ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College men's basketball team came on strong on the second half scoring 55 points en route to defeating conference rival Methodist University 90-84 at home on Wednesday night.
The fourth straight win improves the Bishops to 10-9 overall and 6-5 in the conference as they climb into third place in the East Division. Second place Methodist falls to 10-8 and 6-4 in the conference.
Junior guard Damon McDowell led the Bishops with 26 points on the night while making all 10 of his free throws. He also added 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block off the bench.
After trailing by four at halftime, 39-35, Wesleyan came out and lit up the scoreboard shooting over 66 percent in the second half to post 55 points and outscore the Monarchs by 10 in the period to grab the win. Wesleyan clinched the win by going on a 7-0 run over the final two minutes when MU had got to within 79-77. The Bishops also shot an impressive 58 percent from three in the second half and 94 percent from the charity stripe. Wesleyan held MU to just 6 threes and 28 percent from behind the arc while the Bishops made 10 of their 18 threes for the game.
Senior guard Cameron Martin led Wesleyan with a season-high 5 threes on the game for 15 points while senior forward Mitch Layton and freshman guard Tim Pettiford also scored 10 points apiece in the win to complete the double-figure scoring.
Also playing well were senior forwards A.J. Frye and Rico Bullock, with Frye scoring 9 points and bringing down 8 boards while Bullock had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block.
Freshman Garrett Phillips also added 6 points while sophomore forward Isaiah Lewis scored 4 with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Wesleyan will head back into action Saturday when they head down face Pfeiffer University at 2:00.