Schauss' double-double powers the Tornados past North Greenville, 99-83

Five Tornados score double figures in third straight win

Brevard, N.C. - Five Tornados reached double figures in scoring and Drew Schauss recorded his first collegiate double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Tornados defeated the visiting North Greenville University Crusaders on Wednesday evening in Boshamer Gymnasium, 99-83.

Brevard (3-2) was led by Josh Roper as the senior guard scored a game-high 25 points as the Tornados hit 52.5 percent (32-61) of their field goal attempts in the game. Gaither Hendrix added 21 points and six assists, while Schauss had a near perfect evening from the floor, hitting six of seven shots, five for five from behind the arc, while added in two free throws in achieving a career-high 19 points. Josh Jordan added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Ryson Felder added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench for Coach Michael Jones.

Paul Harrison scored a game-high 25 points on 12 of 19 shooting from the floor to lead North Greenville (6-3), while completing the double-double with 11 rebounds. Luke Lattimer added 17 points, while Tyrell Platt scored nine second half points in leading North Greenville’s second-half comeback, finishing the game with 12 as the Crusaders shot an even 50.0 percent (34-68) from the floor in the contest.

North Greenville took the lead off the opening tip as Lattimer scooped up the loose ball, taking it all the way for an opening dunk, but the Tornados rallied back, scoring the next seven points as Schauss spotted up for a three-pointer and Roper found Darius Moose for a layup, before taking one to the basket himself. The remainder of the first half went back-and-forth with neither team able to go up by more than five points as the Tornados and Crusaders tied the game up four times and the lead changed hands nine times in the opening frame.

The Tornados used a late run in the last four minutes of the half as Felder hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with 3:51 to put Brevard up 30-28. A three-pointer by NGU’s Drew Ridlen cut the lead to within one several possessions later at 34-33, but Brevard rallied by scoring eight of the last 10 points in the half, capped by a long jumper by Roper with time winding down as the Tornados went into the locker room with the 42-35 lead.

The lead reached double figures at the 16:28 mark as Schauss connected on another three-pointer as Brevard went up 51-39. A pair of jumpers in the lane by Harrison brought the lead back to within eight points, but the Tornados went on another scoring run, achieving their biggest lead of the game at 65-45 on a Schauss’ three-pointer.

North Greenville steadily chipped away at the lead as Platt led a second half surge scoring nine points and dishing out three assists as the Crusaders brought the game all the way back to within 10 points on a jumper by Jimmy Ellis with 4:35 remaining in the contest. However, the comeback was derailed as the Tornados put the game away at the free throw line as Hendrix and Roper went a combined eight for 10 in the final 2:37 of the game, as the Tornados moved to 3-2 on the season with the 99-83 victory.

The Tornados out-rebounded the Crusaders 41-33 in the contest, the fifth consecutive game Brevard has held the edge on the glass. The Tornados shot 55.0 percent from behind the arc in the contest for their highest mark from the outside this season. North Greenville defended the paint in the game, blocking seven shots as Lattimer and Zack Shields led the way with two rejections a piece.

Brevard continues the season tomorrow night in Winston-Salem, N.C. as the Tornados travel to Winston-Salem State. Tipoff for the game between the Tornados and the Rams in the Clarence E. Gaines Center is set for 7 p.m.