February 21, 2006Story Photo
 Monarchs down Ferrum 68-56, face Averett in USA South Semifinals
 Thomas scores 16 points, McEvoy 13 points as Monarchs advance

 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The end of a season is the time to be playing your best basketball, and the Methodist Monarchs are doing just that. Fresh off concluding the 2005-06 regular season with three straight victories, the Monarchs made it four straight on Tuesday with a 68-56 victory over visiting Ferrum in the quarterfinals of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament.

Methodist, which improves to 10-16 overall, will now face Averett in the USA South Semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m. at Christopher Newport’s Freeman Center.

The first half was back-and-forth with seven lead changes and six ties before Methodist took a 36-33 lead at halftime when center Michael McEvoy drained a 3-point basket with five seconds remaining in the first half.

Ferrum kept the game close for the first eight minutes of the second half before Methodist took control with its defense. A steal by Seth Thomas led to a breakaway dunk by Travis McBryde to give the Monarchs a 46-39 lead with 11:26 remaining. On Ferrum’s ensuing possession, Methodist’s Antwin Shuford picked up a loose ball and took it coast-to-coast for another dunk.

Finally, Methodist took a 50-38 lead on McBryde’s transition lay-up off a Shuford steal with 10:49 remaining.

Methodist increased the lead to 15 points twice on jump shots in the paint by Thomas, and a 3-point basket by Fred McDonald gave the Monarchs a 66-50 lead at the 3:16 mark.

Thomas paced the Monarchs with 16 points, while McEvoy had arguably his best game yet in a Monarch uniform as the 6-foot-11 senior scored a career-high 13 points and was dominating in the paint with a career-high six blocked shots. McBryde scored 10 points off the bench, and Shuford grabbed 11 rebounds. Defensively, the Monarchs had a whopping 11 blocked shots.

For Ferrum (7-19), Cedric Jones scored 16 points, followed by Trey Ray with 13 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Rob Fuller added 10 points for the Panthers.