Men's Basketball Defeats CIU to Stay Undefeated

Athens, Tenn.- After two exhibition games, the men's basketball team returned to regular season play with an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game on Saturday. The Rams of Columbia International University came to Athens for a game.

TWU scored 15 of the first 18 points of the game. Elisha Mayberry, Jonathan Webb, Peyton West, and Kobe Pride combined to give the team a 15-3 lead as 14:56 ticked on the clock. Midway through the first half, a three-point play by Mayberry pushed the team to the 20-point mark, making the score 20-11. Darius Rozier scored on the next play to move the lead back out to double digits. Over the next few minutes of the first half, Columbia International scored to cut the Bulldogs' lead down to two points. The team did not let the opponent pull closer though as Mayberry, Webb and Zhaelin Callahan scored to move the lead to nine points. By the halftime buzzer though, the lead was only four points as the scoreboard read 37-33.

Ray Tyler opened the second half with a three-pointer but the Rams scored six of the next eight points to cut the lead down to three points. Pride, Mayberry, Webb, Cameron Montgomery and Rozier scored over the next several minutes to stop the run and help the team move ahead by double digits, 63-53. The team continued to hold the lead and Mayberry pushed the team over 70 points with his jumper making the score 71-60 with 6:27 left in the game. Columbia International made one more run at taking over the lead, cutting TWU's lead down to two points with 23 seconds remaining. Mayberry hit a three-pointer to prevent the opponents from tying, and a pair of free throws by Montgomery helped the team hold on to win 80-76.

Mayberry finished with 20 points and was joined in double digits by helped Webb (14), Tyler (13), and Pride (13). Mayberry led with seven rebounds.

The win moved the team's record to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the AAC.