MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat men's basketball team played host to the Johnson University-Tennessee Royals for a conference contest inside McAlister Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. Following 40 minutes of action, the Cavaliers edged the Royals 67-64 to get back in the win column and improve to 12-10 overall and 9-9 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play.
 
Johnson (12-9, 11-7 AAC) began the contest hot from the field, including a stretch of four straight makes to lead 9-5 a mere 1:51 into the game. The gap floated around a single possession before the Royals went up 18-13 five minutes in.
 
Despite the early deficit, the Cavaliers utilized a swift 8-0 run powered by 3-pointers from RJ Manginello and Jack Keller to re-take their lead at 21-18 midway through the opening half.
 
The visitors used a 12-4 run to go up 30-25; however, the Cavs responded with a stretch of their own. Montreat scored 13 of the ensuing 17 points and kept the Royals off the scoreboard for a span of 5:31 late in the half to grab a 38-34 advantage. The Cavaliers went into the break with a 38-36 lead.
 
Jack Keller captained the Cavs in the first half with 10 points as one of seven Montreat players to score. Gabriel Rivera led the squad with five rebounds through 20 minutes.
 
In the second period, an 8-2 run consisting of four points each from Rivera and Collin Mills handed the home side a 46-38 advantage with 16:05 left in the competition. The Royals began chipping away at the largest lead for either team (8) by controlling play over the middle of the frame, resulting in scoring 17 of 21 points and leading 57-52 with 8:40 remaining.
 
From there, the Cavaliers used a pair of makes to cut the gap to one point before back-to-back layups from Rivera tied the game at 60 with 3:39 on the clock. Michael Erbeck gave the Cavs the lead at 63-62 with his 3-point basket with 2:46 left, Mills drained a shot to make the gap three with two minutes to go, the Cavs forced a turnover in the closing seconds and Rivera salted the 3-point triumph (67-64) away at the free-throw line.
 
"This was a great bounce-back win after a heartbreaker at CIU. We are guarding better than we have in awhile and it's great to see. Obviously there is still work to be done, but we are finding our stride," said head coach Anthony Barringer on the victory.
 
Rivera (16 points) and Keller (14 points) each concluded 6-for-10 from the field, while Mills scored 13 and Erbeck added 11 points. Overall, the Cavaliers shot better both from the field (46.6 percent; 27-58 FG) and from deep (38.9 percent; 7-18 3-pt FG) than the Royals, who made 39.4 percent of their total tries (26-66 FG) and 26.7 percent of their 3-point looks (4-15 3-pt FG). Erbeck snatched a team-high eight rebounds and the trio of Elochukwu Eze, Rivera and Mills all secured six.
 
Men's basketball now heads to Bluefield University for a matchup with the Rams on Tuesday. Game time is expected at 7:30 p.m.