WILSON, N.C. | Danny Shand led four Barton College players in double figures with 18 points as the Bulldogs opened the 2015-16 season with a 91-86 men's basketball victory over Young Harris College Friday (Nov. 13) evening at Wilson Gymnasium.
 
The Bulldogs improved to 1-0 while the Mountain Lions fell to 0-1. YHC has a quick turnaround as they face the University of Mount Olive in a 2 p.m. contest Saturday (Nov. 14) at Barton College.
 
Young Harris used a 8-2 run to open up a 17-11 lead on C.J. Wilson's three-pointer with 13:35 remaining, Barton tied the game at 22 on a Jake Veasley jumper four minutes later; however, the Mountain Lions never gave up the lead as the scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 32-24 lead on a three-pointer by Ben Waterhouse, who scored 17 of his career-high 19 points in the opening 20 minutes, with 6:35 remaining.
 
The Bulldogs got as close as four points in the first half, but the Mountain Lions took their largest lead of the game – nine points (47-38) - on a Waterhouse three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining before the half.
 
Barton took its first lead since its first possession of the game at 51-49 on a Daniel Westbrook layup with 16:57 remaining as the Bulldogs started the second half on a 9-2 run. YHC used a 9-1 run to open up a 62-57 lead on a three-pointer by Wilson, who led the Mountain Lions with 25 points, with 13:18 left.
 
The Bulldogs battled back and took the lead for good at 66-65 on a Tyler Thayer three-pointer with 9:48 to play. Barton used seven unanswered points to open up its largest lead at nine points (79-70) on a Daniel Westbrook three-pointer with 5:30 remaining.
 
Young Harris battled back to get as close as two points (85-83) on an old-fashioned three-point play from Wilson and a Marques McKoy layup with 2:10 to play; however, Shand hit a three-pointer 23 seconds later to put the Bulldogs up five points.
 
"We turned the ball over too many times," said Young Harris head coach Pete Herrmann. "I told the team before the game that one of the keys to was to limit our live ball turnovers because Barton would have numbers."
 
Wilson added seven rebounds and four assists while McKoy tallied 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Marcellus Roberts finished with 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
R.J. Claypool added 17 points and six rebounds for Barton while Veasley added 16 points. Daniel Westbrook finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.