FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Davion Ayabarreno scored 18 points and Troynell Reese added a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds as the Methodist men's basketball team won its sixth straight game, 64-48, over William Peace on Wednesday evening at the March F. Riddle Center.
 
The Monarchs improved to 10-2 on the year and remained perfect in the USA South at 5-0 with the win. William Peace fell to 3-10 overall and 2-4 in league play.
 
Methodist's defense, especially in the second half, proved to be the difference as MU limited the Pacers to just 27.1 percent (16-59) shooting for the game. In the final 20 minutes, the Green & Gold held WPU to just 6 of 31 shooting (.194) and forced eight turnovers. The Monarchs also held a 47-34 advantage on the glass.
 
Behind seven straight points from Ayabarreno to open the second period, the Monarchs turned what had been a seven-point lead into a 14-point edge (41-27) with 16:51 left to play. The Pacers' Camden Ferguson responded with back-to-back triples to make it an eight-point contest at 15:33.
 
Ayabarreno made it nine straight points for MU with a layup at 13:31 to push the Monarch lead back to double digits at 43-33. The Pacers managed to pull as close as seven points (47-40) on a trey from Tyson Sellers with 9:21 to play, but that would be as close as the game would get. Six straight points from the Monarchs put the score at 53-40 at the 6:21 mark.
 
One final push from the Pacers trimmed their deficit to eight points with under three minutes to play, but Reese snuffed out any rally with six straight points, including pair of dunks, to make it 62-48 with under a minute remaining. The Pacers missed their final five shots from the floor.
 
The first half featured three ties, but the Monarchs never trailed in the contest. A layup by Ayabarreno just in front of the final media timeout of the first half broke a 20-20 tie and ignited a 7-0 run that he capped with a triple for a 27-20 lead. The Monarchs would eventually take a 32-25 lead into the break.
 
Methodist shot 40.0 percent (24-60) from the floor as a team and 11 of 19 (.579) from the charity stripe. The 27.1 percent shooting mark for the Pacers marked the Monarchs' best defensive effort of the season and the +13 rebounding margin was tied for MU's best of the year.
 
In addition to Ayabarreno and Reese, Jackson Whitley added 12 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals. Bryan Rouse scored 10 points with four steals, and Rae Hall had seven points and six boards. The starting five continued to carry the scoring load, accounting for 60 of 64 points scored.
 
Tyson Sellers led all scorers with 21 points for WPU. Ferguson added 15 and Trey Bryant scored 10 points. Samuel Arnold pulled down a team-best six rebounds and Ferguson handed out three assists.
 
Methodist is in action on Saturday at Maryville beginning at 2 pm.