Tigers Lose Nailbiter to Hornets

The Brenau GoldenTigers basketball team dropped a close loss to the top-ranked Southern Poly Hornets 66-64 on Saturday.

In a hotly contested game, the Golden Tigers jumped out to a quick lead, led by early buckets from junior guard Brittney Wiley (Royston, Ga.). Wiley's 13 first half points kept Brenau in control most of the first half, however the Hornets finished with a flurry to tie the score at 32-32 going into intermission.

The second half was a close contest with neither team seizing full control. At the six minute mark, Southern Poly extended their lead to six. However, the Golden Tigers' offense kicked in behind Sarah Ward's (Elberton, Ga.) hot shooting. The senior guard scored 14 points, shooting 5-8 from the floor, including 3-6 behind the arc, and helped give the Golden Tigers a one point lead with a late 3 pointer. However, the Hornets took the lead with less than a minute to go with Brenau missing a put back that would have given the Golden Tigers the lead with under 30 seconds to play.

Coach Kris Stewart noted that "We came out a little flat, but managed to play a very strong second half, shooting 50% from the field. We had a few defensive errors that allowed Southern Poly to get some shots, but I thought my team competed against the top-ranked team in the conference. In this conference, we have such a small margin of error. We have won 13 games, but we easily could be at 18 wins."

In a very even contest, Brenau shot 43% for the game and 10-19 from the foul line while Southern Poly shot 40% for the game and 12-19 from the foul line. Brenau was led by Wiley's 18 points. Ward tallied 14, while fellow senior Gabby Harvey contributed 12 points and 18 rebounds. Southern Poly was led by Ashlie Billingslea's game high 35 points. The loss drops Brenau to 13-13 on the season.

Brenau takes the floor again in a home contest on Thursday versus Truett-McConnell College. Tip-off is at 6 pm.