November 8, 2007
Kazakhstan Defeats Methodist 85-70 in Exhibition
Methodist senior Billy McDade scored 25 points to lead the Monarchs

FAYETTEVILLE, NC-  The Methodist men's basketball team played host to the Astana Tigers of Kazakhstan in an exhibition game Thursday night. The Tigers are traveling through the area playing a series of exhibition games sponsored by Athletes in Action. The Monarchs stayed with the team early before the Tigers pulled away for the 85-70 win.

Methodist took an early lead to start the game 6-0 on two three-pointers by seniors Brian Lane and Billy McDade. Astana took a 17-16 lead with 10:56 remaining in the first half and never trailed for the remainder of the game. Lane's layup with 4:39 remaining closed the lead to three for the Tigers, but they closed the half on an 11-2 run to take the 39-27 lead at halftime.

The Tigers led by as many as 23 in the second half, but the Monarchs made a late push in the final few minutes of play. With 2:19 on the clock, McDade grabbed a steal and went to the other end of the court for the dunk. Junior Antwin Shuford made a stop for the Monarchs with the steal and fed McDade for the layup to close the gap to eight. Astana called a 30 second timeout to regroup with 2:08 to go and went on to win 85-70.

The Monarchs were led by McDade with 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Lane added 12 points with freshman LeuMichael Smith scoring 10. Junior Travis McBryde led on the boards with eight rebounds.

Astana had six players in double figures with Yevgeni Isakov leading the team with 18 points.

The Monarchs will travel to Western Carolina on Wednesday night for an exhibition at 7 pm.

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