BUENA VISTA, Va.  Facing Southern Virginia in the final game of the season, the Methodist men's basketball team clawed its way to a win, topping the Knights by one point. Derrion Hicklen led the Monarchs with 30 points and knocked down the game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds of Saturday's contest.  

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Methodist def. Southern Virginia, 78-77
Records: Methodist 5-19 (3-11 USA South), Southern Virginia 6-20 (3-11 USA South)
Location: Knights Arena; Buena Vista, Virginia

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ron Jones and Malek Ngong sank three-pointers on Methodist's first two offensive possessions, putting the Monarchs up 6-2. Methodist continued to outshine the Knights, extending its lead to 15-9 with 13:42 left in the first half after back-to-back layups by Konner Raines and Derrion Hicklen.
• With eight minutes to go in the period, Southern Virginia scored from deep to claim a one-point lead (21-20). The Monarchs reclaimed the advantage, but then six-straight points in favor of the Knights pushed the home team ahead by five with less than four minutes until halftime. Methodist pieced together a 9-0 run next to go up by four, but took just a 34-33 lead into the break.
• The back-and-forth nature continued in the second half, with five lead changes throughout the first eight minutes. With 12:05 left to play in the second half, Methodist's Zac Sledge sank both of his free-throw attempts to tie the score at 52-52. Southern Virginia surged ahead with a 7-0 run, but the Monarchs kept fighting, finally retying the score at 71-71 with a dunk by Sledge inside the final three minutes.
• With less than 30 seconds to go, the Knights went up by two, giving the Monarchs a chance to hold for the final shot. Methodist brought the ball up the court, then called a timeout with nine seconds remaining. Out of the timeout, Hicklen inbounded the ball to Chance Minott, who hurriedly passed back to Hicklen. Dribbling the ball from his right to his left, Hicklen escaped from his defender (who was screened by Sledge), pulled up from three and hit a pure, nothing-but-net triple.

 MORE TO IT

• The Monarchs shot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, recording their best single-game three-point shooting percentage all season. They also shot a season-best 55.6% from the entire field.
• Derrion Hicklen's career-high 30 points came along with a career-high 11 made field goals.
• Methodist was 3-for-7 at the free-throw line in the first half, but shot a perfect 11-for-11 there in the second half.

UP NEXT
This concludes the 2024 season for the Methodist men's basketball team.