Rocky Mount, N.C. - The men's basketball team of North Carolina Wesleyan cruised to an 88-64 USA South victory over Methodist University on Saturday in Everett Gymnasium. Senior Alex Murray paced the Bishops with 13 points and five steals, igniting the crowd on four different occasions with thunderous dunks. The win evens the Bishops' record at 8-8 on the season, 2-2 in league play.
Up 21-19 with 6:20 left in the first half, NCWC's Matt Dougherty and Cornelius Snow drained back-to-back treys that ignited a 15-4 Bishop run that spanned nearly five minutes. The pivotal stretch allowed Wesleyan to eventually carry a 38-27 lead into the break.
The Monarchs (4-14, 1-5 USA South) got as close as seven, 40-33, early in the second half, but Wesleyan responded by out-scoring MU 12-0 over a three-minute period. The spurt put featured a pair of Murray dunks, as well as a Snow-to-Morrison alley-oop that put the Bishops up by 19. Methodist would not recover as NCWC went on to win by 24.
Dougherty finished with a team-high 15 points and five assists, while fellow seniors Justin Griffith and Domarius Thomas chipped in 14 and 12, respectively. As a team, the Bishops shot 49 percent and held the Monarchs to just 29 percent accuracy.
MU was led by Terrell Stallings with a game-high 17 points.
Winners of two straight, the Battling Bishops will get little rest as they prepare to host Shenandoah University tomorrow (Sunday) at 4:00pm.