NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry College men's basketball team gave itself a boost going into the holidays with a comprehensive 73-54 victory over the visiting Coker College Cobras in Eleazer Arena Monday night.

Newberry (5-5) was led by Cory Etheridge (Columbia, S.C.), who scored 13 points. Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas) and Grant Domsic (Winter Garden, Fla.) each scored 10 points for the hosts.

Forward Terrance Spillers (Charleston, S.C.) led the Indians with eight rebounds and tied with Keith Marshall (St. Stephen, S.C.) for the team lead in assists with five.

Coker (3-6) was led by 10 points apiece from Mason Ambler and Josh Poston.

Both teams started cold, as the Cobras held a 1-0 lead for nearly three minutes before Matt Alexander (Atlanta, Ga.) gave the Indians a 2-1 lead on a pair of free throws with 17:08 left in the opening half. The Cobras hung around and trailed 8-7 with 12:26 left in the half before the Indians went on a 9-0 run comprised of a pair of three-pointers from Domsic and an Etheridge triple, giving Newberry a 17-7 lead.

The Indians led by as many as 15 points in the opening half, but the Cobras narrowed that advantage to 30-24 by halftime.

Ambler netted a layup on the second half's opening possession to cut the lead to four, but that was as close as the visitors would come. The Indians quickly went on an 8-0 run and continued to pull away throughout the second stanza. The hosts led by as many as 25 to exact revenge on the Cobras for a 70-68 loss in Hartsville two weeks ago.

The Newberry reserves made the most of their opportunity to shine with the large lead as the Indians scored 41 points off the bench. Every Indian player had a chance to play at least three minutes in the second half, with Ty Overmyer (Dawsonville, Ga.) netting an impressive six points in four minutes.

The Indians will take some time off for the festive season and will jump into the thick of South Atlantic Conference play once the calendar changes to 2008. Newberry visits Carson-Newman on January 5. Coker hosts Limestone the same night.