Cobras Fall to Wolves in Home Finale

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College men's basketball dropped a South Atlantic Conference matchup to the visiting Newberry College Wolves on Wednesday (Feb. 22) by a score of 104-92.

The opening half saw both sides get off to a red hot start, with four-straight Coker threes lifting the Cobras to an early 14-9 advantage with 17:18 left in the first half. Both teams continued to let the long ball fly, as a made three by Newberry with 10:25 left in the first half gave the Wolves a 27-26 advantage. Newberry kept momentum on its side, garnering seven-point leads at the 5:56, 4:27 and 3:37 mark in the first half. Down 49-42 with 2:15 left, Coker stormed its way back into the game, outscoring the Wolves 10-3 to close out the half, tying the game up at 52-52 as the two sides departed for the locker rooms at half.

Newberry outscored Coker 15-10 in the opening five minutes to take a 67-62 lead with 14:23 left in the second half. Once again, Coker fought its way back in, tying the game up at 73-73 with 9:59 left in the second half. However, the next six minutes belonged to the Wolves, outscoring Coker 23-13 to take a 96-86 lead with 3:28 left. Coker closed the game to six with 3:16 left; however, it was Newberry knocking down shots down the stretch to secure the 104-92 win.

Five Cobras scored in double figures, led by the 23 points of JaQuez Motley. 21 of Motley's 23 came from long range. Nathan Lemke finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, while shooting 8-for-10 from the field. Jalal Abdul-Azeez chipped in 14 points and five assists, while Jake Barrett scored 12 points off the bench. Demarco Jackson finished with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench to round out the Coker scoring attack.

The Cobras will be back in action on Saturday (Feb. 25) for the regular season finale at Carson-Newman University. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m.