LaGrange completed a sweep of its USA South series of Berea, hanging on for a 78-72 win Sunday in Mariotti Gym. The Panthers' third straight win upped their season and USA South record both to 4-2. Berea fell to 0-4 overall and in conference play.

Ronald Youngblood tied Berea's Trey Minter for game honors with 20 points. Youngblood was 8-of-12 from the floor, including make both of his 3-point attempts, and pulled down seven rebounds. Kyle Brown followed with 15 points, Julian Cameron 14, and Bershard Edwards 11. Lincoln Anderson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, had three steals, and two blocks.

Coach Kendal Wallace
"We played well for 28 minutes of the game, but we need to play well 40 minutes a game. We sometimes forget to rebound and do the simple things. I think we'll be a good ball team. For right now, we have a lot of work to do.

"We were lucky to get the win, it was much needed for our conference standings. We'll get back to work Monday to get ready for Covenant coming in here Thursday. They're second in our conference division standing and we're right below them. We need to try to get both games from them.

First Half
Berea scored the first basket of the game for its only lead. Anderson's layup off an assist from Edwards put LC up 4-2 and the Panthers never trailed again. LC put together a 14-2 run over three minutes to open up a 20-point lead. Brown started it with baskets on back-to-back possesions. Drew Shepherd hit back-to-back treys off assists from Porter Law to push the Panthers' lead to 31-11 midway through the half.

Berea chipped away at the deficit for the remainder of the half. Minter's two free throws cut LC's lead to 47-40 at the break. The Panthers shot 63.6% from the floor in the half, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Youngblood had 14 of his points in the half.

Second Half
Both teams started slow at the outset of the second half. Leading 47-43, the Panthers ran off 13 straight points over a two-minute span. Edwards sparked the run with a pair of 3-pointers. Shepherd's layup pushed the Panthers' lead to 17, 60-43, five minutes into the half.

The Panthers still led 72-58 after Youngblood fed Brown inside for a layup with six minutes left. Berea answered with a 13-0 run of its own to make it a one-point game. Dylan Webb's basket inside made it 72-71 with 2:54 remaining.

The Panthers limited Berea to a free throw the rest of the way. LC's last six points came at the line. The Panthers made six straight free throws to seal the win, after making just two of their first 10 attempts.

Up Next
The Panthers play Covenant in a two-game USA South series. LC will host the first game Thursday at 7 p.m. The Panthers travel to Covenant on Saturday for a 4:00 tipoff.