BRUNSWICK, Ga. (January 18, 2020) – Ariel Watson scored 26 points in the first half and finished with a career-high 44 points overall to help the Webber International University men's basketball team reach 100 points and come out on top 100-94 on the road over the College of Coastal Georgia.

It was the fifth time in 2019-20 Webber reached 100 points in a game and was the first time doing so in Sun Conference play.

Webber led 52-36 after just one half of play, and half of the Warriors' points in the first half all came from one guy. Watson, a senior transfer from Washington, D.C., was absolutely on fire throughout the game.

Watson finished with 26 points during the opening 20 minutes on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 shooting from three and a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the free throw line.

In total for the game, Watson scored his 44 points on 12-of-15 shooting overall, 7-of-8 shooting from three, and 13-of-13 shooting from the foul line. Watson also added six rebounds while setting a new career-high in field goals, 3-pointers and free throws made. Watson has only missed two free throws all season long and is now shooting an incredibly impressive .966 percent (57-59) from the charity stripe.

The 44 points by Watson are the most by any Warrior during the tenure of Head Coach Allen Corbin, who is in his third season at Webber.

"I am extremely pleased with our guys' effort and focus tonight," said Corbin. "They were locked in from the start and I saw a lot of growth both mentally and physically. That is the most fun I've had coaching all year."

It is not too often that a player scores 30 points in a game and is the second leading scorer on his own team, but that is exactly what happened to Tommie Luke as he finished with 30 points on 50 percent shooting (9-18) from the field and 5-for-7 shooting from three. It was the third-highest scoring output of the season so far for the junior from Jupiter, Florida.

Other strong performances from the Warriors on Saturday were Javonni Quince with 11 points also on 50 percent shooting (4-8) to go along with six rebounds; Jaylon Myles with nine points, five rebounds and a career-best five steals; and Malik Morrow with six boards.

Watson already had 13 points as the Warriors led 26-14 nine minutes into the game, and then the third 3-pointer of the game on three attempts by Luke put the Warriors ahead 35-19 before two three throws by Rasheem Etienne made it an 18-point game at 37-19 with seven and a half minutes left before the intermission.

If what he had done was not already impressive enough, Watson then took over in the final five minutes of the first half as he scored 11 straight points for the Warriors and connected on three straight contested 3-pointers to make it a 50-32 Webber advantage with 1:30 to go before halftime.

In all for the first half, Webber shot a very strong 53.3 percent (16-30) from the field, was 10-16 (62.5 percent) from three and was 10-11 (90.9 percent) from the free throw line.

However, things changed dramatically in the second half as Coastal Georgia shot over 51 percent both from the field and from three and came all the way back to tie the game at 85-85 with 4:30 left to play.

Fortunately for Webber and with the score tied again at 89-89, Watson again put his mark on the game with a big pull-up three in transition to put Webber back ahead by three at 92-89 with two minutes to go.

In addition to Watson and Luke combining to go 12-of-15 from 3-point range, the Warriors finished the game shooting 66.7 percent (14-21) from long range after adding four three's on five attempts (80 percent) in the second half.

Watson then made it a 94-89 Warrior lead with two free throws with 1:30 left to play; and then with the Mariners back to within two at 94-92 with just under a minute left, Myles got it back to a two-possession game at 96-92 with two free throws of his own with 30 seconds left.

Both Webber and Costal Georgia began the day tied for sixth place in The Sun Conference Men's Basketball standings with identical records of 10-9 overall and 3-5 in the conference. Webber is now 11-9 overall on the season and is 4-5 in conference game while Coastal Georgia fell to 10-10 and 3-6.

Next up, the Warriors will try to make it three Sun Conference wins in a row as Webber welcomes St. Thomas University into the Sabbagh Athletic Center for a 7:30 p.m. game time on Thursday, January 23. Previously this season, the Warriors defeated the Bobcats 79-72 for their first conference win of the year back on November 23 in Miami Gardens, Florida.