Men's Basketball Overcomes Deficit to Defeat Johnson

Athens, Tenn.- The men's basketball team was back in action on Dwain Farmer Court on Thursday. The schedule brought the Johnson University Royals to Athens for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game.

Peyton West, Ty Patterson, and Kobe Pride scored the first three baskets for the team, giving the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead. TWU kept scoring, using points from Elisha Mayberry, Patterson, West, Pride, and Ray Tyler to go outscore Johnson 16-4 and take a 22-8 lead with 12:14 remaining in the first half. Unfortunately, the offense went cold and the opponents scored 14 of the next 16 points to cut the Bulldogs' lead to two points. Patterson and Tyler kept TWU in the lead before consecutive baskets by Johnson tied the score 28-28. Tyler broke the tie and Patterson moved the score to 32-28 with a pair of free throws but the Royals scored six straight points to move ahead 34-32 with 25 seconds left. Tyler kept the opponents from taking a halftime lead with his three-pointer with 14 seconds left making the score 35-34 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Tyler, Pride, and Pride scored early on in the second half to keep Johnson from taking the lead. With 16:40 remaining in the game though, the opponents pulled ahead 41-40. Patterson and Pride tried to turn the score back in the favor of Tennessee Wesleyan but Johnson had a response each time, eventually moving their lead to 55-48. The opponents held on to the lead for the next several minutes until a Darius Rozier jumper and three-point basket put the game in a 67-67 tie. Tyler put the game in a 69-69 tie while Patterson gave the Bulldogs a 71-71 lead with 1:40 remaining. With 58 seconds left, Tyler's jump shot put TWU ahead for good, and free throws from Pride and Patterson helped the Bulldogs hold on for a 76-74 win.

Pride finished the game with a career-high 22 points to go along with 18 points from Patterson and 17 points from Tyler. Pride also led on the boards with eight rebounds and recorded a career-high five blocks in the game.

Tennessee Wesleyan (10-2, 9-2 AAC) hits the road for the first time in 2023 for a conference matchup on Saturday. The team faces Reinhardt University at 4:00 p.m.