BEREA, Ky. – The Spalding University men's basketball team opened their 2017-18 campaign with a 68-53 loss at Berea College Wednesday evening in Berea, Ky.

THE BASICS
THE SCORE: Berea 68 – Spalding 53
LOCATION: Seabury Center Arena, Berea, Ky.
RECORDS: Spalding 0-1, Berea 1-0

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Golden Eagles got off to a slow start falling behind, 7-1, three minutes into the game. A 9-2 run pushed SU ahead at the 14-minute mark. However, the Mountaineers responded with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes and would take a 35-27 lead into the half. Spalding would outscore Berea 10-2 to open the second half, slicing BC's lead to three on a Brandon Williams three-pointer with 15:18 to go. Nevertheless, that is a close as SU would get as Berea went on to win, 68-53.

- Two Golden Eagles finished in double-figures. Rylan Rowe led the way with 13 points going 5-of-12 from the field, while Brandon Williams added 12 points on a 4-of-9 shooting.

- Freshman point guard Cornelius Watts led the newcomers scoring seven points, while passing out five assists. Forward Brendan Holt contributed six points, three rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

- For the game, Spalding shot 32.8% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc, while Berea connected at a 40.3% rate and shot 35.3% from three-point range.

- The Golden Eagles struggled on the boards getting outrebounded 51 to 27, but won the turnover battle forcing 19 from the Mountaineers.

FOR THE FOES
- The Mountaineers Torell Carter messed around and got a triple-double tallying 16 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.

- Dakota Mays paced Berea with a game-high 22 points connecting a 66% clip from the field, while Dyonta Bizzle Brown added 18 points.

UP NEXT
- The Golden Eagles travel to Salem, Virginia for a pair of games at the Dick Leftwich Tournament a Roanoke College. SU will face North Carolina Wesleyan in the tournament opener Friday night at 8:00 pm EST.