NW Kentucky News

Wesleyan used a strong second half to take down a fiesty Trevecca Nazarene Trojans squad, outscoring TNU 32-16 over the final 20 minutes to bring home a 65-57 victory. 

With the win the Panthers move to 10-11 (6-7 G-MAC), while Trevecca falls to 1-19 (0-14 G-MAC). 

Both teams were locked in early, going bucket-for-bucket. Wesleyan took an 11-10 lead on a Jordan Roland three seven minutes into the half, which was quickly answered by a three from the Trojans. Trevecca shot an impressive 8-12 from three in the opening 20 minutes. Down 19-14, Kennedy Miles capped off a quick 5-0 Wesleyan run to tie things up at 19 with nine minutes left to play in the half. Wesleyan looked to pull away a few minutes later as JoMel Boyd hit back-to-back threes to put the Panthers ahead 26-20. Unfortunately for Wesleyan, Trevecca caught fire and closed the half on a 21-8 run. The Trojans took a 41-33 lead into the locker room. 

Wesleyan got back into it early in the second half, using a three from Edward Jones Jr. and a layup from Roland to quickly cut the Trojan lead to 41-38. After 10 minutes of Trevecca holding a tight lead, Wesleyan finally got over the hump, using an Antonio Thomas three and a JoMel Boyd layup to take a 51-50 lead with eight minutes remaining. That lead was extended to five just a few minutes later thanks to a strong layup by Ben Sisson. Up by just one with three minutes left, Thomas hit the biggest shot of the game, a three from the wing to give Wesleyan a two-possession advantage. Roland iced the game with two straight layups and Boyd put the finishing touches on with a fast break dunk at the end of the game. 

The Panthers shot 24-58 (41.4%) from the field and 7-25 (28%) from three. Trevecca Nazarene shot 20-60 (33.3%) from the field and 9-25 (36%) from behind the arc. After going 8-12 in the opening half from three, the Panther defense held the Trojans to just 1-13 shooting in the second half. 

Antonio Thomas led the way with 14 points, while JoMel Boyd (13), Jordan Roland (11), and Ben Sisson (10) all finished in double-figures. Sisson used a monster 13 rebounds to notch his fourth double-double of the year. Roland dished out five assists while Thomas added four. Roland also added two steals to his already impressive statline.