WINCHESTER, VA - Hampden-Sydney Basketball came back from a 10-point deficit with six minutes remaining to defeat North Carolina Wesleyan 59-56 in the first game of the South Region Classic on Friday evening. Hampden-Sydney improves to 2-0 on the year while North Carolina Wesleyan goes to 1-1.

The first half was a back and forth affair with neither team leading by more than four points, but the Battling Bishops went into halftime with a 27-25 lead.

Eric Dortch-Jones opened the second stanza on a personal 6-0 run to but NCW ahead 33-25 less than two minutes in. The Tigers were able to get back within four at 13:29 after back-to-back jumpers by Joe Lewis (Dinwiddie, VA / Dinwiddie) and JaVonte Reddick (Richmond, VA / L.C. Bird). H-SC wasn't able to get any closer and NC Wesleyan gradually built the lead back up to 10, 50-50, at the 6:19 mark.

The Tigers 2-3 defense and some clutch baskets changed the tide of the game. Mike Murray (Norfolk, VA / Norfolk Christian) drained a three pointer, and following a Jalen Cannady turnover, Mitch Owens (Williamsburg, VA / Walsingham) knocked down a turn-around jumper out of the post to trim the deficit down to five, 50-45 a minute later. Following two more defensive stops, Greg Lewis (Mechanicsville, VA / Hanover) converted a traditional three-point play to make it a one-possession game.

The Tigers forced another missed jumper and a foul sent Josh Katowitz (Raleigh, NC / Heritage) to the foul line where he converted the first and missed the second, but Owens got the rebound and threw it out of bounds off a Battling Bishop player to set up an underneath out of bounds play. Greg Lewis spotted up in the corner and got the inbound pass from Alex Smith (Whitsett, NC / T. Wingate Andrews) for a catch and shoot three to give H-SC a 52-50 advantage at 3:15.

Devontae Williams missed a jump shot, but Dortch-Jones grabbed the offensive rebound and got to the line for two shots. He made the first and missed the second, but Williams got another NCW offensive rebound. Dortch-Jones drilled a pull-up trifecta from the right wing to give NC Wesleyan a 54-52 lead with 1:59 to play.

Murray drove to the basket and finished a tough layup and drew a foul to tie the game but missed the ensuing free throw. Dortch-Jones missed a jumper in the lane and Katowitz grabbed a tough rebound in traffic. Murray got fouled again for two free throws in the double bonus as he made one of two to give H-SC the 55-54 lead with 59 seconds remaining.

Dortch-Jones got back to the charity stripe and made both attempts to put NCW back ahead by one with 28 ticks left on the clock. Murray came down and drilled a pull-up two-point jumper from the right wing at the 16-second mark. Greg Lewis secured a steal with two seconds left and was fouled with 0.4 second remaining as he made both free throws to secure the 59-56 win.

Murray had a team-high 16 points on 6-9 shooting with three assists while Jake Duncan (Williamsburg, VA / Williamsburg Christian) chipped in 10 points and two steals. Greg Lewis added eight points, three rebounds, and two steals while Katowitz came off the bench for six points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Dortch-Jones had a game-high 28 points, making 14-of-20 free throws, to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Brandon Brown chimed in with seven points and seven boards.

Hampden-Sydney shot 43.8% (21-48) and limited North Carolina Wesleyan to 34.8% (16-46). The Battling Bishops had a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 19-30 compared to 10-20 for the Tigers. They also held a +16 rebound advantage at 41-28, securing 15 offensive rebounds to just 19 defensive rebounds for H-SC. Despite the rebounding advantage, H-SC limited NCW to just 13 second-chance points. Hampden-Sydney turned over the ball just eight times while forcing 13 North Carolina Wesleyan turnovers.