Men's Basketball Cruises to Win Against St. Andrews

ATHENS, Tenn.- The men's basketball team was back in action on their home floor on Wednesday. The team hosted the St. Andrews University Knights in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game. 

The first lead of the contest went to the visiting Knights. TWU did not trail as the team scored the next 11 points. Points from Jay Reed, Amauri Young, Ty Hurst, and Kobe Pride gave the Bulldogs their eight-point advantage, which soon turned to a double-digit advantage when Reed's layup made the score 15-5 as 14:44 ticked on the clock. Seven straight points put St. Andrews back in position to tie the game, making the score 15-12. After the opponents pulled within three points again, the Bulldogs went on a small run to take their largest lead of the game by halftime. Starting with a Stratton Lovvorn three-point jumper, Tennessee Wesleyan outscored the Knights 26-10 on a scoring sequence that saw a jumper by Emmanuel Ndambi, a three-point basket by Nichaune Jones, free throws by Lovvorn, a Zhaelin Callahan jumper, and a Lovvorn dunk. The scoring run continued with a Callahan layup, Lovvorn three-pointer, Ndambi free throw, and a Kariden Hardrick jumper, giving the team a 47-28 lead at the halftime break.

In the second half, the Bulldogs continued to carry their comfortable lead. Five minutes into the second half, Lovvorn's jumper moved TWU over the 50-point line. St. Andrews did pull within 11 points with 13:28 remaining in the contest. Jones stopped them from pulling closer and a pair of free throws along with a jumper from Lovvorn pushed the team to 60 points in the game and a 15-point advantage. Darius Rozier's three-point basket moved the score to 63-47 as the Bulldogs continued to add points to their lead. A pair of free throws by Young pushed Tennessee Wesleyan to 70 points and their first lead of 20 points as the scoreboard read 71-51 with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game. Jones gave the team their largest lead of the game of 22 points with his jump shot and the Bulldogs went on to win the game by a final score of 83-69. 

Lovvorn (20), Reed (14), and Jones (11) all had career highs in points. Lovvorn and Ndambi led with seven rebounds each.

TWU (2-5, 2-4 AAC) will remain at home for their next game. The team will host the newcomers to the AAC, the University of Pikeville, on Saturday in a conference contest. The game is set to begin at 4:00 p.m.