GREENSBORO, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College men's basketball program rolled to their 10th conference win of the season on Saturday as they routed Greensboro College 92-71 on the road to clinch the #2 seed in the East Division.
Wesleyan improves to 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the division and will host the #3 team, Pfeiffer, from the East Division on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM.
Greensboro falls to 10-14 overall and 5-9 in the division to finish 6th.
Wesleyan was led by a trio of Bishops who scored at least 20 points in the win. They included senior wing Damon McDowell who finished with 22 points and 5 threes, junior forward Isaiah Lewis, who completed a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting, and sophomore guard Khalid Chavis-Hinds with a season-high of 20 points. Chavis-Hinds also led with 4 assists, 3 steals, 7 rebounds and a block in the victory.
McDowell's five 3-pointers now gives him 81 on the season tying him with Justin Tankelewicz for the most threes in a single season in school history. McDowell continues to lead the conference in scoring at 23.3 points/game and is shooting a career-best 41 percent from behind-the-arc.
Also playing well off the bench was sophomore forward Kyron Kelly with 8 points, 8 rebounds and a block while sophomore guard Marquis Eskew also had 6 points and a block off the bench. Junior guard Brayden Dixon then finished with a team-best 3 steals along with 3 assists, 3 rebounds, a block and 3 points.
The Bishops got out to a terrific start in this one leading 18-4 early on before going up 27-9 within the first 10 minutes of the game. NCW would go on to lead 44-31 at the break shooting 45 percent in the first half.
Wesleyan would then only let the Pride get within single digits once in the second half when GC trimmed it down to nine points at the 12-minute mark. However, NCWC would then stretch it back out to 20 points and cruise to the victory. The Bishops would shoot 60 percent in the second half and 51.5 percent for the game while outscoring the Pride 48-40 in the second half.