photo gallery: https://clewisncwc.smugmug.com/2-22-2020-M-Basketball/

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College men's basketball team went on a 19-4 run down the stretch to defeat the top team in the West Division, Covenant College (Ga.), 81-70 on Senior day Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Damon McDowell led the Bishops with 24 points, all coming in the 2nd half, along with 8 rebounds in the win. The Bishops shot nearly 51 percent overall for the game and were 9-of-15 from three-point range in the win including four threes from McDowell.

Wesleyan shot an impressive 61 percent in the first half en route to taking a 41-34 lead at the break as they held Covenant (14-11, 11-7 USA South) to under 40 percent shooting. The Bishops then used their big run down the stretch to pull away from the Scots and go on for the 11-point win improving to 9-8 in the conference and the #4 seed in next week's tournament.

Senior center A.J. Frye also had a good game scoring 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting along with 5 boards and 3 assists. Fellow senior, Rico Bullock, also scored in double-figures picking up 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting while senior guard Cameron Martin scored 7 points with 4 rebounds as well.

Freshman guard Garrett Phillips scored 8 points in the win while sophomore forward Isaiah Lewis tallied 6 points and 3 boards as well.

Wesleyan improves to 13-12 on the season and 9-3 at home, and will next go on the road for the Quarterfinals of the USA South Tournament on Tuesday at top-seeded Averett University (Va.) at 7:30 PM.