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January 2 2005
 Late rally lifts Virginia Wesleyan past Methodist 77-68 Lee scores season-high 24 points on 6-for-6 shooting from 3-point range VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The New Year did mark a victorious beginning for the Methodist Monarch men’s basketball team, but showed plenty of promise for the Monarchs in a 77-68 defeat at Virginia Wesleyan on Monday at the Batten Center. The defeat drops Methodist to 2-8 overall in its continuous murderous pre-conference schedule. Virginia Wesleyan, which was ranked 11th in the preseason NCAA Division III Top 25 poll, is the third team on the Methodist schedule that advanced to the NCAA Division III National Tournament last season. In addition, it’s the fifth team overall that advanced to postseason play on the Methodist slate. Methodist suffered the tough defeat despite arguably its best shooting performance on the season. The Monarchs shot an impressive 55 percent from the field for the game, including a whopping 69 percent (9-for-13) from 3-point range. In the second half alone, Methodist shot 61 percent from the field, and 57 percent from 3-point range. Junior guard Robert Lee had a big impact on that percentage, scoring a season-high 24 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from 3-point range. Eugene Grant scored 17 points for Methodist, while Seth Thomas scored 11 points. There were seven ties and five lead-changes in the first half before Virginia Wesleyan led 33-27 at halftime. In the second half, the Marlins had an early 10-point lead before a 13-2 run by Methodist gave the Monarchs a 40-39 lead with 14:54 remaining. The Monarchs stretched the lead to three points as Grant scored on a lay-up, followed by a free throw by Travis McBryde made the Methodist lead 59-56 with 9:23 remaining. However, Virginia Wesleyan took the lead for good on D’Juan Tucker’s 3-point basket at the 8:24 mark. The best that Methodist could trim the lead was 66-63 on a jumper by Grant with three minutes remaining. Tyler Fantin scored 16 points to pace Virginia Wesleyan (8-3), followed by Tucker with 14 points and Brandon Adair with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Marlins out-rebounded Methodist 32-24. Methodist plays host to Piedmont on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Riddle Center. |
