Warriors Outlast Golden Tigers

In a hard fought contest, the Brenau University Golden Tigers basketball team fell to Southern Wesleyan University 75-70 on Saturday.

Brenau knocked down their first three three-point shots to take a nine point lead in the first two minutes. However, missed opportunities and foul trouble stifled the Golden Tigers momentum, falling behind as much as 12 points in the first half. Quinnesha Turner (Winterville, Ga.) hit back to back layups to even up the score but a late Southern Wesleyan run allowed the Warriors to take a 37-29 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Golden Tigers found a rhythm as back to back buckets by Nekeia Brown (Daniesville, Ga.) and Jasmine Butler (Gainesville, Ga.) made the score 60-58. The Warriors kept the Golden Tigers at bay with free throw shooting into the final three minutes. With the score 67-64, Brenau missed two free throws with a minute to go to cut the lead to one. After a driving layup by Kalin Williams (Palmetto, Ga.) with under a minute, Brenau narrowed the lead to one. However the Golden Tigers missed two opportunites to take the lead, ultimately falling 75-70.

"We played very hard today," said head coach Kris Stewart. "We battled foul trouble all afternoon and had shots to win the game. We went through a tough stretch in the first half, but the effort and energy in the second half kept us close and gave us a chance".

Brenau was led by Anela Durmic with 16 points. Butler added 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Kiara Coleman led all scorers with 24 points.

The Golden Tigers (10-11, 6-8 SSAC) travel to Faulkner (Ala.) University on Thursday.