Ferrum, Va. - The N.C. Wesleyan men's basketball team saw its 2014-2015 season come to a close on Sunday at Ferrum College. Despite posting a 75-69 win over the Panthers, the Bishops came up on the short end of the USA South's tie-breaking procedures for conference tournament seeding after finishing 7-7 in league play alongside Covenant, LaGrange and Methodist. The victory did, however, secure the program's 7th straight season without a losing record at 13-12 overall.
Ferrum led 30-26 at halftime and went on to lead by as many as eight early in the second half, 40-32, with 15:55 remaining. The Bishops used a 14-6 run to even the score four minutes later, and the game proved to be a back-and-forth battle from there.
The two squads proceeded to fight to a 12th and final tie, 57-57, with 3:44 to go. Wesleyan took control with 14-4 run to go up ten points with under a minute left, and the Panthers got no closer than the final tally.
Brandon Brown scored half of the Bishops' points during that game-clinching span to finish with 14 points on the night. Fellow junior D.J. Weaver netted a game-high 21 points that saw him knock down 5-of-9 attempts from behind the arc, while freshman Josh Lancaster poured in a career-high 17.
As a team, the Bishops shot a blistering 75 percent from the floor in the second half to out-score the Panthers 49-39 in the period. Marvin Wilson paced Ferrum with a team-high 20 points.
The game marked an end to the careers of Bishop seniors Isaac Brown, Jalen Cannady and Allen Hauser.