Tigerville, SC - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors were defeated by the North Greenville University Trailblazers on Monday - a game that was originally postponed due to winter weather this weekend. 

The Warriors were led in scoring by RJ Bell with 22 points and Christopher Osobaye with 19 points. The two were tops in several other statistical categories too, with Osobaye hauling in 7 rebounds and Bell tallying 5 assists and 2 steals. As a team, SWU shot 26-60 (43.3%) from the field, 8-23 (34.8%) from three, and 17-22 (77.3%) from the free-throw line. 



Game Vitals:

Final: Southern Wesleyan University 77, North Greenville University 89

Records: Southern Wesleyan University (4-9, 2-5), North Greenville University (7-7, 4-3)



How It Happened: 

Head Coach Joel Stites turned to a bigger lineup for SWU's matchup with NGU, opening the game with Che Smith, RJ Bell, Christopher Osobaye, Aaron Tims, and Jamarras McCray on the court. The Warriors got off to a solid start on the offensive end of the floor, as Bell found a cutting Smith to open the scoring. Later, Smith returned the favor handing off to Bell for a step-in three to give Southern Wesleyan their first lead of the game at 8-7. Osobaye found his rhythm on the ensuing possessions as he and Bell scored 13 of the first 17 Warrior points. The Trailblazers paired three possessions in a row with a made three with a 4:04 Warrior scoring drought to grow their lead before Reco Hallmon ended it with a steal-and-score, cutting the lead to 16. SWU tried to answer with long-range buckets from Smith and Bell, but John Haddock Rodgers scored a pair of his own threes to help NGU take a 48-33 lead into the locker room. 

Southern Wesleyan struggled out of the break, connecting on just 5 of their first 16 attempts from the field and going 0-5 from behind the arc. During that time, the North Greenville lead grew to its biggest number of the game, 19. A strong period of play from Osobaye helped SWU narrow the margin, as he scored or assisted on 10 straight Warrior points from 16:00 - 11:00. Bobby Taylor followed up that stretch with a corner three cutting the lead to 12 at 10:37. After a couple of Trailblazer buckets, Southern Wesleyan's leading scorer Eric Hackett finally scored his first points of the game with 7:44 left in the second half as part of a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 8. North Greenville answered by making 6 of 7 field goals, pushing their lead back to a comfortable margin. Bell converted a four-point play with 1:33 left in the game, but it was not enough as the Trailblazers held on, giving SWU their fifth loss in Conference Carolinas play. 



What's Next: 

The Warriors remain on the road for their next two games, traveling to Erskine College on Wednesday, January 15th, and the University of Mount Olive on Saturday, January 18th.