Men's Basketball Unable to Cool Johnson

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- The men's basketball team went back on the road on Tuesday. The team traveled to face the Johnson University Royals, an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent, before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Back and forth action occurred in the opening minutes. Kobe Pride scored back-to-back layups and Jay Reed hit two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 6-5 lead early on. Johnson took over the lead though in the next few moments of the game until Amauri Young tied the game 14-14 with a jump shot. A foul a three-point attempt gave Ty Runyan three attempts at free throws, all of which he converted to tie the score 19-19. The action remained close as Emmanuel Ndambi put the game in another tie at 21-21. Johnson broke the tie though, going on to outscore TWU 24-9 to close the half with a 45-30 advantage. 

Out of the halftime break, baskets by Pride and Ty Hurst cut the deficit down to ten points as the scoreboard read 47-37. As the Bulldogs kept trying to dig into the score, a jumper by Pride cut the Royals' lead down to eight points as the opponents led 56-48. Tennessee Wesleyan was not able to pull closer though as Johnson moved their lead back out to double digits over the next few minutes of action. Stratton Lovvorn helped the team make one more run at the lead, pulling the team to within 10 points of the lead again. Unfortunately, the team could not pull closer, going on to fall by a final score of 81-66.

Pride led the team with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Up next for the team is a home date with St. Andrews University on Wednesday. The conference game is set for 5:30 p.m.