Hattiesburg, Miss.- The Toppers were fended off by the Crusaders in the second half on Thursday night.
The Toppers took a thirty-one to thirty score lead into halftime with help from Vincent Douglas who led the team with eight points at the halfway point.
Leo Lin scored seven points, while Jason Hunt and Ray Witt had six points each.
William Carey was up by seven at the four-minute mark of the first half until a late run by Douglass with two shots from three-point range, and Brian Maxey getting a three-point play after a made free throw.
By the ten-minute mark of the second half, the Crusaders held a ten-point lead over the Toppers with a score of thirty-nine to forty-nine.
Through the first ten minutes of the second half, WCU scored nineteen points with eleven of those points coming from the free throw line.
The Toppers were called for sixteen fouls in the second half, while the Crusaders were called for eight.
In the wake of the early second half foul trouble, it was difficult for the Toppers to find rhythm.
Douglas was able to keep the Toppers to a single digit deficit late until he fouled out of the game.
William Carey scored forty-nine points in the second half. Twenty-four of those points came from the charity stripe.
The Toppers shot seventeen free throws the entire game.
Turnover and fouls widened the margin of victory for the Crusaders.
Ray Witt led the Toppers in scoring with eighteen points.
Douglas was right behind him with seventeen points.
The Toppers will travel to Cumberland University on January 2^nd take on the Phoenix at 7:30 pm.
 
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