Maryville, Tenn. - Freshman Adrian Moore turned in a stellar all-around performance on Saturday afternoon, helping his Battling Bishop men's basketball team secure a 68-66 win at USA South foe Maryville College. Moore netted a game high 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, six assists and five steals.
Wesleyan raced out to a 10-point advantage in the first half, forging a 15-5 lead just over five minutes in. The Scots battled back to knot the score at 19-19 midway the period, eventually holding a slim 30-29 edge with 3:43 to go. A short jumper by Moore, however, was followed by back-to-back buckets by senior Jalen Cannady that sparked a 10-2 run and put NCWC on top 39-32 at the break.
Wesleyan never trailed in the second half, although Maryville managed to get a close as two points on three occasions. The Bishops looked to have the game in hand when a Moore lay-up with 4:34 remaining gave them their biggest lead, 66-53.
Unfortunately, the field goal would be NCWC's last of the contest as the Scots put together a late 13-2 rally of their own to once again trail by two, 68-66, with nine seconds left. Forced to foul, MVC got what it needed when the Bishops missed the front end of their 1-and-1, but a three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good, sealing Wesleyan's second league victory of the season.
In addition to Moore, Cannady and senior Isaac Brown reached double-figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Junior Shannon Huff grabbed a game-high ten rebounds.
Jaumonne Byrd paced Maryville with 15 points and nine boards.
The conference victory over the Scots came on the heels of a tough 71-64 loss at Covenant College on Friday. The Bishops, who opened the game with a 15-0 run, eventually trailed 33-28 at the half and never led again.
Brown and junior D.J. Weaver each had 13 points to lead NCWC, while Will Portlock had 13 for Covenant.
The Bishops now stand at 8-6 overall, 2-1 in league play. Wesleyan returns home next Saturday and Sunday to host Huntington and LaGrange in a pair of key USA South tilts. Saturday's tip-off with the Hawks is slated for 2:00pm in Everett Gymnasium, followed by a 1:00pm start with the Panthers on Sunday.