Men's Basketball Tames Lions

Athens, Tenn.- The men's basketball team returned to James L. Robb Gymnasium for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) on Wednesday. The team hosted their rival, the Bryan College Lions.

Kobe Pride and Elisha Mayberry got the team on board early, giving the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Back-to-back layups by Ray Tyler moved the lead to 8-3 and by the midway point a quick first half, three three-point jump shots by Peyton West, and a Pride jumper made the lead 19-8. Darius Rozier and Ty Patterson grew the lead to 15 points with their baskets, making the score 23-8. A three-pointer by Kariden Hardrick along with a Rozier jumper gave TWU their largest lead of the game of 18 points, a score of 28-10. Patterson brought the team to the 30-point mark with his jumper. Unfortunately, the remaining points the team scored in the first half came on a Zhaelin Callahan three-pointer and Bryan made up a little ground to make the Bulldogs' lead single digits at halftime with the scoreboard reading 33-25.

The opponents scored seven of the first nine points of the second half, with a Pride score in there for Tennessee Wesleyan, cutting the Bulldogs' lead to three points. A three-point play by Pride, jumpers by Mayberry, and a Rozier free throw gave the team 10 straight points, giving the team a 45-32, double-digit advantage with 12:59 remaining in the game. Bryan continued adding points but baskets by Tyler and Patterson along with a dunk by Kolbe Billingsley kept TWU in a comfortable position, with the latter making the score 54-41. With five minutes remaining, Pride pushed the team to the 60-point mark with his jump shot with five minutes remaining in the game. West's fourth three-pointer of the game made the score 63-48 and the team went on to win 70-62 after scores by Cameron Montgomery, Mayberry, and Pride.

Pride led the offense with 13 points while Mayberry and West each had 12 points. Patterson had a season-high 16 rebounds in the game.

Up next for the Bulldogs (11-3, 10-3 AAC) is a road trip to North Carolina for an AAC contest on Saturday. The team will face St. Andrews University at 2:00 p.m.