MEMPHIS, Tenn. --
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Crichton College's
Comets, ranked No. 25 in NAIA Division I, jumped out to
a 44-16 halftime lead on the Lyon College Scots and
cruised to an 81-59 decision Wednesday evening in the
TranSouth Conference opener for both teams.
The loss ended a five-game winning streak
for the Scots, dropping the team to 8-4 this season and
0-1 in the league. Crichton improves to 9-4 and 1-0,
respectively.
"Crichton's transition
baskets and a lack of conditioning by us was the
difference in the ballgame," said Scots' head coach
Kevin Jenkins. "We had one kid ineligible (Preston
Butts) and three (Trey Salley, Matt Owens and Jeremy
Brown) who hadn't played in a month or more due to
injuries and our layoff (the Scots last game was a win
over John Brown University on Dec. 9)."
Lyon shot just 23 percent in the first
half against Crichton, but bounced back to record a
respectable 42 percent for the game on 23-of-55
shooting. Crichton, conversely, couldn't miss in the
first half and hit on 70 percent of its shots from the
floor, the Comets shot 65 percent in the game.
The Scots forced 25 turnovers, but were
outrebounded 40-16 over the course of the defeat.
Junior forward Levi Taylor of Melbourne
paced the Scots with 14 points and shooting guard
Jonathan Donaldson of Beebe added 13. After Wednesday's
game, Donaldson has 972 points for his career, just 28
points shy of joining Lyon College's prestigious
1,000-point club.
Sylvania Watkins led Crichton with 13
points, followed by Gino Smith with 12 and John Bohanna
with 11.
Next for the Scots is a
home game with Lambuth University at Becknell Gymnasium.
Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
