Men's Basketball | 11/15/2012 10:03:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Lynchburg College had four players reach double figures in scoring and raced out to a 22-point lead in the first half in spoiling the Methodist men's basketball season opener, 91-74, on Thursday evening at the Riddle Center.
 
The Hornets (1-0) hit on seven of their first 14 shots from the field and forced the Monarchs (0-1) into seven turnovers in the game's first 4:55 in taking a 10-point lead (18-8) by the 15:05 mark. LC then doubled its early lead to 20 points (32-12) at the 10:47 mark when Gary Boone II converted a layup off an assist from Brandon Connor.
 
LC's lead would reach as much as 22 before the Monarchs began chipping away at the deficit, trimming it to 11 (44-33) on a jumper by Christian McRae with 3:57 left in the first half, before going into the break down 13 points (53-40) after a layup by Johnel Jones just before the first-half buzzer.

In the second half, the Monarchs used a 15-6 run to start the period to pull to within four points (59-55) with 15:19 left to play. Bryan Hockaday began the run with a jumper to start the second half. Five different Monarchs scored during the run as MU hit six of its first nine shots to start the second half, while limiting Lynchburg to just 1-of-4 shooting with three turnovers.
 
However, the Hornets countered with a 12-3 run capped by a free throw from Connor at the 9:04 mark to push its advantage back to 13 points (71-58) and their lead never dipped below 10 points after that as LC improved to 24-9 all-time against Methodist.

As a team, the Monarchs shot just 33.3 percent (26-78) from the floor while LC shot 43.5 percent (30-69) from the field, including hitting on 7-of-17 attempts from long range (7-17). Methodist also shot just 58.1 percent from the line (18-31). Methodist out-rebounded the Hornets, 51-46, but also turned the ball over 22 times, including 13 times in the opening 20 minutes.
 
James Whitehead led the Monarchs with 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting,  and Jones added 13 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe. Bryan Hockady chipped in with a double-double (11 pts/12 rebs) and Kyle Combs finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Tabias Hilliard added seven points and seven assists.
 
Manny Hernandez and Michael Wims paced the Hornets with 15 points apiece. Austin Chillemi chipped in 14 and Xavier Parham added 12 to go with five assists and four steals. Wims and Chillemi each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Tuesday when they host Washington and Lee at 7:00 pm.