MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat College men's basketball team returned to McAlister Gymnasium on Wednesday. The Cavaliers faced the Johnson University Royals in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) showdown. Coming into the matchup, the Royals (17-8, 13-8 AAC) sat in fourth place in the conference standings, two spots ahead of the sixth-place Cavs (15-10, 9-8 AAC). The matchup went to three overtime periods, and at the end of the 55-minute duel, the Royals outlasted the Cavaliers by a score of 123-117.
 
The first half told the story for the rest of the game as the largest lead was only six points. The Cavaliers routinely answered back when the Royals made a basket. Leading 19-13, the Royals controlled the early going of the game. Later in the half, however, Montreat went on a 13-5 run. During the stretch, RJ Manginello hit three consecutive free throws followed by a 3-pointer. A Lawrence Cole layup and five straight points from AJ Baskerville put the Cavs ahead by five with just 5:45 to play in the half (36-31). Manginello also hit a buzzer-beating jumper to only trail by one point at the break (43-42). By the half, Manginello had already scored 16 points to go along with an assist and a rebound.
 
To start the second half, the Cavs slowly bit into the Johnson lead. Jack Keller nailed a triple to tie both teams at 54 points. Zeke Bullington hit a trifecta as well to kickstart the Cavalier takeover. From then on, Montreat led by as many as six points. Johnson recovered and tied the Cavs at 72 with just five minutes left in regulation. The Cavaliers played from behind and rallied the score at the end of the half. Mike Wade found a crucial steal that resulted in a Baskerville layup which sent the game to the first overtime period. At the end of the initial 40 minutes, both teams were knotted at 80.
 
In the opening overtime, each team scored 16 points. Nine of Montreat's points came from Manginello. After just four points in the second half, Manginello took control of the overtime periods. The Royals leveled both teams at 96 after hitting three consecutive free throws late after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.
 
The second overtime mirrored the first in the sense that Montreat led for most of it. This time, Manginello scored eight of the 10 points in the period. The only other basket came from a Cole layup. Montreat could not capitalize with possession of the ball and a tie score. Instead, a third overtime period was required to split these two conference foes.
 
In the final period of overtime, Johnson found its momentum and made the Cavs pay for it. The visitors found their greatest lead of the game in the period, extending it to 12 points (123-111). Johnson shot a perfect 12-for-12 on free throws in the period, making the difference in the game. Although the Cavs ended on a 6-0 run, the deficit was too big. The Royals beat the Cavaliers, 123-117.
 
It was a spectacular night for Manginello, who shattered his previous career high, scoring 45 points against the Royals. Manginello added five rebounds, four assists and a steal to his scoring outburst. He shot 18-for-20 from the charity stripe, with one of those misses being intentional to get an offensive rebound. Keller joined him in double figures with 18 points, as did Baskerville with 16 points and Cole with 15 points of his own. Baskerville and Elijah Carson each led the Cavs with six rebounds. Cole, Carson and Wade each had a team-high two steals in the game.
 
Altogether, the Cavaliers shot 45.3 percent from the floor (39-86 FG), 39.4 percent from beyond the arc (13-33 3-pt FG) and a season-high 92.9 percent from the foul line. Despite the tough loss, Montreat led multiple statistical categories, including assists (12-11), steals (8-6), points off turnovers (30-25) and fast break points (17-14). The Cavs also committed fewer turnovers than Johnson (17-10).
 
"I was reminded today there's nothing like home," said head coach Anthony Barringer. "UNC Asheville was great, but it's McAlister, man. The crowd was great. Our guys played remarkably tonight. Obviously, you want to get a couple stops down the stretch, but it's good to be home."
 
The Cavs will play their next contest on Saturday, Feb. 12 inside McAlister Gymnasium when they host the Union Commonwealth University Bulldogs. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.