Men's Basketball | 2/5/2014 10:10:00 PM

Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Methodist men's basketball team fell to Greensboro, 69-66, on Wednesday evening.
 
The Pride (8-12, 4-6 USA South) used a 15-4 run over roughly seven minutes of the second half to turn a  47-47 tie game into a 62-51 lead with 7:25 to play and then held off MU (7-13, 5-5 USA South) down the stretch to earn a split of the season series.
 
Jermaine Bates kicked off the run for GC with a short jumper at the 13:10 mark and after Desmond Parker tied the game again at 49-49 with a jumper of his own, Edric Roberts gave Greensboro the lead for good with another bucket in the paint for a 51-49 lead at the 12:25 mark. The Pride knocked down five of their next seven shots, including a pair of baskets by Devan Gregory, and Bates capped the run with a layup at the 7:25 mark for the aforementioned 11-point lead. During the run, Methodist turned the ball over five times and shot just 1-of-5 from the field in letting GC pull away.
 
Still trailing by 11 points (64-53) with 6:55 to play, the Monarchs outscored the Pride, 13-5, to pull within three points (69-66) with under a minute to play, but turnovers on their final three possessions of the game dashed any hopes of completing the comeback. Tabias Hilliard kickstarted MU's charge, hitting a jumper at the 6:25 mark, then found T.J. Gill for a layup 33 seconds later to make it a 64-57 game.

Neither team scored again until the 4:04 mark when Gill connected from long range off another Hilliard feed to cut the deficit to four points at 64-60. Tracy Jester answered with a three-pointer for Greensboro, but a dunk in transition by Keith Corbett and a Bryan Hockaday layup sandwiched around a jumper by GC's Raheem Martin put the score at 69-66 with 56 seconds on the clock.
 
Despite not allowing Greensboro to score the rest of the way, Methodist failed to get a shot off in the final minute, and Corbett turned the ball over with two seconds to play to seal the defeat.
 
After MU took a six-point lead (8-2) in the opening minutes in the contest, Greensboro methodically clawed back into the game and began to pull away, assuming an 11-point advantage (28-17) on a three-pointer by Brandon Pascucci at the 9:46 mark. The Monarchs immediately answered with a 9-0 spurt to knot the game at 28-28 courtesy of Keemon Ingram's jumper with 7:36 showing on the clock. The Pride retook the lead just over a minute later and would hold a 40-36 lead at intermission.
 
The Monarchs shot 44.8 percent from the field (26-58), held Greensboro to 41.2 percent shooting (28-68) and outrebounded the Pride, 45-42, but GC committed half as many turnovers (10) as MU (20), and connected on five triples to just two for Methodist.
 
Corbett led the Monarchs with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Parker added 13 points, and Gill chipped in 10 points in just nine minutes off the bench. Hockaday contributed seven points and a game-high 12 boards, while Hilliard had nine points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Gregory led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting, and he added seven boards and a pair of steals. Jester had 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range, and Martin chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds. Bates finished with six points, a team-best 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday when they play at Ferrum beginning at 4:00 pm.