FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Tabias Hilliard scored 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting and led the Methodist men's basketball team to an 84-72 win over N.C. Wesleyan on Wednesday evening at the March F. Riddle Center.
 
The Monarchs (8-10, 4-4 USA South) pulled away over the game's final 11 minutes to turn a one-point lead into a 16-point advantage at one point to earn the win over the Battling Bishops (10-7, 4-2 USA South).
 
A pair of Allen Hauser free throws pulled NCWC to within a single point (52-51) at the 10:54 mark before the Monarchs ripped off a 10-2 run to take a 62-53 lead by the 6:57 mark. T.J. Gill kickstarted the run with a layup and Jackson Whitley and Mike Major each knocked down a pair of free throws for a 58-51 lead by the 9:35 mark prompting N.C. Wesleyan to call timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Chris Vinson corralled a missed NCWC shot and found Major for a layup at the other end to push MU's lead to 60-51 before the Bishops halted the run with a pair of free throws by Brandon Brown at 7:10 made it 60-53 in favor of MU.
 
The Monarchs' lead fluctuated between nine and five points for the next several minutes until MU stretched its lead from nine points (71-62) with 4:38 on the clock to 16 points (84-68) with 1:18 showing. Brandon Monk, who scored 16 points, started the run with a three-point play and finished with five runs during the game-clinching burst.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured 11 lead changes and seven ties as neither team led by more than four points. The Monarchs took their largest lead of the first half (15-11) on back-to-back three pointers by Blake Davis and Major with just under 13 minutes on the clock. NCWC came back and assumed a 19-18 lead on Adrian Moore's layup roughly two minutes later and the Bishops took a four-point lead several minutes later as Brandon Brown connected from long range to make it a 26-22 game.
 
MU responded with a 9-2 run, including another five points from Monk to take a 31-28 advantage with 3:28 to play but NCWC answered once again and used a 12-6 run, including a three by Brown just before the buzzer, to take a 40-37 lead into halftime.
 
Methodist shot 51.9 percent (27-53) for the game and held NCWC to 44.4 percent shooting (24-54). The Monarchs also connected on 24-of-30 free throws and offset a 33-29 rebounding deficit by forcing 17 Bishop turnovers and committing just 10.
 
Hilliard supplemented his scoring by handing out six assists against just one turnover. Major joined Monk and Hilliard in double figures with 17 points to go with five steals, five rebounds and three assists. Whitley chipped in six points and five rebounds.
 
Brown led the Bishops with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. D.J. Weaver added 12 points and Jesse Simpson added 10 points but shot just 3-of-11. Devontae Williams chimed in with seven points and six boards.
 
Methodist will look to run its win streak to three games when it hosts Averett on Saturday beginning at 2:00 pm.