SEWANEE, Tenn. (Nov. 20, 2015) – Behind a season-high shooting percentage, the Sewanee men's basketball team opened its annual Lon Varnell Classic with a 78-63 win over Boyce, Friday, inside Juhan Gymnasium.
The Tigers improved 2-1 early this season. Additionally, Sewanee extended its home winning streak to 11 straight games and are now 42-9 on the Domain over the past four seasons.
Sewanee opened the game with a three by junior guard Clay Born. That started an early 7-2 run by the Tigers the first five minutes of the contest.
However, Boyce answered back with four straight points before Matt Tome connected on a three with 13:47 left in the first half. However, after six straight points from Trey Stewart, Boyce cut its deficit back to three, 17-14, over the next three minutes.
After a three by Jorden Williams, it was again Stewart that kept Boyce in the game with his 12-point in the first 12 minutes of the game.
Both teams then traded offensive runs over the next six minutes. A layup by Brody Stone with 1:09 left in the half put the Tigers ahead by five, 36-31, at the break.
After making 48.5 percent of their attempts the opening 20 minutes of play, the Tigers stayed hot in the second half. Sewanee scored the first five points out of the locker to take a 10-point lead, 41-31, with 16:47 to play.
After five points from Stewart and a three by Ben Akers, Boyce cut the Tiger lead to seven, 46-39, over the next minute.
Sewanee responded with back-to-back threes by freshman Cody Jones and a layup by Seth Brown.
Down the stretch, the Tigers extended their lead to as much as 14 after Stone completed a traditional three-point play with 3:32 remaining.
From there, Sewanee did not look back. Even after Boyce cut the lead to 10, 70-60, with a pair of free throws from Maxx Katzbeck, Sewanee answered back with eight straight points with less than two minutes to play.
Overall, Sewanee made a season-high 52.2 percent of its attempts. That included 44 points in the paint. In fact, The Tigers outrebounded Boyce inside by 16 boards. Sewanee scored 20 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
Individually, Williams led Sewanee with 16 points. His four made threes now rank the junior from Chattanooga, Tenn., fifth all-time on the made three-point field goal list.
Along with Williams, Stone finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Stone and Keshonn Carter(13 points) both finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the field.
Also inside, Brown added 14 points and four rebounds.
Stewart led Boyce with a game-high 22 points while Akers added 17. Both Stewart and Akers each had five threes.
Sewanee quickly returns to action with a 3:00 p.m. game, Saturday, against Blackburn.
For more information on Sewanee Athletics, please visit www.SewaneeTigers.com. You can also check the Tigers out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.