CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 26, 2018) – The Webber International University men's basketball team fell in the final two games of its road trip in North Carolina with an 82-57 loss to Piedmont International University on Sunday, November 25, and a 83-77 loss to Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte on Monday, November 26.

Webber (4-5) concluded its road trip that featured three games in three days in North Carolina with a 1-2 record after defeating St. Andrews University 84-74 in the first game of the weekend on Saturday, November 24.

Despite career-best performances from Austin Evans in each of the final two games of the trip and an extremely gutsy performance from Webber late against Johnson & Wales-Charlotte, the Warriors were hurt by slow starts that saw Webber score 30 points or less in the first half of both games and shoot under 25 percent from three in both contests.

After a 45-minute delay to the game against Johnson & Wales-Charlotte (3-3) on Monday, Evans scored each of the first six points for the Warriors before Webber took its first lead of the game with a 3-pointer by Nicholas Toledo to make it 9-8 at the 13:19 mark.

Evans scored again to put Webber ahead 11-10, accounting for eight of the Warriors' first 11 points, and then a tip-in by Simon Fransis made it 13-12 Webber with 11:26 on the clock. That would, however, be the last lead of the night for the Warriors.

After Webber trailed by six at 21-15 with six-and-a-half-minutes left in the first half, back-to-back scores by Fransis and Malik Morrow got the Warriors back to within one.

Evans then scored his fifth basket of the first half to draw the Warriors to within one again at 23-22 before back-to-back-to-back threes by the Wildcats answered Webber's run, expanding Johnson & Wales' lead to 10 at 32-22. The Wildcats kept their run going and went ahead by 17 (39-22) with less than two minutes left before halftime.

It was a gigantic 16-0 run for the Wildcats before a 6-0 spurt for the Warriors made it 39-28 at the intermission.

After being shutout in the first half, Tommie Luke scored nine early points in the second half, but the Warriors were unable to get any closer than eight until two free throws by Luke made it 68-62 with 4:52 left to play.

Luke hit two more free throws to make it 68-64 with 4:16 remaining as the comeback attempt for Webber was in full swing.

A three by Rasheem Etienne made it 77-72 with 1:45 left, and then an and-one by Nicholas Blocker got it to within two at 77-75 with just over a minute left.

Luke then tied the game at 77 with a tough contested layup with around 38 seconds to go, and two free throws by the Wildcats on their next possession set Webber up with a chance to tie the game with a two or win it with a three on its final possession with 22 seconds left.

After a wild 3-pointer by Etienne went off target, leading to two more free throws by Johnson & Wales, the four-point deficit with only 11.8 seconds left was too much to overcome.

For Evans, it was a fantastic performance against the Wildcats as the sophomore from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, finished with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Evans also added a game-high eight rebounds.

Luke finished with 22 points for the second game in a row and reached the 20-point mark for the fifth straight game.

Other notable stat lines against Johnson & Wales for Webber included Toledo with eight points and four rebounds, Francis with seven points and seven boards, and Blocker with seven points and three rebounds.

The 25-point loss at Piedmont International (3-5) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was a rough one for the Warriors as Webber was held to only 26 percent shooting for the game and only 22 percent shooting from three. Additionally, the 57 points scored for Webber was a new season-low.

The Warriors never led against the Bruins and trailed by nine (11-2) only three minutes and 35 seconds into the contest.

Luke scored a game-high 22 points at Piedmont with three 3-pointers, five rebounds and three assists. Morrow was next with 12 points on four 3-pointers while adding seven rebounds, and Kevin Grace added two 3-pointers to finish with six points. Evans recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 boards, setting a career-high in rebounds while tying his career-best in points at the time.

Webber will now set its sights to one of its most important meetings of the season. The Warriors will host No. 19 Warner University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 1, inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center. The Royals will enter the matchup with a record of 5-4 with three of those four losses coming against teams ranked in the top-11 in the NAIA.