University (2-14, 1-5), Converse University (10-4, 4-2)





How It Happened:

Without the services of Junior Guard Che Smith, Freshman Jonathan Taylor was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Raevon Allen, Griffin Effenberger, Reco Hallmon, and Aaron Tims. Tims opened the scoring on the first possession with a layup following Taylor's assist. The Warriors' defense was solid to start the game, holding Converse without a field goal for the first 3:30. That drought was ended by Uzziah Dawkins, who would prove to be a thorn in the Southern Wesleyan side. That bucket was his first of 29 points and first of four 3's in the contest. The Valkyries began to pull away at the end of the first half, winning the last 10 minutes of the half 22-9. The Warriors did have some success on the glass, particularly on the offensive end in the first half. They led the rebounding margin 22-17 and the offensive rebound margin 8-1, but failed to consistently capitalize with only seven second chance points. 

The second half was slightly better for the Warriors on the offensive end, but they couldn't get consistent stops to keep themselves in the game. Converse went on several runs and had some possessions with great ball movement, cutting open the SWU defense. Converse also had success forcing SWU into turnovers, with comparing assist-to-turnover ratios of 9-14 for the Warriors and 20-7 for Converse. The play of Jamal Edmonson was a bright spot for Southern Wesleyan, however. He was the only Warrior in double-digits with 12 points on 6-7 field goal shooting to go with three rebounds and a block in 21 minutes. He had a couple of his go-to hook shots and some nice jump shots as well late in the second half. This loss drops the Warriors to 1-5 in Conference play and they remain in 4th in the Southwest Division. 






What's Next:

The Warriors return home on Saturday, January 13th, for the first of two games in a row at Tysinger Gymnasium beginning with Erskine College at 4:00 followed by King University on Wednesday, January 17th, at 7:00.