RALEIGH, N.C.  Methodist weathered a storm of raining 3-pointers in the opening half of Wednesday's USA South men's basketball contest at William Peace University, then opened the second half with a scoring burst that rallied the Monarchs to an 81-76 victory over the Pacers.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final score: Methodist def. William Peace, 81-76
Records: Methodist 4-5 (3-1 USA South); William Peace 4-4 (2-1 USA South)
Location: Hermann Athletic Center; Raleigh, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Pacers built their early lead behind 3-point shooting that at one point was ripping the net at 54 percent. They finished the first half 7-for-16 beyond the arc.
• Trailing by as many as 11 points during the opening 20 minutes, Methodist inched its way back before scoring the final three points of the half to enter the mid-game recess at only a four-point deficit, 41-37.
• The Monarchs caught fire immediately out of the halftime break, adding eight consecutive points to the first-half-ending trio, erasing the deficit and grabbing their first lead since clinging to a 7-6 advantage just three minutes into the game.
• Kaymon Mitchell collected five of the eight points in that early run.
• The 8-0 start to the evolved into a 20-5 run, during which Garren Dearman scored eight points while Mitchell added another bucket to chip in with seven.
• Eventually the lead ballooned to 13, at 65-52, before William Peace would recover from its early stagger and bite into the deficit over the final nine minutes.
• Down by seven, 77-69, with 2:05 to play, the Pacers chose to send Methodist to the free-throw line, a tactic that only delayed the loss.
• Over the next 90 seconds the Monarchs filled the rim with 5-of-6 shooting from the stripe, icing the victory that ended the Pacers' three-game win streak.
• The Methodist victory elevates its conference mark above .500, after dropping a league game Sunday to visiting Maryville (Tenn.) College.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Dearman led all scorers on the night with a 23-point effort, while also coming away with eight rebounds.
• Dante Burden finished with 17 points and Mitchell with 13 to collectively accumulate 53 of the team's 81 points.
•  Sam Mingledoff scored seven points but played a bigger role off the glass, sweeping away a team-high 11 rebounds.
• Andrew Steve scored six points -- dropping in a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions while the Monarchs were eating into their first-half deficit.
• William Peace was led by Camden Ferguson's 17 points, which included five 3-pointers.
• Three more Pacers reached double digits in scoring, including Tyson Sellers who earned a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 12 rebounds.
• William Peace feasted from long range with 7-of-16 treys (44 percent) in the first half but starved in the second half, hitting only two of 13 attempts (15 percent).

UP NEXT

• Methodist steps outside of conference competition with its next game, entertaining visiting University of Lynchburg at the Riddle Center on Saturday afternoon.
• William Peace will play an exhibition game at The College of William & Mary on December 16.