BEREA, Ky. -- Garren Dearman scored a career-high 19 points as the Methodist men's basketball team posted a 76-61 win at Berea on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Monarchs improved to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in league play. The Mountaineers stand at 4-10 overall and 1-6 in the USA South.
 
Dearman's career scoring night came on 6 of 9 shooting from the field, including 3 of 6 from long range, and 4 of 6 shooting from the charity stripe. He also added two steals. Bryan Rouse scored 16 for the Monarchs, including 10 in a dominant second half for the Green & Gold. Davion Ayabarreno chipped in 12 points, and Jackson Whitley added seven points and 12 rebounds.
 
Methodist, which led by as many as 13 points in the first half, saw its lead stand at just six points (34-28)  at recess before pulling away from Berea over the final 20 minutes.
 
An 11-2 run punctuated by a Rouse layup at the 15:37 mark pushed MU out to a 45-30 lead. MU's lead swelled to 22 points following six straight points from Dearman made the score 61-39 with under eight minutes to play.
 
Methodist held Berea to just 36.4 percent shooting in the second half while also forcing 13 turnovers, which led to 16 points, in the final 20 minutes. The Monarchs shot 40.0 percent (16-40) in the second half, but came up with 10 offensive rebounds and committed just five turnovers.
 
Berea scored the game's first four points for a short-lived lead in the early going. A 12-2 burst by the Monarchs gave MU a 16-6 lead by the 12:12 mark. A Whitley layup at 7:27 pushed the MU lead to its largest of the first half at 26-13.
 
The Mountaineers answered with a 13-4 run to get within four points (30-26) on a pair of free throws from Deandre Lightfoot by the 2:41 mark, but would not pull any closer the remainder of the contest.
 
Dyonta Bizzle Brown led Berea with 10 points, and Gabe Hinton chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds. Torell Carter scored eight points and pulled down nine boards to go with three assists.
 
Methodist will play at Greensboro on Wednesday beginning at 7:30 pm.
 
 
 
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