BABSON PARK, Fla. (December 1, 2018) – Sophomore Tommie Luke scored 22 points for the third consecutive game while his former high school teammate Austin Evans added 11 points as the Webber International University men's basketball team fell to nationally-recognized Warner University 93-72 on Saturday inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

Luke would go on to add five rebounds, five steals and three assists while his game-high 22 points came on 8-of-13 shooting. He has scored 20 or more points in six straight outings.

Evans' 11 points came in addition to seven-rebounds. After recording his first career double-double two games ago, Evans has now flirted with a double-double in back-to-back outings.

Other noteworthy performances for the Warriors on Saturday included Kevin Grace with nine points and seven boards, Nicholas Toledo with nine points, and Simon Fransis with seven points.

It was the third straight loss and fifth loss in six games for Webber (4-6 overall, 0-3 The Sun Conference) after beginning the season 3-1. It was also nearly the third straight TSC game in which the Warriors surrendered 100 points. Warner, which is receiving votes in the NAIA Division-II National Coaches' Poll, improved its record to 6-4 and 2-1.

After allowing the Royals to shoot a very strong 57.50 percent from the field in the first half compared to only 29.03 percent for the Warriors, Webber played much better in the second half and shot very evenly with Warner, finishing at 51.52 percent in the half compared to 51.72 percent from Warner. In all, Warner finished at 55.1 percent overall and 38.9 percent from three while the Warriors shot only 19.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Webber trailed by double-digits (19-9) only nine minutes into the game as after a layup by Evans made it 12-9, the Warriors struggled to get to the 10-point mark and allowed Warner to go on a 7-0 run. The Royals continued to grow their lead with a 14-0 run that made it 43-18 with two minutes left in the first half.

In the second half, the Warriors actually outscored the Royals and chipped away with a 20-6 run over the first six minutes of the period to get within 10 at 58-48.

Although that was the closest Webber would get the rest of the way, things stayed interesting as Luke scored 11 straight points to make it 69-55 with 11 minutes left. Then, the Warriors got to within 11 at 80-69 on a 3-pointer by Fransis with 4:50 left, but five straight points by the Royals and a 7-1 run overall, all on free throws, over the next 1:40 of clock time made the deficit too much to overcome.

"We must learn to come out and play 40 minutes of Webber basketball," said Head Coach Allen Corbin. "Until we do that, it will be a long year."

Next up, Webber will continue TSC play at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 6, against Thomas University.