MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat men's basketball team needed all 40 minutes during an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) nail-biter against the Reinhardt University Eagles Wednesday night, but the Cavaliers held on inside McAlister Gymnasium, 64-60, winning their sixth consecutive game at home in the process. With the triumph, the Cavs improved to 12-7 (10-6 AAC) this year.
 
Three-pointers proved to be the early story as both teams knocked down a trio of triples in the opening six minutes of action. Darius Bryant drilled a pair of 3-pointers, while Michael Erbeck connected on another deep shot to stay level with Reinhardt, 11-11, just 6:01 into the contest.
 
Reinhardt (11-10, 11-7 AAC) owned an advantage on the scoreboard midway through the half behind a stretch in which it converted on five of six attempts from the floor. The visitors seized a 21-15 lead momentarily, but the advantage was short-lived thanks to a 10-1 Cavalier spurt. In a half with several runs and four lead changes, Montreat held Reinhardt scoreless for 4:43 while making five of its next seven field goal tries to jump in front of the visitors, 25-22, with 4:49 remaining until halftime.
 
While the Eagles once again surged to retake a 28-25 lead, the Cavs outscored their opponent over the final 2:15 of the initial half. Tyler Rodrigue hit a 3-pointer, CamRon Sias converted a fastbreak layup and Elochukwu Eze provided a tip-in to put the Cavs in the lead by a bucket at the break (32-30).
 
Reinhardt entered halftime with a slightly higher shooting percentage than the Cavaliers thanks to a 12-for-28 showing from the floor (42.9 percent). Montreat connected on 40.6 percent of its looks overall (13-32 FG), but its 5-for-12 clip from 3-point range (41.7 percent) surpassed the Eagles' 3-for-15 effort (20.0 percent). The Cavs also owned a 7-3 advantage on the offensive glass, which translated to a 6-2 second-chance edge. Bryant led the Cavaliers with nine points, while eight different Cavs made a basket in the first half. Four Cavs also hauled in three rebounds, and three Cavs dished out two assists.
 
Montreat's defense sparked an 11-2 run to start the second half. The Cavaliers' defense held the Eagles without a made field goal for the opening 6:14 of the frame, and the home team's offense saw made buckets from Jamiel Wright, Gabriel Rivera, Jarden Maze and Mike Flenory to claim the game's first double-digit lead (43-32).
 
After the visitors trimmed their deficit to 43-37, Wright and Tyler Murray took over on offense while the defense racked up stops. During another 4-minute Reinhardt scoreless streak, Wright and Murray combined for an 8-0 run to hand the hosts their largest lead of the game at 51-37 with 7:39 left in regulation.
 
Running out of time, the Eagles ratcheted up their intensity on both ends of the floor. The new-found energy and effort resulted in a 16-2 run over 4:39 to even the score at 53.
 
Despite suddenly losing its sizable lead, Montreat made just enough plays down the stretch to finish off the Eagles and claim their sixth consecutive win inside McAlister Gym. Wright buried a deep 3-pointer to end a 4-minute scoring drought and push the Cavs ahead by three points (56-53). After Reinhardt tied the game with 1:08 remaining, Bryant swished a baseline jumper, and the trio of Maze, Murray and Eze sealed the contest at the free throw line. When the final buzzer sounded, the Cavaliers proved victorious on the scoreboard, 64-60.

"I'm so proud of our guys; this was by far the best we have guarded all year," said head coach Anthony Barringer. "We stood tall down the stretch and stayed together when Reinhardt went on a run. We pride ourselves on the defensive side of the ball, so to see us guard the way we did was very gratifying."
 
The Cavs shot 39.3 percent overall (24-61 FG) and 36.0 percent from beyond the arc (9-25 3-pt FG) Wednesday night, both higher marks than the Eagles' effort from the field (20-55 FG; 36.4 percent) and from deep (5-25 3-pt FG; 20.0 percent). Montreat finished the game with a 41-28 rebounding edge that included 12 offensive boards, and the Cavaliers also handed out 14 assists on their 24 made baskets.
 
Eleven different Cavs made a basket in the victory as Wright led the way in scoring with 14 points; Bryant joined his teammate in double figures behind an 11-point showing. Eze led all players with 10 rebounds and led the Cavs with three blocks, and Chris Moore paced everyone with four assists.

"We talk about going 1-0 all the time, about focusing on staying in the moment--we did that today," Barringer added."
 
The Montreat men's basketball team wraps up its 3-game homestand on Saturday when AAC rival Milligan comes to town. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. inside McAlister Gymnasium.