FAYETEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist men's basketball team set a season-high in points (95) and shooting percentage (.627) in posting a 95-79 win over Greensboro on Wednesday evening at the March F. Riddle Center.
 
The Monarchs (9-11, 5-5 USA South) connected on 27-of-59 shots from the floor and had four players score 17 points or more in their most explosive offensive game of the season. MU also held GC (13-8, 6-4 USA South) to 45.6 percent shooting (31-68) on the game and withstood seven triples from the Pride.
 
Methodist was aided by a 12-0 run in the first half that turned a three-point deficit into a nine-point lead at the break, and in the second period used a 12-1 run to extend a late two-point edge into a 13-point lead with under three minutes to play.
 
Trailing 37-34 in the first half following a three pointer by Greensboro's Simeon Howard, the Monarchs used the aforementioned 12-0 run to assume a 46-37 lead at the break. Joey Horne and Mike Major hit on back-to-back jumpers to give MU a 38-37 lead by the 3:05 mark. A turnover by the Pride led to a layup in transition by Tabias Hilliard for a 40-37 lead, and Brandon Monk and Austin Saunders each drilled a pair of free throws to push the Green and Gold's advantage to 44-37 with 1:27 to play. A turnover by Howard led to jumper by Parker to bring the score to 46-37 as the two teams left the court.
 
Methodist limited GC to 0-for-7 shooting with three turnovers over the half's final 4:28, while hitting on 4-of-7 of its own shots and a perfect 4-for-4 attempts from the line.
 
In the second half, Methodist stretched its lead to as many as 15 points (60-45) in the opening five minutes, before the Pride began chipping away and pulled to within two points (74-72) with just over six and a half minutes left in the game. Following the prolonged run by Greensboro, MU used a 12-1 run to restore a 13-point edge (86-73) with 2:59 to play and cruise to the win. Hilliard started MU's game-clinching spurt with a three pointer and Major followed with a fastbreak layup after he stole the ball from Howard. Parris Scales split a pair of free throws for the Pride to make the score 81-73 in favor of Methodist with 4:29 to play, but Major split a pair of free throws, scored in transition once again, and Hilliard added layup to push MU out to a 13-point lead (86-73).
 
It was defense once again the proved the catalyst to the run as MU force four GC turnovers and the Pride missed three successive shot attempts and hit just 1-of-4 free-throw attempts over the stretch of 3:34.
 
For the game, each team pulled down 35 rebounds and MU hit on 20-of-30 free throws, while Greensboro shot 50.0 percent (10-20) from the free-throw line. The Pride did knock down 7-of-19 three-point attempts while Methodist shot 1-for-6 from long range.
 
Major led the Monarchs with 21 points and added six steals and five rebounds. Hilliard had 20 points with six assists and three steals, and Parker and Monk each scored 17 points with five rebounds. The quartet combined to shoot 31-of-42 from the floor (.738) and 16-of-25 (.640) from the free-throw line. Austin Saunders added eight points off the bench, and Horne chipped in seven points and four boards.
 
Greensboro was led by Will Griffin's game-high 28 points. He was 11-of-19 shooting, including a scintillating 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Howard added 19 points, but he shot just 6-of-18 and committed seven of GC's 16 turnovers. Edric Roberts had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Scales scored 11 points.
 
Methodist returns to the Riddle Center on Saturday when it hosts Ferrum at 2:00 pm.