Smoky Mountain Today

The men's basketball team, the second-place team in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) standings, hosted the third-place team in the AAC standings on Tuesday. The Cavaliers of Montreat College gave the Bulldogs their first game action of 2023.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Ray Tyler and Ty Patterson gave the Bulldogs a 6-5 advantage early in the game. The back-and-forth action continued between the two teams as Kobe Pride's basket made the score 9-8 in favor of Montreat. A layup by Tyler and a three-point jumper by Patterson put the game in a 13-13 tie before a Darius Rozier score gave TWU a 15-13 lead. The opponents took the lead back with under ten minutes in the game. Elisha Mayberry's free throw made the score a two-point game, and Pride's jumper tied the score 20-20 with 5:40 remaining in the first half. Pride tied the game once again at 22-22 but the Cavaliers scored seven of the next 11 points to take a 29-26 lead into the halftime break.

Coming out of the halftime break, Montreat scored seven straight points to move ahead by ten points. A 15-5 run over the next few minutes by the Bulldogs, with multiple scores by Mayberry and Tyler, tied the game 41-41. Montreat broke the tie but Kolbe Billingsley tied the game at 43-43. Nine of the next 11 points were scored by the opponents, giving them a 52-45 lead with 8:51 remaining in the game. Tennessee Wesleyan continued to battle, clawing back to take a 59-58 lead on a Tyler three-pointer with 2:08 in the game. After a free throw by Montreat tied the game, Peyton West broke the tie with a pair of free throws, moving the team ahead 61-59. A layup by the opponents tied the game once again, and the last-second shot for the Bulldogs did not fall, sending the game into overtime tied at 61.

TWU made sure to own the overtime period, converting their first shot of the extended time, a Mayberry three-pointer to break the tie. Patterson made the only other field goal in the overtime period for the Bulldogs, a three-pointer that made the score 67-63. The remainder of the points for Tennessee Wesleyan came from the charity stripe, where they were a perfect 8-8 in helping the team win the game 75-68. Mayberry, Patterson (twice), and West made trips to the foul line to end the overtime.

Tyler led the scoring with a career-high 22 points. Mayberry added 15 points for the Bulldogs while Patterson and Pride each finished with 13 points.

Up next for TWU (9-2, 8-2 AAC) is a conference matchup against Johnson University on Thursday in Athens. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.

Original source can be found here