ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. Methodist men's basketball battled hard in the second half of Tuesday evening USA South Athletic Conference competition but it was North Carolina Wesleyan College that still claimed a 98-87 win in Everett Gymnasium.
In the loss,
Dante Burden and
Clayton Coe did all they could to help the team. Burden scored a career-high 38 points and matched a season-high six steals. This was the 10
th career game where the senior guard has stolen the ball five or more times. Coe set new career-highs in multiple categories including minutes (40), points (20), rebounds (8), made field goals (6), and made threes (5).
JUST THE FACTS
Final score: N.C. Wesleyan def. Methodist, 98-87
Records: Methodist 1-12 (0-3 USA South), N.C. Wesleyan 13-4 (5-1)
Location: Everett Gymnasium; Rocky Mount, North Carolina
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Kevin McLaughlin Jr. got the Monarchs on the board with a jumper after the Battling Bishops jumped out a seven to nothing advantage. N.C. Wesleyan would go on another 7-0 stretch to increase their lead to 19-6.
- Methodist would eventually fall to their largest deficit of the first half after the Battling Bishops knocked down back-to-back three balls for a 44-24 score at the six minute mark. Two buckets from Burden and a three-pointer from Coe gave the Monarchs a seven point swing to close the gap slightly, but N.C. Wesleyan still led 54-36 heading into the intermission
- Coming out of the break Methodist would find their stride when in the first four minutes they went on a 15-2 run to get back within five points, 56-51. With his team shooting ice cold to start, Austin Manley of the Battling Bishops got this going with made threes on consecutive possessions.
- Once again N.C. Wesleyan would get the Monarchs into a double figure deficit, 64-53, before the combination of Burden and Coe scored the next seven straight points to make it 64-60. Methodist got as close as two points of the lead, 68-66, after Coe and McLaughlin Jr. connected on shots from downtown on the next two Monarch possessions.
- The game looked to start slipping away from Methodist as N.C. Wesleyan got back to a 14 point, 85-71, advantage with a little under seven minutes to go. That did not stop the big shots from Jeremy Mull, Coe, and Burden to bring the score to within four points, 91-87, with two minutes left on the clock. The comeback would not come fruition as the Battling Bishops put the game away with a couple of made baskets.
MORE TO IT
- The Monarchs got out rebound in the contest by a margin of 46 to 30. Sal Young of N.C. Wesleyan set the tone on the glass by coming down with a game-high 20 rebounds.
- What helped Methodist to get back into the game were the turnovers they forced. The Battling Bishops had 19 team turnovers while the Monarchs only had nine.
- Not once in the contest did Methodist ever tie or take the lead. From tip-off to end it was N.C. Wesleyan who controlled the score.
UP NEXT
- Methodist travels to Southern Virginia University on Friday for a USA South game at 7:30 p.m., where the two squads will match up for the first time in either program's history.
- N.C. Wesleyan is on the road for the next three games starting on Friday at 7 p.m. against Mary Baldwin University, in a USA South contest.