Franklin Springs, GA - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors were defeated by the Emmanuel University Lions on Tuesday.

The Warriors were led in scoring by RJ Bell with 17 points, in rebounding by Che Smith with 8 rebounds, and in assists by Bell and Bobby Taylor with 3 assists each. As a team, SWU shot 27-65 (41.5%) from the field, 4-17 (23.5%) from three, and 14-22 (63.6%) from the free-throw line. 



Game Vitals:

Final: Southern Wesleyan University 72, Emmanuel University 84

Records: Southern Wesleyan University (6-13, 4-9), Emmanuel University (13-7, 11-1)



How It Happened: 

After a solid showing on Saturday, Jamarras McCray was inserted into the starting lineup for Tuesday's Southwest Division matchup with Emmanuel. Joining him on the court to start were Che Smith, RJ Bell, Reco Hallmon, and Christopher Osobaye. Smith put back McCray's miss on the opening possession of the game, but the Lions answered with the next 16 points before a layup from Bell ended the run. Emmanuel clearly came out with an edge and is one of the hottest teams in Conference Carolinas, winning four games in a row since their lone conference loss vs Chowan on January 4th. SWU got the lead back down to single digits after four straight points from Aaron Tims and a bucket from Ceejay Jordan. Alex Tavares knocked down a three nine seconds after checking into the game for the first time, then hit his second of the game with under a minute to play in the half but the Warriors still trailed at the interval. 

Smith scored on the first possession of the second half as well, and Tims finished strongly in the paint on the second. The Emmanuel lead grew to as big as 23 over the next few minutes, but Southern Wesleyan scrapped together a 10-1 run to get back within striking distance midway through the period. The run mostly featured strong interior play from Osobaye and Jordan, who used their size and strength to score in the paint or earn trips to the free-throw line. However, the Warriors couldn't stifle the Lions on the offensive end for much longer. That matched with the return of the team's three-point shooting struggles plagued them, as they didn't hit a second-half perimeter shot until the 3:09 mark. In the end, Emmanuel hit eight more threes than SWU and pulled out a twelve-point victory in Franklin Springs. 



Game Vitals: 

The Warriors have a bye from conference play this Saturday but will host Clinton College on Thursday, January 30th, and Carolina Christian College on Friday, January 31st.