FRANKLIN SPRINGS, GA – The Emmanuel Men's Basketball team hosted Barton College tonight in the second round of the Conference Carolinas Championship. The Lions jumped out ahead early, taking a 38-32 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs answered back to take the lead in the 2^nd half, but the Lions roared back to tie things at 71-71 to force overtime. 

The Lions jumped out to an early 10-5 lead on three pointers from Sam Thacker and Devin Story. The Bulldogs responded to tie the game at 12-12 and take the lead, but Brady Peery and Andrija Vucajic answered with buckets to tie the game at 17-17 and a three-pointer from Isaac Jones gave the Lions the lead, 20-17 with 6:45 to play in the first half. Peery stayed hot on the offensive end, picking up 8 quick points for the Lions to put Emmanuel up, 28-25. A three-pointer for Story pushed the Lions lead to 31-25 with 3:25 to play in the half. Peery and Rett Van de Mark connected on jumpers late in the half to put the Lions up 38-33 heading into the break. In the first, the Lions shot 45% from the field, connecting on 39% from beyond the arc.

Isaac Jones opened up the 2^nd half with a three, but the Bulldogs responded to tie the game at 47-47 with 12:37 to play. Barton would take the lead, pulling ahead 54-50 with 9:53 to play but the Lions answered to tie the game at 54-54 on jumper from Jones. The teams would trade points and the lead, with Sam Thacker and Story coming up big to push the Lions lead to 61-56 with 7:15 to go. With 3:49 to play, the Bulldogs tied the game again at 62-62 and the teams closed out regulation going bucket for bucket ending tied, 71-71 to force overtime.

In the overtime period, the Lions jumped out to an early lead on layups by Story to put Emmanuel up 75-71 but Barton responded to tie the game at 75. A layup from Ezra McKee put the Lions ahead, 77-75 but the Bulldogs quickly answered to tie the game yet again. The Lions closed out overtime strong with a jumper and foul shots from McKee to make the final score, 81-77! 

Devin Story led all scorers with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Brady Peery and Isaac Jones added 13 points apiece, with Jones leading the team in rebounds with 10. Ezra McKee added 12 points on the night. 

With the win the Lions will move onto the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas tournament which will be held at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadum. The Lions will face #3 seed, Ferrum on Friday at 1:30PM. 

Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network powered by Hudl at ConferenceCarolinas.com/watch. Fans can purchase an all-tournament pass for $25 or a daily pass for $10.

Information regarding the championship schedule and bracket are available at the links below.

TOURNAMENT PAGE | BRACKET | LIVE VIDEO | FINAL SITE TICKETS