MONTGOMERY, AL — The Life University men's basketball team earned a SSAC Tournament win over Brewton-Parker Wednesday afternoon, downing the Barons 86-77 in the Opening Round of the conference tournament.
In the first half, the Running Eagles (19-9, 11-9 SSAC) and Barons (15-15, 6-12 SSAC) battled in the first half with Mohamed Elgohary and Devin Story scoring eight points each before carrying a 34-27 lead to halftime.
The Running Eagles used a three-and-a-half minute 14-2 run to go ahead 34-20 with less than three minutes to play in the half. The Barons then went on to close the frame with a 7-0 run, cutting the Life U lead down to seven by halftime, 34-27.
In the second half, the Running Eagles extended their lead to 57-36, their largest lead of the game. After that, the Barons quickly came back and brought the game to within single digits, 59-50.
The three-minute field goal-less gap brought the Barons back within striking distance before the Running Eagles stabilized and pushed the lead back to 15. Brewton-Parker would try to make one final run with less than five minutes to play, but as two key players fouled out for BPC, Life University held on for the 86-77 win.
Overall, the Running Eagles dominated inside, scoring 48 points from inside the paint. Despite sloppy turnovers and a heavy disadvantage in second-chance points, the Running Eagles used stellar efficiency to pick up the win. The Running Eagles shot 58% from the field and 71% from the charity stripe.
In the win, the Running Eagles led for the entire second half, earning a 15-14 lead in the first half, and never looked back. Mohamed Elgohary, Dara Olonade, and Joshua Ward all reached double-digits as Life University saw nine members tally playing time in the Opening Round SSAC win.
Up next, the Running Eagles will face the second-seeded Eagles from Faulkner University. The Eagles meet the Running Eagles after a first round bye. Winners of five straight, Faulkner and Life University split the teams' matchups this season with Faulkner most recently besting the Running Eagles 90-87. That contest took overtime to decide a winner as the Running Eagles came up just short in the January 18th road game.
Fans can tune into tomorrow's SSAC semifinal matchup at 7:15 PM EST by accessing the links below.
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