Standing in the way of the Monarchs (17-9) and the USA South Tournament championship and automatic NCAA Division III National Tournament bid is the Shenandoah Hornets. The two teams square off in the championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. at North Carolina Wesleyan. Methodist will be playing in the tournament championship for the first time since 1999.
The game was basically a “Tale of Two Halves.”
Similar to its victory over Christopher Newport in Thursday’s quarterfinals, North Carolina Wesleyan came out gunning against Methodist. The Bishops shot an impressive 49 percent from the field, including 40 percent from 3-point range, in building a 44-34 halftime lead.
Methodist, meanwhile, shot 35 percent from the field. However, the Monarchs managed only 23 percent (3-for-13) shooting from 3-point range and 17 percent (1-for-6) from the free throw line.
After Methodist took the early lead, North Carolina Wesleyan went in front and led 21-11 on two Keith Sudler free throws at the 9:43 mark. A jump shot by Ryan Sinclair increased the Bishop lead to 25-13 with 8:36 remaining. That was the largest first-half lead for North Carolina Wesleyan, which equaled it twice before intermission.
However, the Monarchs returned the favor in the second half, shooting 52 percent from the field and 55 percent from 3-point range. North Carolina Wesleyan, meanwhile, struggled, shooting only 27 percent (10-for-37) from the field and only 16 percent from 3-point range.
Methodist trailed by 11 points, 49-38 with 17 minutes remaining in the game when the Monarchs took control of the game with an amazing 30-10 run over the next 13 minutes.
Dragan Radmanovic’s 3-point basket at the 10:57 mark tied the game at 55-55, and then the freshman forward gave the Monarchs their first lead since early in the game on another 3-point basket with 9:49 remaining. Another Radmanovic long-range bomb gave Methodist its largest lead of the game 68-59 with 4:50 remaining.
North Carolina Wesleyan was able to trim the deficit to four points with three minutes remaining, but Methodist answered with eight straight free throws in the final 35 seconds of the game.
Sam Porter paced Methodist with his 12th double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Eugene Grant scored 14 points and Arthur Hatch also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Radmanovic scored a career-high 12 points, while Eddie Lamar and Ivan Little each added 10 points.
Sudler scored 15 points for North Carolina Wesleyan (16-11), followed by Donta Jenkins with 13 points and Sinclair scored 11 points.