Franklin Springs, GA - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors were defeated on Saturday Afternoon by the Emmanuel University Lions. The Lions came into the game in first place in the Conference Carolinas Southwest Division with the second-best record in the Conference, while the Warriors were in 4th place in the Southwest Division. 

The Warriors were led in scoring by Aaron Tims with 16, followed by Marcus Long with 13 and Griffen Effenberger with 10. SWU were without their leading rebounder today, Dyren Brown, so it was Tims and Raevon Allen who had team-highs in rebounding with 5. Tims, Che Smith, Eric Hackett, and Jonathan Taylor each had 3 assists. As a team, the Warriors shot 24-63 (38%) from the field, 6-23 (26%) from behind the arc, and 9-15 (60%) from the free throw line. 



Game Vitals:

Final: Southern Wesleyan 63, Emmanuel 82

Records: Southern Wesleyan (3-14, 2-5), Emmanuel (15-4, 7-1)



How It Happened:

Coach Hewitt opened with the same starting 5 that picked up the victory over Erskine last weekend: Jonathan Taylor, Che Smith, Griffen Effenberger, Reco Hallmon, and Aaron Tims. Both teams scored on their opening possession, Tavarus Webb hit a 3 for the Lions and Tims finished a layup assisted by Taylor. SWU kept it close for the first 10 minutes, but Emmanuel went on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes to open up a large lead. KJ Jones, the Reigning Conference Player of the Year and current leading scorer at 25 PPG, had 7 of those 14. Aaron Tims had a great first half for the Warriors, putting up 12 of his 16 points in the half. Griffen Effenberger also hit 2 3s. 

The Warriors began to cut into the lead in the middle of the second quarter with back-to-back buckets from Marcus Long and Erick Hackett and then got it as close as 10 with 4:54 off a Long floater. Marcus was very good for the Warriors in the half, and a large reason why it was close down the stretch. Emmanuel went on a 13-4 closing run after that point to seal the victory. KJ Jones had a game-high 31 points to go with 10 rebounds. The Lions were also dominant on the interior with 50 points in the paint and led the rebounding margin 41-26.



What's Next:

Southern Wesleyan has a two-game home stand coming up with King University on Monday, January 22nd, followed by Belmont-Abbey on Saturday, January 27th.