Greyson Collins(Caldwell Academy) Posts Career-high 31 Points as Greensboro College Men’s Basketball Falls to N.C. Wesleyan

Courtesy of Bryan Jones, Greensboro College Sports Information Director:

GREENSBORO, N.C.—-Greensboro College’s Greyson Collins(Caldwell Academy) posted a new career-high with 31 points as the Pride fell in a close Sunday afternoon USA South Athletic Conference (USA South) contest over North Carolina Wesleyan College, 82-78.

Both teams traded leads and ties in the first six minutes of high-scoring play with neither team amassing an early lead larger than one possession. Greensboro (3-7, 0-2 USA South) began to generate momentum when Collins converted a transition layup off a Cassius Gary fast-break pass that gave the Pride a seven-point lead with 12:14 left in the half. The Pride’s lead in the half grew as large as 15 points thanks to a Matthew Brown three-point field goal that put the Pride ahead, 30-15. The Battling Bishops countered with a 9-0 run spanning the next 4:20 of the period to cut the lead. N.C. Wesleyan (5-3, 2-0 USA South) stretched the run to 15-2 in the next minute as they shrunk Greensboro’s lead down to two points. The Pride answered the run with a run of their own, posting an 11-0 run over the final 2:13 of the period as they entered halftime with a 13-point lead.

Greensboro’s lead held to start the second half as the Pride extended the lead back to 13 points 5:07 into the second half as Gary received as Bradley Pierce feed inside the paint and made a layup. N.C. Wesleyan countered again with a 14-0 run over the next 4:39 as the Battling Bishops reclaimed the lead. N.C. Wesleyan kept a one-possession lead for the next four minutes, but the Pride chipped away and scored on back-to-back possessions thanks to a Collins layup followed by a Ty Hill jumper at the 5:07 mark to put the Pride ahead by three points. Both sides exchanged the lead over the next four minutes, but N.C. Wesleyan made back-to-back field goals in the final minute to pull ahead and hold on for the win.

Collins shot 12-for-23 from the field and pulled down four rebounds while amassing five assists. Brown amassed 20 points, a season-high, on seven-for-14 shooting and three-for-six shooting from three-point range. He added five rebounds and three assists. Hill came off the bench to score ten points on four-of-eight shooting while dishing three assists.

Damon McDowell led the Battling Bishops with 17 points on six-of-13 shooting with six rebounds. Tim Pettiford added 15 points.

The Pride shot 43.1 percent from the field, including 28 percent from three-point range. Greensboro posted a 47.2 percent effort from the field in the first half. N.C. Wesleyan shot 46.8 percent from the field, including 54.5 percent second-half shooting.

N.C. Wesleyan held a slight edge in points-in-the-paint, 50-48, while the Pride held the advantage in fast-break points, 21-16. Greensboro also held the edge in points-off-turnovers, 20-17.

The Pride turns their attention to their next home-and-home USA South series, hosting William Peace University for a 4:30 p.m. contest inside Hanes Gym.