ASHEVILLE, N.C.— The Montreat men's basketball team hosted an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest versus the Kentucky Christian University Knights Saturday afternoon inside Kimmel Arena on the campus of UNC Asheville. Behind a 55-point second half and a pair of massive offensive performances, the Cavaliers sprinted past the visitors, 93-71, and improved to 6-2 (1-1 AAC) on the year.
 
Jack Keller started off his big afternoon with a trio of buckets that put the home side on top, 11-6, roughly five minutes into the showdown. Kentucky Christian (0-5, 0-2 AAC) tried to answer, but Jaydin Spillman-Martin poured in five points of his own to push the lead out to six (16-10) after nearly eight minutes of action.
 
Refusing to let the Cavs pull away, the Knights kept responding until they eventually tied the score at 28-28 with 3:17 left in the half. Dyllan Barnwell, AJ Baskerville and Jarden Maze ensured that KCU trailed at the break, though, and the hosts entered the intermission with a 38-35 advantage.
 
Two quick Barnwell baskets and a Keller triple pushed Montreat's lead up to 45-37 after merely 2:31. The Cavaliers' offense ran through Keller for the majority of the second half as the Houston, Texas native scored or assisted on a stretch of 17 points. A four-point play punctuated Keller's dominant sequence that helped maintain the eight-point edge (66-58) with 7:33 to go.
 
Maze added 11 points, including an emphatic dunk, over the ensuing 5:39 to put the game away for good. The Cavs outscored Kentucky Christian 23-7 across the final 5:14, closing out a 93-71 blowout win in the process.

"We challenged our guys in a lot of areas after the CIU game, and they answered the call," said head coach Anthony Barringer. "In the three years I've coached at Montreat, this could be the hardest that I've ever seen a team play. This type of response speaks volumes to the guys in our locker room. It was great that we shot the ball well, but to see the toughness, enthusiasm and effort that they played with was a joy to witness."
 
The hosts shot better than their counterparts in all phases. Montreat went 30-for-63 (47.6 percent) from the field, 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from deep and 21-for-23 (91.3 percent) at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Knights shot just 38.5 percent (25-65 FG) overall, 22.7 percent (5-22 3-pt FG) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (16-24 FT) at the stripe. KCU held the edge in second chance points (17-8), points off turnovers (19-11) and points in the paint (36-28), but the Cavaliers dominated the glass overall (42-29).
 
Keller paced all scorers with 28 points, while Maze contributed 23 points. Both players notched six boards and a pair of assists. Baskerville (15 points) and Spillman-Martin (12 points) also reached double-figures in scoring. Barnwell led the squad with eight boards, and RJ Manginello dished out six assists. Nine Cavs registered at least three rebounds, and five tallied at least two assists.
 
Montreat begins a three-game road trip on Wednesday when it battles Bluefield University in another AAC clash. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Bluefield, Va.