Methodist has now won three times in the last four games against Christopher Newport in the Riddle Center. The victory clinches Methodist the third seed in next week’s USA South Athletic Conference, and the two-time defending tournament champion Monarchs will play host to Ferrum on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
All five seniors – Aaron Bahm, Eugene Grant, Marchise Jones, Michael McEvoy and Seth Thomas – started in their final regular season games at the Riddle Center, and they produced. Thomas recorded his second straight double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Grant scored 19 points and dished out six assists. In addition, McEvoy played arguably his best game in a Methodist uniform with a career-high 10 points and five blocked shots.
And Bahm, who had seen action in only two games this season, scored six points on 3-for-4 shooting from the field.
It was the underclassmen, however, that set the tone for Methodist. Fred McDonald’s 3-point basket gave the Monarchs a 24-14 lead at the nine-minute mark in the first half. Grant then nailed a 3-point basket and Thomas followed with a lay-up to make the Methodist lead 29-15 with 7:38 remaining.
A 3-point basket by Donta Selden trimmed the Methodist lead to 36-31 with two minutes remaining, but the Monarchs took a 38-31 lead at halftime on Dragan Radmanovic’s lay-up with 51 seconds remaining.
Methodist never trailed in the second half, but had to fight off Captain rallies more than once. Grant gave the Monarchs a 59-47 lead with a jump shot in the lane at the 13-minute mark. However, twice when Christopher Newport came within striking distance, the Monarchs answered with two big 3-point baskets by Radmanovic.
In the final three minutes, Methodist converted 13 free throws to seal the victory.
In addition to the seniors, Radmanovic scored 13 points for Methodist, while Robert Lee added nine points. The Monarchs out-rebounded Christopher Newport 40-34.
For Christopher Newport (18-7, 9-3), Korey Lewis scored 17 points, while Mark Blasingame recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Selden and Edward Riley both scored 13 points and Jeremy Romeo scored 11 points.
METHODIST 89, CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT 77 CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT (18-7, 9-3) LEWIS, Korey 8-16 1-2 17; BLASINGAME, Mark 6-14 4-5 16; SELDEN, Donta 5-10 0-0 13; RILEY, Edward 5-10 3-3 13; ROMEO, Jeremy 4-8 0-1 11; CLAXTON, Jahmar 2-5 2-2 6; BARTON, Davon 0-2 1-3 1; COLEMAN, Matt 0-0 0-0 0; PURDHAM, Adam 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 11-16 77. METHODIST (9-16, 7-5) THOMAS, Seth 9-16 3-4 23; GRANT, Eugene 5-15 7-9 19; RADMANOVIC, Dragan 4-10 2-2 13; MCEVOY, Michael 4-6 2-2 10; LEE, Robert 2-4 4-6 9; MCDONALD, Fred 2-3 2-2 7; BAHM, Aaron 3-4 0-0 6; MCBRYDE, Travis 0-2 2-2 2; SHUFORD, Antwin 0-0 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, Brandon 0-0 0-0 0; JONES, Marchise 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 22-27 89. Christopher Newport........... 31 46 - 77 Methodist..................... 38 51 - 89 3-point goals-Christopher Newport 6-15 (SELDEN, Donta 3-6; ROMEO, Jeremy 3-7; BARTON, Davon 0-1; PURDHAM, Adam 0-1), Methodist 9-21 (RADMANOVIC, Dragan 3-7; GRANT, Eugene 2-5; THOMAS, Seth 2-5; MCDONALD, Fred 1-1; LEE, Robert 1-2; MCEVOY, Michael 0-1). Fouled out--Christopher Newport-None, Methodist-None. Rebounds-Christopher Newport 34 (BLASINGAME, Mark 14), Methodist 40 (THOMAS, Seth 12). Assists-Christopher Newport 17 (BARTON, Davon 6), Methodist 18 (GRANT, Eugene 6). Total fouls-Christopher Newport 21, Methodist 15. A-422