Late Rally Pushes Brewton Parker Past Brenau

A sluggish second half performance by the Brenau basketball team allowed Brewton Parker to escape with a 73-66 win in Southern States Athletic Conference play on Thursday in Gainesville.

Brenau opened the first quarter on a 10-2 run as Autumn Dodson and Sydney Haas each hit back-to-back three pointers to start the game. Kaelyn Irby hit a short jumper late in the period to increase the lead to 19-12, while Kayla Mitchell sank two free throws to close the quarter at 21-12.

The Golden Tigers continued their lead throughout the second quarter, taking a 35-29 lead into intermission.

After the break, the Barons came out with a 15-7 run to take a 44-41 lead with 4:02 left in the quarter. The Golden Tigers answered with five points from Briah Woods at the end of the period to regain the lead 49-46.

Brewton Parker again went on a run at the beginning of the fourth quarter, taking a 10 point lead with 3:47 remaining. Brenau chipped away at the deficit with baskets from Jasmine Knight and Haas, and a three pointer by Dodson made the score 68-66 with 1:05 remaining. However, the Barons' Joy Hadley hit a short jumper with under a minute remaining to help the visitors escape with the win.

"We played really nice basketball in the first half," said head coach Kris Stewart. "In the second half we were flat and Brewton Parker just kept their energy at a high level. We didn't match their intensity, but I hope it will be a good learning experience for us."

Haas led all scorers with a career-high 23 points. Woods added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Dodson added 14. Knight also added two points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Hadley led the Barons with 15 points.

Brenau (11-5 overall, 4-5 SSAC) next hosts Coastal Georgia (6-12 overall, 3-6 SSAC) on Saturday at 2 pm in Gainesville.