ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College men's basketball team used terrific defense to shut down the Knights of Southern Virginia 66-45 on Senior Day Saturday afternoon.
The big conference game improved the Bishops to 8-4 in the Division and 16-7 overall and they remain just a half game back of 2nd place Pfeiffer in the East. SVU falls to 12-10 overall and 6-5 in the division.
It was also the final regular season home game for senior wing Damon McDowell as he scored a team-best 27 points and 7 rebounds on 11 of 22 shooting. McDowell currently sits just 110 points behind Lenny Hall for the all-time scoring mark at NCWC. McDowell also continues to lead the conference in scoring averaging 23.4 points/game in the league.
The Bishops held the Knights to just 21 points on 7 baskets in the first half while NCWC shot 40 percent to lead 30-21 at the break. After SVU got to within six points early in the second half, Wesleyan would then go on a 21-4 run to build their lead to 51-28 with just under ten minutes to play.
SVU would then climb to within 11 points at 51-40 with 7 minutes to play, but would get no closer as the Bishops would finish the game on a 15-5 run for the win. Wesleyan ended up shooting over 53% in the second half and nearly 47 percent for the game.
Recording a double-double was junior forward Isaiah Lewis with 10 points and 12 rebounds while fellow forward Sal-Bey Young also finished in double-figures with 11 points along with 6 boards, 4 steals, 2 assists, and a block.
Sophomore point guard Khalid Chavis-Hinds also had a solid shooting game scoring 12 points on 6 of 10 shooting with a team-high 4 steals and 2 assists while junior guard Brayden Dixon also had 4 steals, 4 points and 2 assists.
The Bishops will next finish out their regular season with road games at William Peace on Thursday and Greensboro on Saturday.