ASHEVILLE, N.C.— Starting off 2025 inside Kimmel Arena, the Montreat men's basketball team welcomed the Truett McConnell University Bears to Asheville, N.C. Saturday evening for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) showdown. Headed down to the wire, sophomore RJ Manginello sunk the game-winning basket with less than two seconds remaining, handing the Cavaliers an 80-79 triumph and giving Anthony Barringer his 100^th career collegiate head coaching victory. Montreat also improved to 10-5 (4-3 AAC) with the effort.
 
Truett McConnell (5-7, 2-4 AAC) notched two of the game's initial three baskets, but the Cavs owned a significant advantage on the scoreboard by the midpoint of the opening half. A pair of AJ Baskerville triples put the hosts on top twice early in the frame, while Jack Keller, Lawrence Cole and Jarden Maze also registered buckets as part of a 20-5 run. Maze's layup with 8:24 remaining in the half gave Montreat its largest lead of the night (28-13).
 
The Bears spent the rest of the first period chipping away at that deficit, and their persistence paid dividends. A 22-6 stretch enabled the visitors to reclaim the lead with under a minute to play in the half; however, Chris Moore drained a floating 3-pointer to surge back ahead right before the buzzer, 37-35.
 
In a second half that featured 12 lead changes, 11 of those occurred across the contest's final five minutes. TMU led for a large chunk of the frame, building itself an eight-point advantage on four separate occasions. Despite the head start, Baskerville and company did just enough to erase each one of those leads.
 
Manginello played hero in the waning moments of the ballgame, hitting a driving layup with less than two seconds to go. The Houston, Texas native's bucket seized an 80-79 advantage on the scoreboard and ultimately captured Barringer's 100^th career win as a collegiate head coach. Barringer now has 42 victories in his two-plus seasons in charge of the Cavaliers.
 
"First and foremost, I am so grateful for who God is," Barringer shared. "I have been blessed with incredible players and coaches. It was really cool to be able to have my family here with me to celebrate that moment."
 
Montreat had the shooting edge as it ended the night 30-for-70 overall (42.9 percent) and 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from deep. Meanwhile, the Bears shot 39.7 percent from the field (25-63 FG) and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc (3-14 3-pt FG). TMU owned the edge at the free-throw line (78.8 percent to 56.5 percent) and on the glass (47-37).
 
Baskerville achieved his eighth double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Maze (21 points), Keller (12 points) and Cole (10 points) also reached double figures in scoring. Manginello led all players with four assists, and Dyllan Barnwell snatched nine boards.
 
Montreat returns to Kimmel Arena on Tuesday for a league matchup versus the Columbia College Koalas. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Asheville, N.C.