DAYTON, TENN.— The Montreat men's basketball team played its final Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest in 2021 on Saturday afternoon, claiming its third-straight victory with a road win over the Bryan College Lions, 80-68. With the result, the Cavaliers improved to 7-3 (6-3 AAC).
 
After scoring 100 and 107 points in its previous two games, the Cavaliers tried to pick up right where they left off, and for a few minutes, they did. JaJa Davis and Mike Flenory each hit a 3-pointer in the opening 90 seconds, and a Noah Dunn jumper put the Cavs ahead of the Lions by an 8-0 score line; however, Bryan (7-5, 4-4 AAC) quickly closed the gap and knotted the game up at 10 nearly four and a half minutes into the contest. The Lions would extend their run out to 17-4, claiming a 17-12 edge over the Cavaliers through 6:38.
 
Trailing 23-20 with 10:44 left in the first frame, the Cavaliers hit an offensive dry spell. Over the next 8:31, Montreat failed to register a made field goal. The Cavaliers' defense needed to tighten up, and it did just that, holding Bryan to only 10 points over that same stretch to keep the Cavs within eight (33-25). Montreat started to hit some shots late, with Jamiel Wright, Dunn and Tyler Rodrigue drained a trio of triples over the final 2:12 of the half to trail by a single point (35-34) entering the break.
 
Despite the extended field goal drought, the Cavaliers worked their overall shooting percentage up to 33.3 percent (12-36 FG), and the late first half 3-point buckets inched the shooting from deep to 27.8 percent (5-18 3-pt FG). Bryan shot slightly better from the field at 39.4 percent (13-33), but the Lions also struggled to connect consistently from behind the arc at 28.6 percent (4-14 3-pt FG). The two sides combined at the charity stripe to hit 10 of 11 total attempts.
 
The individual scoring on both teams was quite balanced through 20 minutes of game action, with eight players on each team making a field goal and each team's leading scorer (Davis and Michael Cody) recording nine points.
 
Eli Idlett got the Cavaliers started out of the gate in the second half, scoring his team's first six points and putting Montreat back up by one (40-39). But Bryan's response came swiftly, utilizing shots around the rim and trips to the free throw line to jump back on top and extend the lead close to double digits, 52-44, with 11:31 remaining in regulation.
 
Trailing by eight, the Cavaliers dug deep and found another gear, playing their best basketball of the afternoon over the next seven minutes. During a 6:52 stretch of game action, the Cavs flipped their 52-44 deficit and turned it into their largest lead of the game, 71-56. Montreat spurred its 27-4 run on both ends of the floor, shooting 10-for-12 from the field with six different Cavaliers contributing to the 27 points. Meanwhile, Montreat held Bryan to just one made basket on nine attempts and four turnovers during the same span.
 
Suddenly up by 15 points, the Cavaliers just had to take care of the basketball and make their free throws to close out the contest. Montreat did just that, converting on five free throws down the stretch to fend off any Bryan push and complete the victory, 80-68.
 
"Bryan is a very well-coached, and it's always hard to win road games in this league, so I'm really proud of our group for stepping up to the challenge and battling every possession to find a way to win," said head coach Garrett Jones.
 
The Cavaliers shot 42.4 percent (28-66 FG) from the floor but connected on just seven of its 26 3-pointers (26.9 percent). Montreat made up the difference offensively at the free throw line, hitting 17 of its 22 takes (77.3 percent). Dunn scored a game-high 18 points on Saturday, while Davis recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Davis also led the Cavaliers with four of the team's 18 assists. Wright and Jaylan Shelton both reached double figures in scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Defensively, the Cavs held Bryan to 40 percent (26-65 FG) from the field and 6-for-24 from behind the arc. Bryan made 10 of its 12 attempted free throws and turned the ball over 16 times.
 
"We are taking some positive steps on the defensive end—that's been a focus for us," Jones added. "However, it's important we continue to improve and understand the importance of going to work every day to continue to get better."
 
Montreat men's basketball starts a three-game non-conference road trip on Monday against Carolina University. Tipoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.