Methodist Nips Pfeiffer Men's Basketball, 73-72
Misenheimer, N.C. (Feb. 1, 2023) – Visiting Methodist University scored the go-ahead basket with 12 seconds remaining and withstood a last-second Pfeiffer shot to claim a 73-72 USA South win on Wednesday night in Merner Gym.
After being down 35-31 at halftime, Methodist erased a six-point (56-50) Falcon lead in the second half after embarking on a 10-4 spurt to jump ahead 60-58 following a pair of De'Shaun Kee free throws at 5:49.
The two teams would exchange the lead four times in the waning minutes of the second half. Methodist would go ahead for good with 1:58 on the clock after a Montell Moore jump shot, making it 69-67. A Falcon free throw at 1:44 trimmed the Monarch lead to 69-68, but a layup extended their lead to 71-68 at 1:19.
Pfeiffer got a basket from
Daniel Fulp (Winston-Salem, N.C.) with 49 seconds to play to make it 71-70, but another shot from Moore again boosted the MU lead to 73-70.
Following a timeout, Pfeiffer's
Rashamel Butler (Ridgeland, S.C.) got a shot to fall with 12 seconds left to bring Pfeiffer to 73-72. A foul then sent Methodist to the free throw line with 10 seconds to play, and the front end of the one-and-one opportunity missed, allowing Pfeiffer the opportunity for the buzzer-beating attempt.
Butler's jumper from about 15-feet out missed the mark, sending Methodist to the 73-72 win.
Individually, Montell Moore lead Methodist with 16 points while teammate Derrion Hicklen had 14. Bot Moore and Hicklen also had six rebounds each.
Pfeiffer's Fulp led the way with 20 point and six rebounds while teammate
M.J. Armstrong (Gastonia, N.C.) had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Daymon Beckwith (Jacksonville, N.C.) also had 12 points to round out the double-figure scorers for the Falcons.
The Falcons will return to play on Saturday, Feb. 4 with a 4:00 p.m. matchup with N.C. Wesleyan which will be the second game of a doubleheader with the Pfeiffer women's basketball team, who is also taking on N.C. Wesleyan.
