GRAYSON, Ky.— The Montreat men's basketball team suffered a tight road loss at Kentucky Christian University Tuesday night, falling to the Knights 79-77 in the contest. With the defeat, the Cavaliers moved to 15-7 (13-6 AAC) on the season.
 
Though KCU (5-16, 5-14 AAC) initially jumped out to a 6-5 lead over the Cavs, Montreat responded, utilizing the deep ball to do so. Powered by 3-pointers from Tyler Rodrigue, Djongo-Alan Tchatchouang and Jalen Roberson, in addition to a layup by Mike Flenory, the Cavaliers went up 13-6 only 4:55 into the competition.
 
Despite a 7-for-10 start from the field and a 4-for-7 beginning from deep, Montreat's offense slowed, which allowed the Knights to creep within a one twice before the midway point of the period.
 
Following Tchatchouang's second longball of the game, a quick 7-1 run by the Knights coupled with a 14-8 rebound advantage pulled the home team ahead 26-24 with 7:19 remaining in the opening frame. The Cavaliers answered once more, this time thanks to five consecutive points from Jamiel Wright to re-establish their lead.
 
In a back-and-forth first half that saw neither team hold more than a seven-point edge, the Cavs used nine makes from beyond the arc to hold a 42-37 halftime advantage over KCU. Montreat connected on 50.0 percent of their 18 attempts from three, while shooting 53.3 percent (16-30 FG) from the field in the initial 20 minutes.
 
Roberson (3-3 FG, 2-2 3-PT FG) led all Cavaliers with nine points, while Sam Brown (eight points) also shot a perfect 3-for-3 in the half. Tchatchouang scored eight with one frame to go. Six different Montreat players knocked down a shot from behind the arc, and seven different Cavs recorded a bucket in the first.
 
On the other side, the Knights drained a mere two of their 11 tries from deep (18.2 percent), despite connecting at a 51.5-percent (17-33 FG) rate overall.
 
After Kentucky Christian notched the opening basket of the second half, Rodrigue tallied five straight points to extend the Cavaliers' edge to eight (47-39) only 1:50 into the latter frame. Wright poured in five additional points, but Montreat turnovers kept the home team within striking distance with 10 minutes left.
 
Down the stretch, the miscues benefited the Knights, who whittled away the Cavs' lead over a five-minute long run and eventually knotted the competition at 67 with 5:07 remaining in regulation.
 
As the squads battled and the time on the clock waned, Montreat, who led 74-71 with 2:46 left, turned the ball over on three crucial trips down the court, which resulted in a 6-0 KCU run to give the home team a 78-74 edge with 17 seconds to go. Despite a trio of late free throws by Noah Dunn that inched the Cavs within one with eight seconds on the clock, a shot at the buzzer didn't fall for the visitors, who dropped the game by two.
 
Dunn captained the Cavaliers with 16 points, 11 in the second half. Five Cavs ended in double-figures in scoring as Rodrigue (13, 10 in second half), Roberson (11), Wright (10) and Brown (10) joined Dunn in double-digits.
 
Montreat shot 43.3 percent (13-30 FG) in the second period to end 29-of-61 (47.5 percent) overall. The Cavs made just five of 18 3-point tries (27.8 percent) in the last 20 minutes to finish 38.9 percent with 14 makes on 36 attempts. KCU was not effective from deep (20 percent, 4-20), but used points in the paint and physicality to create opportunities to score. The Knights, who outscored the Cavaliers 44-26 in the paint and who went to the line 22 times to Montreat's eight, were 27 of 52 (51.9 percent) on two-point shots in their triumph.
 
Men's basketball continues its road trip with a game at Milligan on Saturday. Tipoff in Tennessee is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.