ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- N.C. Wesleyan hit on 10 of 21 three-point attempts and Adrian Moore recorded a triple double to lead the Battling Bishops to a 79-74 defeat of the Methodist men's basketball team on Wednesday evening at Everett Gym.
 
Moore scored 14 points, over six points under his season average, and pulled down 11 rebounds with 11 assists. A.J. Frye led all scorers with 26 points and Chris Braswell added 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting from long range. As a team, the Battling Bishops (9-8, 2-4 USA South) shot 10 of 21 (.476) from beyond the arc.
 
The Monarchs (11-8. 5-3) were led by Davion Ayabarreno's 18 points and Jackson Whitley's double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds to go with four blocks. Rae Hall added 15 points, and Troynell Reese contributed 12 off the bench.
 
Methodist took its only lead of the game (6-5) in the early going before a 15-6 run by NCWC propelled the Bishops to a 20-12 lead on a three-point play by Moore with 11:56 left in the first half. MU cut the lead to 26-23 with 8:11 to play, but NCWC answered with a 14-7 run to take a 40-30 lead with 3:31 on the clock.
 
The Monarchs managed to whittle their deficit to 44-40 by halftime on Reese's jumper with under 30 seconds to play.
 
NCWC scored the first seven points of the second half to re-establish a double-digit lead (51-40) with 17:44 to play before MU began methodically chipping away. The Monarchs would pull as close as three points (72-69) following a three-point play from Hall with just under four minutes to play.
 
Following an empty possession for the Bishops, Bryan Rouse missed a potential game-tying three and three free throws by NCWC put the Bishops up 75-69 with 2:53 on the clock. Back-to-back misses for MU allowed NCWC to score once more as the deficit moved to 77-69 with 2:00 remaining.
 
A three-point play by Ayabarreno and a layup by Hall made it 77-74 at the 45-second mark, but Frye answered with a layup for NCWC and the Monarchs missed their final two shots.
 
Methodist outshot NCWC 49.2 percent to 48.4 percent from the field, and held a slight 36-34 edge on the glass but hit on just 6 of 20 three-point attempts (.300) in what proved to be the difference. Each team attempted just 11 free throws as only 23 total fouls were committed in the contest.
 
Methodist will entertain LaGrange at home on Saturday beginning at 2:00 pm.