The Pride men’s basketball team watched a ten-point halftime lead slip away, but outlasted visiting Methodist in overtime on Wednesday, 70-64. T.J. Holman and Brock Moorman each tallied a game high 16 points and Luqman Tijani added 12 as Greensboro improved to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in USA South play. The Pride avenged an earlier 84-81 overtime defeat at Methodist.
Leading 8-7 at the 11:43 mark in the first half, The Pride blew open the game with a 9-2 run to go up 17-9. The advantage eventually grew to 28-15 with 4:04 to go in the first before going into the break with a 32-22 lead.
The second half would go back-and-forth until the Monarchs began their comeback with 13 minutes to play in the game. Greensboro went nearly nine minutes without a field goal as Methodist went from trailing 44-32 to taking a 49-48 lead with 4:30 to go in the contest.
Tijani finally connected from the floor for The Pride on a jumper with 4:09 to go that put The Pride back in front 50-49. Tijani scored the final six points down the stretch for Greensboro, including two free throws that broke a 56-56 tie with 1:15 showing on the clock.
However, a foul with 40 seconds to play allowed James Whitehead to convert two free throws for Methodist that again knotted the score. Both teams traded possessions in the waning seconds, but were unable to score as the game went into overtime.
The Pride fell behind early in the overtime session until a Devonta Davis three gave Greensboro the lead for good at 64-62. The margin would grow to as large as 69-62 with Tijani scoring six of The Pride’s final eight points down the stretch to secure the win.
In addition to his 16 points, Holman grabbed 14 rebounds to notch a double-double before fouling out in overtime. Moorman also added seven rebounds on the night.
Greensboro will next be in action on Saturday at conference leading Christopher Newport. Game time is set for 4 p.m.