(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — Damian Dixon and Luqman Tijani scored 28 points a piece to lead The Pride men’s basketball team (10-8 Overall) past Barber-Scotia on Wednesday. Greensboro rallied from a 32-30 halftime deficit, outscoring the Mighty Sabers 57-46 in the second half.
The Pride led 17-11 early in the game but saw Barber-Scotia come back to tie the game at 19-19 with 10:31 to go in the half. With the game remained tied at 22-22, Greensboro ran off eight straight points to grab a 30-22 advantage at the 6:23 mark.
Unfortunately, The Pride would not find the scoreboard again in the first half, allowing the Mighty Sabers finish the half on a 10-0 spurt and head into the break on top.
Tijani finally stopped the scoring drought with a free throw 25 seconds into the second half. Brian Thomas added a lay-up on the next offensive possession to put Greensboro back ahead 33-32.
The lead would exchange hands until The Pride gained control at 49-42 wtih 14:16 to go. Barber-Scotia would continue to hang around, chipping away at 65-58 deficit with just under eight minutes remaining in the game.
Following a 10-3 run, the Mighty Sabers evened the score at 68-68 at the 5:14 mark. Devonta Davis answered with a big three-point bucket to give The Pride a lead they would fail to relinquish.
Barber-Scotia came with 73-72 and looked to make a final push before Greensboro closed the door down the stretch for the 87-78 victory.
In addition to their 28 points apiece, Dixon and Tijani also led the way on the boards. Dixon grabbed a team high eight rebounds, with Tijani pulling down seven. Also contributing to the scoring column was Davis with 11 points, with Thomas and Chakiris Moss adding ten each.
As a team, The Pride shot 40.7% from the field with a 48.1% effort in the second half. Defensively, Greensboro forced 24 Mighty Saber turnovers on the night.
Next up for The Pride is a road trip to Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.