February 4, 2009

NEWBERRY, S.C. - Megan Clevenger (Parrottsville, Tenn.) hit a layup with 14 seconds left in the second half to propel Mars Hill over Newberry 81-80 Wednesday night inside Eleazer Arena. The Lions improve to 12-9 and 5-5 in the SAC. Newberry drops to 13-8 and 6-4 in the SAC.

With the game tied 11-all, the Lions went on a 13-6 run capped by a three-pointer by Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) at the 6:32 mark. Mars Hill again matched its largest advantage of the half of eight points, 28-20, off a layup by Clevenger with 4:05 remaining in the first half. Mars Hill led at halftime 32-26.

The Lions came out of intermission and grabbed their largest lead of the game, 36-26, at the 18:55 mark off a jumper by Bria Smith (Snellville, Ga.).

Newberry would respond as two Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) free throws triggered a 12-0 spurt in the span of 2:22. Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) had seven points during the stretch, including the go-ahead layup, which made the score 38-36 in favor of Newberry with 16:33 left in the game.

A Smith trey at the 11:07 point gave Mars Hill a four point lead, 52-48, but Newberry regrouped, and a Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) shot from behind the arc with 5:34 left in regulation gave Newberry its largest lead of the game, 67-62.

Mars Hill tied the affair with 3:28 left in the game at 72-all off a bucket by Clevenger.

Trailing 78-76 with 1:59 left, Young was fouled on a running layup attempt but sank the bucket and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Lions a 79-78 advantage. Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) was fouled with 58 seconds left in regulation and converted both free throws to give Newberry the upper hand, 80-79.

With the chance to ice the game, McKinney was called for three-seconds in the lane which turned the ball back over to the Lions and set the stage for Clevenger's late game heroics.

Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) and Bulcher both missed go-ahead layup attempts in the final seconds to preserve Mars Hill's victory.

Jessica Blanford scored a team-high 17 points and was 8-11 from the field for Mars Hill. The Concord, N.C., native is now six points shy of 1,000 for her career. Young chipped in 16 points. Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, Ga.) finished with 13 points.

Marquardt scored a game-high 28 points for Newberry. Alexander poured in 21 points and was 11-12 from the charity stripe. McKinney finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds. Bulcher had eight points and 14 rebounds.

The Lions shot 57.1% (32-56) from the field, while Newberry shot only 37.7% (23-61) from the field. Newberry was 26-33 from the free throw line. Mars Hill was 11-16 from the free throw line.

Mars Hill will host Carson-Newman on Saturday inside Stanford Arena. Tip-time is set for 2 p.m.

Season Stats...

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