Men's Basketball Survives Bears

Athens, Tenn.- The men's basketball team was back on their home court on Thursday for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game. It was a matchup of two undefeated AAC teams with the other team being the Truett McConnell University Bears.

Tennessee Wesleyan scored the first seven points of the contest. Kobe Pride, Ray Tyler, and Elisha Mayberry helped the team race out to a 7-0 lead. Pride scored to make it nine of the first ten points in the game for the Bulldogs. The points continued to go on the board as Peyton West and Jonathan Webb helped add to the score to give the team a 16-7 advantage. As halftime came closer, TWU continued to lead in the game, holding a 29-20 lead on a Darius Rozier jumper. A jumper by Rozier a few minutes later gave the team a double-digit lead with a score of 34-23. By the halftime buzzer though, the double-digit lead had been cut to four with the Bulldogs leading 38-34.

The opening of the second half saw five ties. Pride, Rozier, Mayberry, and Tyler prevented the lead from changing. The 13:04 mark saw a lead change when the Bears took a 53-51 lead. Webb scored to tie the game and back-to-back three-pointers by Tyler along with a Mayberry three-point basket pushed Tennessee Wesleyan ahead 62-53. The cushion the team held dissipated with 4:27 left as Truett McConnell cut the lead to one point. Mayberry hit back-to-back jumpers to give the team a five-point, 70-65 lead. The opponents cut the lead down to two points two more times before the end of the game. A jumper by Pride, and two made free throws by West helped the Bulldogs hold on for a 76-74 win.

Mayberry led with 15 points while Tyler (14), Rozier (career-high 14), Webb (11), and Pride (10) joined him in double figures. Rozier completed the double-double with ten rebounds in the game.

The win moved the team's record to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the AAC.