MONTREAT, N.C.— JaJa Davis scored the 1,000^th point of his Cavalier career as Montreat men's basketball rolled past the St. Andrews University Knights on Thursday night in McAlister Gymnasium, 103-72. The win was Montreat's seventh consecutive victory in Appalachian Athletic Conference play, moving the Cavs to 12-4 (10-3 AAC). The victory also moved Montreat to a perfect 7-0 at home.
 
Both sides traded early 3-point baskets, but it was St. Andrews who grabbed an initial footing in the contest, thanks in large part to good defensive effort. Despite only shooting 38.5 percent (5-13 FG) through six and a half minutes, the Knights held the Cavaliers to just 25.0 percent (3-12 FG) over the same stretch.
 
Montreat's offense came to life moments later, however, with Jaylan Shelton, Davis and Jamiel Wright all finishing around the rim to spur a 9-0 run. St. Andrews (1-15, 1-12 AAC), who hit five 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, closed the gap to two points (22-20) just minutes later, but the deficit didn't remain narrow for long.
 
Davis, who needed just six points to reach 1,000 during his career at Montreat, hit the major milestone with 7:54 left in the opening frame. As he's done throughout his Cavalier career, Davis grabbed an offensive rebound and powered up through contact on the left block to convert the basket and earn an additional free throw.
 
"It means a lot because in high school, [people] basically said I couldn't play basketball and I wouldn't be able to get this far and play college ball, so scoring that 1,000^th point means a lot," Davis said. "And shoutout to my teammates for helping me get there, because without them, it wouldn't be 1,000."
 
It takes a lot of effort and energy to amass 1,000 points in a career, something not lost on Davis' head coach.
 
"I'm really proud and excited for JaJa on this great accomplishment," said head coach Garrett Jones. "He's worked really hard to put himself and his teammates in a position to have success during his time here at Montreat."
 
The Davis milestone was just one piece of a stretch in which the Cavaliers dominated play. Over the final 8:30 of the first half, Montreat outscored St. Andrews by 16 points (27-11). Tyler Rodrigue and Shelton hit late triples to push the Cavalier lead out to its largest entering intermission, 49-31.
 
Despite the slow shooting start, the Cavaliers finished the half with a torrid stretch that boosted its shooting numbers significantly to 51.4 percent (19-37 FG) from the field and 36.8 percent (7-19 3pt FG) from deep. Meanwhile, SAU managed to make 34.2 percent (13-38 FG) of its attempts from the floor and 33.3 percent (5-15 3pt FG) of its shots from behind the arc. Noah Dunn paced the Cavaliers in the first half with 14 points, while Davis nearly added a double-double with 12 points and eight boards.
 
After winning the first matchup of the home-and-home on Nov. 23 in Laurinburg, N.C. (94-80), the Cavaliers were just 20 minutes away from completing the season sweep. The Montreat offense continued to hold up its end of the bargain, connecting on 16 of its first 24 shots (66.7 percent) to balloon its advantage out to 32 points (89-57).
 
Montreat, which entered the game averaging the fourth-most points per game in the NAIA (88.3 PPG), surpassed that average with over six and a half minutes remaining in the contest. The Cavaliers also entered the night scoring 94.0 points per outing in McAlister Gymnasium and surpassed that mark with just under three minutes left. Sixteen different Cavaliers saw action on Thursday night, while 11 different Cavs recorded a basket.
 
The Cavaliers led by at least six possessions (16+ points) throughout the entire second half. Montreat also reached 100 points for the third time this season, a feat it had not accomplished since the 2018-19 season. All three 100-point performances this season have come within the confines of McAlister Gym.
 
 "We love playing in front of our fans, and we love just playing in our gym," Davis noted. "Who doesn't like playing at home? That's just what we do. That's just our identity—protect home court at all costs."
 
Montreat had a major edge over St. Andrews in nearly every statistical category, including field goal percentage (51.3-37.3), 3-point shooting percentage (40.0-29.6), free throw shooting percentage (77.8-61.5), points in the paint (44-32), points off turnovers (24-7) and bench points (42-10).
 
Of the 11 Cavaliers to score a basket, five reached double figures in scoring. Davis led the way with 21 points and 11 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season. Dunn added 16 points, Wright poured in 12 points, Shelton contributed 11 points and Mike Flenory scored 10 points. Flenory also paced the Cavaliers in assists with four helpers. Jaylen Steele padded the Montreat victory with all nine of his points coming over a 93-second stretch late in the contest.
 
"Tonight was a great team win," Jones added. "We will continue to focus on getting better as we hit a tough stretch of games this last month."
 
The Montreat men's basketball team is set to return to action on Saturday with a home conference contest against Point University. Tipoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. inside McAlister Gymnasium.