BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 7, 2020) – On Tuesday, January 7, inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center, the Webber International University men's basketball team earned its first win of the New Year and defeated Welch College 103-62 in what was the Warriors' final nonconference game of the 2019-20 season.
In addition to getting back above .500 overall on the season at 9-8, Webber also wrapped up the nonconference portion of its season 7-4 and finished with a seven-game nonconference winning streak. The Warriors were also 5-0 at home in nonconference games in 2019-20 and have reached 100 or more points in a game four times so far during regular-season action.
In all, five Warriors reached double figures in scoring, two recorded double-doubles, six sank at least one 3-pointer, and three reached double digits in rebounds.
As a team, Webber set a new season-high in rebounds with 62 and hit 14 3-pointers, their second most in a single game this season and good for the Warriors' third highest 3-point field goal percentage (.452 percent) of the year.
Ariel Watson led both teams in scoring with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting overall, 5-of-8 shooting from three and perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line. It was also a career-high in both field goals and 3-pointers made for the transfer senior from Washington, D.C.
Rasheem Etienne was next with 17 points on 50 percent shooting both from the field (6-12) and from three (4-8), followed by
Tommie Luke with 15 points. Luke has reached double figures in scoring during all 17 of Webber's games so far this season while for Etienne, it was his fifth time in six games scoring 11 or more points and was the second time in five games he made six field goals and hit four 3-pointers in the same game.
Javonni Quince recorded his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 80 percent (4-5) from the field, and
Joel Coffey recorded his first double-double with a career-high in both points (12) and rebounds (14).
Malik Morrow and
Jaylon Myles both scored nine points while
Jonathan Philistin added a career-high 10 rebounds,
Chetachukwu Oliver had seven boards and
Nicholas Toledo tied his career-high with five assists.
The Flames missed each of their first 10 shots of the game while the Warriors got out to a 18-0 lead just over six minutes into the action. Watson (10) and Luke (4) accounted for over two thirds of Webber's first 18 points of the game.
Webber took its first 20-point lead of the game at 29-9 with 6:17 left in the first half on back-to-back 3-pointers by Etienne, and then the Warriors finished off a 15-0 run with a fast break dunk by Quince to go up by 29 at 38-29 with three minutes remaining before the break.
Back-to-back dunks by Coffey and Quince then made it a 30-point game at 45-15 with 1:25 left before halftime, and then Coffey was the man who got the Warriors to the 100-point mark with a tip-in with 4:17 left in the game to make the score 100-49.
At halftime, Watson already had 18 points on four 3-points, Quince already had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Coffey already had nine boards.
Next up, Webber will begin its stretch of 12 straight Sun Conference games to close the regular season with an important matchup at Crooked Lake rival Warner University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 11. It will be one of the biggest games of the year for Webber as the Warriors and the nationally-recognized Royals are currently tied for the sixth and final postseason spot in the conference standings.
