Rocky Mount, NC - The NC Wesleyan men's basketball team defeated William Peace 80-61 to win the USA South Conference Championship. The Bishops officially punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament under Head Coach John Thompson for the 1st time since 2011 and won its 2nd conference tournament championship in the past 3 years. Unfortunately, the last time the Bishops won the conference tournament championship, the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the game itself, Wesleyan took a 6-point lead into the break but dominated the 2nd half by 13 to cruise to the win. The Bishops were led in scoring by Brayden Dixon and Marquis Eskew who both had 18 points. Dixon added 3 rebounds to the contest as well to go along with an assist. Khalid Chavis-Hinds was named the tournament's most outstanding player and had 10 points with 6 rebounds and 2 crucial steals.
Forward Isaiah Lewis also had a big tournament by also scoring 10 points in the title game and contributed 8 huge rebounds to help solidify the victory. Wesleyan's defense also forced WPU to commit 17 turnovers on the afternoon and won the rebounding battle 38-26.
Wesleyan will find out their destination in the tournament on Monday when the brackets are announced by D3Hoops and the NCAA. The first round of the NCAA Tournament begins Friday and the second round will follow immediately on Saturday. Stay tuned for updates this weekend on the location and time of the 1st round matchup for the Bishops.