LAGRANGE, Ga. - The NC Wesleyan College men's basketball team surged in the second half en route to their second straight road win on the weekend defeating LaGrange College 80-74 on Sunday.
Wesleyan got off to a good start leading 10-2 in the first half while never relinquishing the lead to take a 40-37 halftime edge on 50 percent shooting.
The second half would remain competitive throughout as neither team could get ahead by more than four points until the latter stages of the half. LC grabbed their first lead at the 10 minute mark taking a 59-58 lead before the Panthers would hold their only other lead of the game at 64-62 with 8 minutes to play. Wesleyan would then go on a 14-5 surge to take a 76-69 lead on junior guard Damon McDowell's three to all but clinch the win with 2 minutes left.
Senior center A.J. Frye led the Bishops with 20 points on the afternoon on 8 of 13 shooting along with 9 rebounds and an assist as the Bishops shot an impressive 58 percent for the game while holding LC to just 41 percent from the floor.
Senior forward Mitch Layton also played quality minutes scoring 13 points with 9 boards, 2 assists, and a block while McDowell added 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists off the bench. Freshman point guard Devin Resper also had a solid game posting season-highs in points and rebounds with 7 apiece while also adding a team-best four assists.
Senior forward Rico Bullock posted 9 points and a team-high 3 blocks while fellow forward, Isaiah Lewis, tallied 8 points with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. Freshman guard Brayden Dixon also scored 8 points with 2 assists and a team-best two steals off the bench for the Bishops.
Back-to-back wins improves Wesleyan to 8-9 on the season and 4-5 in the USA South while LaGrange falls to 3-12 and 2-6 in the conference.
NCWC will next return to action Saturday when they return home to host rival, William Peace at 2:00 PM.