ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College men's basketball team held off their hard-charging rival Methodist at home on Tuesday defeating them 98-87 on Coaches vs. Cancer Night.
*The win was head coach John Thompson's 400th career win of his storied coaching run at NC Wesleyan.
The Bishops were led by huge games from senior Damon McDowell and junior Sal-Bey Young. McDowell made eight 3-pointers en route to scoring 31 points (his 3rd consecutive 30-point game) while Young brought down a career-high 20 rebounds and scored 19 points while also assisting on a season-high 8 buckets as he fell just two helpers shy of a triple-double.
The win was the 4th straight for the Bishops as they improve to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference.
Wesleyan got out to another strong start leading 19-6 early on and 54-36 at the half after shooting 63 percent overall as McDowell scored 20 points. However, MU then went on a run themselves trimming Wesleyan's 18-point lead down to five points early in the second half. NCWC would then stretch it back out to 11 points before MU would again cut it down to just three with 12 minutes to play.
Methodist would get to within two points as well midway through the half, but that would be as close as they would come as the Bishops continued to stretch back out their lead when it got tight. After Wesleyan led by 14 with 6 minutes to play, MU went on one final run to get within 4 points at the 2:07 mark, but NCWC held them off one final time as the 8th and final three-pointer from McDowell iced the game.
Also playing well for the Bishops was junior forward Isaiah Lewis shooting 8 for 11 for 16 points and 7 rebounds while sophomore guard Austin Manley also grabbed 16 poits off the bench on 4 threes and a block. Juniors RJ Bailey and Brayden Dixon also combined for 12 points while Dixon assisted on four other baskets.
Wesleyan returns to action on Friday when they head north to Virginia to battle Mary Baldwin in a 7 PM tip.
