Box Score PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown defeated Saint Peter's 70-58 in the non-conference men's basketball season opener for both teams on Friday night.
Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, Pa./Math, Civics and Science Charter) paced the Peacocks (0-1) tying a career high with 16 points along with seven rebounds. The sophomore matched his best point total that he set in his collegiate debut against LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 9, 2013. Welton was 6-for-10 shooting from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line.
Marvin Dominique (Miramar, Fla./Miramar [Fordham]) added 11 points and eight rebounds while Desi Washington (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin [Delaware State]) also had 11 points in the loss.
Tavon Blackmon paced the Bears (1-0) with 18 points while Cedric Kuakumensah added 15 points and Rafael Maia chipped in 13 points in the winning effort.
Brown took the lead in the first half and held off a late Saint Peter's charge to take the first meeting between the two teams since the 1973-74 season, a game also won by the Bears.
Brown closed the half on a 25-11 run to take a 32-22 lead going into the locker room. The run was powered by a string of nine-unanswered points and eight-straight points in the final 14 minutes of the stanza.
After Welton gave the Peacocks an 11-7 run, JR Hobbie started a 9-0 run with a trey at 14:03 before Blackmon and Kuakumensah each scored off the glass and Maia capped the spurt with two free throws at 12:11 for a 16-11 lead.
Saint Peter's then nine of the next 12 points to trim the margin to 20-19 with 7:45 left in the stanza. After Trevis Wyche (Neptune, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) and Dominique both scored in the lane, Hobbie momentarily stopped the surge with a 3-ball only to see Wyche hit a jumper and Travis Hester (Crozet, Va./The Miller School [Harcum Community College) nailed his first 3-pointer in a Peacocks uniform to make it one-point game.
The Bears then scored the next seven points and 12 of the final 14 points of the stanza to go into the break with a 10-point advantage.
Brown started the second half on a 12-2 run fueled by five points apiece from Kuakumensah and Maia to grab a 44-24 advantage with 16:13 remaining.
Washington then hit consecutive 3-pointers and Dominique drove home dunk to force a Bears timeout and trim the score to 44-32 with 13:32 on the clock. The Peacocks were able to cut the margin to eight points on a couple of occasions, but Brown was able to secure the win at the free throw line. The Bears made 24 of 30 charity tosses while the Jersey City team only had 8 of 12 from the line.
Saint Peter's started the game on a 9-4 run. With Brown leading 4-2 with 19:04 left, the Peacocks recorded seven of the next 10 points to grab an 11-7 margin. Washington started the run with a trey at 18:46 before Welton and Washington each scored in the lane for a 9-4 lead. After a Blackmon triple, Welton scored in the lane at 16:03 in the final scoring play before the first media timeout. After the timeout, Brown scored the next nine points to take the lead for the rest of the first half and went on to take the season opener.
It marked the second time in program history Saint Peter's opened the season against an Ivy League school and the first since facing Dartmouth in 1975-76.
Hester and freshman Elisha Boone (Laurelton, N.Y./Abraham Lincoln) both made their debuts for the Peacocks on the night. Hester, a sophomore transfer from Harcum Community College, had three points in 11 minutes. Boone made his collegiate debut, posting two points and one steal in seven minutes.
Chazz Patterson (Brown Mills, N.J./Trenton Catholic) played his first action since 2012-13 after red shirting last season. Patterson had seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.
The Peacocks return to action at Hartford on Sunday. Game time is 2 p.m.
