FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Davion Ayabarreno exploded for a career-high 39 points and the Methodist men's basketball team raced past St. Andrews, 94-82, on Monday night at the Riddle Center.
 
Ayabarreno's 39 points came on 13 of 16 shooting from the field and 12 of 13 from the line. He hit his first seven shots from floor and his 39 points are the most by a Monarch since Tyler Sigman scored 39 on Jan. 29, 2010 vs. Greensboro. He added eight rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Methodist (1-4) rode the hot starts of Ayabarreno and Jackson Whitley to a 15-4 lead just over five minutes into the contest. The duo combined for 12 of MU's first 15 points and shot a combined 10 for 10 in the game's opening minutes.
 
St. Andrews (2-4) weathered the fast start and came back to make it 17-16 in favor of MU on Titus Gary's layup at the 11:51 mark. Tryonell Reese answered with a dunk and Ayabarreno followed with a pair of buckets to push MU's lead back to seven (23-16) with under 9:30 to play. The Monarchs stretched their lead to 31-20 on Will Baggett's three with under three minutes on the clock, but SAU hung around with an 8-1 run into the break for a 32-28 Methodist lead at halftime.
 
In the second half, St. Andrews briefly managed to pull ahead (38-37) at the 17:17 mark before the Monarchs surged ahead with an 18-3 burst to take a 55-41 lead with 13:29 to play. MU benefited from St. Andrews' early foul trouble as the Monarchs got into the bonus with nearly 15 minutes left to play. The whistles kept coming as SAU picked up three technical fouls in a 35 second span, including a pair on Knights' head coach Randy Hernandez who was ejected with 12:18 to play.
 
The Methodist lead reached 20 points, but a barrage of three pointers by St. Andrews' Zach Boggs, three in a span of 1:37, kept the Monarchs from pulling away down the stretch.
 
Methodist shot a season-best 52.5 percent as a team (32-61) including 56.3 percent in the second half (18-32). St. Andrews checked in at 45.8 percent (27-59) as a team, including 45.5 percent (10-22) from long range. The two teams were whistled for a combined 43 fouls which led to 57 total free throws. MU hit 24 of 33 attempts, and the Knights were 18 of 24. Methodist dominated the glass, out rebounding the Knights 41-24, and the Green and Gold racked up 19 assists against just 16 turnovers.
 
In addition to Ayabarreno's career night, Whitley added 13 points to go with six boards and four blocks. Blake Davis contributed 12 points and six assists, and Rae Hall added eight points and five assists.
 
Gary did his best to keep St. Andrews in the game, scoring 31 points on 10 of 17 shooting, including 6 of 10 from three-point range. Connor Zinaich added 16 points, Bryan Brache scored 14 and Boggs finished with 13. Jordan Sharpe had six assists, and Zinaich pulled down a team-best five rebounds.
 
Methodist is on the road Wednesday at Division I Coastal Carolina beginning at 8:30 pm.