February 1, 2006
Monarchs win 67-65 thriller on Lee’s 3-point basket
Thomas scores 14 points as Methodist ends five-game losing skid

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Better known for his strong play on the road, Robert Lee hasn’t made too many clutch baskets for the Methodist Monarchs in the friendly confines of the Riddle Center. However, he hit arguably the biggest shot of his Monarch career on Wednesday with a 3-point basket with five seconds remaining to propel Methodist to a 67-65 USA South Athletic Conference victory over visiting Greensboro.

The victory ends a five-game losing streak for Methodist, now 5-14 overall and 3-4 in the USA South. In addition, Monarch head coach David Smith is now one victory away from reaching the 100th of his career.

Like previous games, Methodist appeared to have the game in hand with a 47-33 lead with 13:56 remaining. But Greensboro battled back with a 12-0 as James Newman and Justin Battle each scored on lay-ups. Steve Berg’s 3-point basket with 9:07 remaining cut the Methodist lead to 47-45.

Three times, Methodist increased the lead to four points as Seth Thomas scored twice on jump shots in the lane. But Greensboro answered again as Newman’s 3-point basket trimmed the Monarch lead to 57-56 with 4:28 remaining. Newman then tied the game at 61-61 with a bank shot 3-point basket with 1:45 remaining.

After Methodist took a two-point lead, Berg gave the Pride its first lead since the first half with a 3-point basket at the one-minute mark. Following a Monarch miss, Berg was fouled and went to the line for two shots with 34 seconds remaining. He made his first free throw, but missed the second, giving Methodist new life.

The Monarchs’ Antwin Shuford was fouled with nine seconds remaining and went to the line for the one-and-one. Shuford made the first shot, trimming the Pride lead to 65-64. Shuford missed the second shot, but Thomas was there for the offensive rebound. He promptly fed Lee on the wing for the game-winner.

Greensboro had a final shot for the victory, but Newman’s 3-point attempt was off at the buzzer.

Thomas paced Methodist with 14 points, followed by Lee with 13 points. Dragan Radmanovic scored 11 points and Shuford scored 10 points for the Monarchs. For Greensboro (7-11, 3-4), Berg scored 15 points and Newman scored 13 points.

Methodist aims to give Smith his milestone victory on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Ferrum.

Late-game errors hurt Methodist in 75-72 defeat at Shenandoah
Lee paces Methodist with 16 points in USA South road defeat

WINCHESTER, Va. – The Methodist Monarch men’s basketball team concluded the first half of its USA South Athletic Conference with another disappointment on Sunday – a 75-72 defeat at Shenandoah. The defeat, the fifth straight for the Monarchs, drops Methodist to 4-14 overall and 2-4 in the USA South.

Leading by one point at the break, Methodist controlled much of the second half, leading twice by eight points. In fact, the Monarchs led 68-62 on a lay-up by Antwin Shuford with six minutes remaining.

That’s when Shenandoah mounted its game-winning rally. The Hornets responded with a 3-point basket by Antwon Townsend to cut the Monarch lead to 68-67 with 4:41 remaining. And then two free throws by Mouktar Fawehinmi gave Shenandoah the lead for good, 69-68 with 3:18 remaining.

The Hornets increased the lead to three points on an offensive rebound and lay-up by Steven Johns with 46 seconds remaining.

Twice the Monarchs trimmed the lead to one point, and had a golden opportunity to win the game with eight seconds remaining on a Shenandoah turnover. However, Methodist turned the ball back over on the inbounds pass, and Johns was fouled with six seconds remaining.

Johns missed both free throws, and Methodist retained the rebound. But the Monarchs again turned it over, throwing away the outlet pass with three seconds remaining.

If there was an omen to the game for the Monarchs, it occurred during pregame when Methodist was hit with a technical foul for dunking during warm-ups. Jared Hale sank both the free throws, and Shenandoah had a 2-0 lead before the opening tip. The Hornets raced out to a quick six-point lead before Methodist regained its composure.

Fred McDonald gave the Monarchs their first lead 14-13 on a fastbreak lay-up at the 12:15 mark. After Shenandoah rallied to tie the game at 22-22, the Monarchs responded with a jump shot by Marchise Jones and a 3-point basket by Dragan Radmanovic to lead 27-22 with 5:53 remaining.

Two free throws by Radmanovic gave the Monarchs a 35-27 lead with 3:46 remaining, and then Robert Lee increased the lead to 10 with a jump shot at the 2:56 mark. However, Shenandoah closed out the half with an 11-2 run to trail 39-38 at halftime.

Lee paced Methodist with 16 points, while McDonald scored 10 points off the bench and Seth Thomas and Radmanovic each added nine points. For Shenandoah (9-8, 1-5), Jeremiah Lawrence scored 18 points, followed by Townsend with 13 points and Fawehinmi with 12 points.

Methodist is home on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. showdown against Greensboro at the Riddle Center.