Due West, SC – Erskine’s comeback attempt fell short tonight as the Fleet lost at home to the Crusaders of North Greenville University 55 to 52 in non-conference basketball action.  Erskine trailed by as many as eleven points but fought back to tie the game late at 52 to 52.  North Greenville made three of four free throws in the final minute and Erskine’s last second three-point shot was just a tad long, bouncing off the back iron.  With the loss, Erskine drops to 7-12 overall while North Greenville University improves to 12-6 overall.

The Fleet kept the pressure on North Greenville throughout the game despite never holding the lead.  North Greenville grabbed an early lead and stretched it out to eleven points in the first half.  However, Erskine’s Victor Street nailed back-to-back three-point shots to pull the Fleet to within four points at the half, 30 to 26.

North Greenville opened the second half slowly pushing their lead back out to ten points at 45 to 35.  The Fleet tightened their defense, sparking a 15 to 5 Erskine run, led by freshman Chris Gore’s 6 points.  Unfortunately, the Fleet could not get a shot to fall over the last minute, losing the game by three, 55 to 52.

Statistically, the game was as close as the final score with the only significant difference being shooting percentage, especially from three-point range.  Erskine was just 7 of 35 from three point range, including just 2 for 16 from behind the arc in the second half.  Overall Erskine shot only 20% from long range while the Crusaders made 35% of their shots, including 32% from behind the arc.

Individually, the Fleet was led by Brandon Wright’s game-high 19 points.  Chris Gore contributed 14 points and 9 rebounds from his post position.  Meanwhile, the Crusaders had four players reach double figures: Luke Lattimer had 17 points, Jonathan Bozymowski and Paul Harrison 12 points each, and Zach Shields with 10 points.  Paul Harrison also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

With his 19 points tonight, Brandon Wright is just five points away from breaking Erskine College’s career scoring record