GRAYSON, Ky.— The Montreat men's basketball team traveled to Kentucky Tuesday night for its final contest before a short break for Thanksgiving. In the matchup against the Kentucky Christian University Knights, the Cavaliers triumphed 89-87 thanks to a buzzer-beater from Jamiel Wright, moving to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play.
 
Elochukwu Eze collected a pair of buckets in the opening few possessions, but four threes from KCU powered the home team out to a 16-6 advantage four minutes into the contest. Shooting from deep helped the Cavaliers close the gap as Collin Mills, Darius Bryant, Tyler Murray and Wright all knocked down shots from beyond the arc to pull the team within one (27-26) midway through the frame.
 
Though the Knights continued to shoot better from 3-point range into the latter portion of the first half, a plethora of tries from three enabled the Cavs to tie the game at 29 with 7:44 on the clock. Murray then gave Montreat its first lead since early in the matchup with another 3-pointer 1:01 later as the Cavaliers held a 32-31 edge briefly.
 
In a high-scoring and fast-paced period, Kentucky Christian (2-4, 2-4 AAC) took command in the latter stages. Kourtney Ware, who ended the opening frame with a game-high 27 points, made 10 of his 15 shots from the field as the Knights pulled out to another double-digit lead. The home side carried a 54-44 advantage into the break thanks to nearly 60 percent shooting (20-35 FG) and seven threes on 17 attempts (41.2 percent).
 
Montreat was led by Mills, who connected on four of his eight shots for 10 points over the initial 20 minutes of action. Eight different Cavs scored as the team shot 43.6 percent overall (17-39 FG) and a mere 28.0 percent from three on 25 attempts. Wright added nine points, three players collected a trio of rebounds and Gabriel Rivera and Mike Flenory each registered three assists with one frame to play.
 
After the Knights built a 12-point lead, the Cavaliers stormed back thanks to eight consecutive points as the visitors utilized trips to the line and an and-one to trim their deficit to just three (59-56). Mills guided the team to within one and Eze re-established a Montreat advantage (62-61) with a layup 6:24 into the second period.
 
Much like the Cavs did in the first half, KCU cooled from deep and committed a series of fouls to give its opposition quality chances. The Cavaliers eventually extended their lead to 65-61, completing their 19-2 run.
 
The Knights answered to go up 75-67 before the Cavs responded once more with 13 straight points over a span of 5:01 to lead 80-75 in a back-and-forth second half. Kentucky Christian's poor shot selection paired with Montreat defense kept the home team without a field goal from 9:48 to 3:58 on the clock. KCU did chip away before taking an 83-82 lead with 104 seconds remaining.
 
The final two minutes featured four of the second half's seven lead changes. While the Cavs trailed by three with 24 seconds left, a quick layup from Mills followed by a Knight turnover set the table for Wright's heroics. Flenory grabbed an offensive rebound with four seconds remaining and kicked the ball to Mills, who made the extra pass to find a wide-open Wright on the right wing. The Atlanta, Ga. native splashed home the attempt from deep as the buzzer went off, giving the Cavaliers a 2-point win.

"There is no such thing as a bad win," stated head coach Anthony Barringer. "In the first half, it looked like we were playing our third game in four days. At the half, we challenged their toughness and they responded as they always do. I'm really proud of the grit our guys showed tonight," he concluded. 
 
The Cavs, who outscored their opponents 45-33 in the second half, ended the night with 36 makes on 70 tries from the field (51.4 percent), while Wright's final shot was the tenth connection from three on 33 attempts (30.3 percent). KCU drained 49.2 percent of its shots (31-63 FG), including 34.4 percent of its 3-pointers (11-32 3-pt FG). Montreat forced 12 turnovers, producing 24 points off Kentucky Christian miscues. The Cavs also claimed a slight edge in rebounds (32-29), assists (13-12), blocks (3-1) and steals (7-6).
 
Mills led the team with 25 points on his efficient 11-for-18 shooting night, while Wright poured in 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Murray (13) came off the bench to round out those in double figures in scoring for the Cavs while also grabbing a team-high eight boards, Wright added seven and three players captained the squad with three helpers. Ware finished his night with a game-best 38 points for the home team.
 
Men's basketball continues its season with a road matchup at Reinhardt University on Nov. 30. Tipoff in Waleska, Ga. is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.