February 10, 2013

Rocky Mount, N.C. - North Carolina Wesleyan saw its men's and women's basketball teams drop a pair of USA South contests on Sunday. The Battling Bishop women suffered a tough 69-65 home loss to Greensboro College, while Wesleyan's men fell at LaGrange by a 94-86 score.

In women's action, the Pride held a slim 28-26 lead at the break only to see the Bishops open the second half with a 16-7 run that that gave them their biggest lead 42-35 with 14:38 remaining. The Pride recovered to later tie the game at 48-48 with ten minutes to go and it would be a back-and-forth battle from there.

A Samantha Urquhart jumper gave NCWC its final lead, 63-62, with 1:57 left, but GC's Bianca Richburg scored six straight of her game-high 37 points to put the Pride on top for good. The Bishops proceeded to miss a pair of potential game-tying three-pointers, allowing GC to seal the win at the charity stripe.

Urquhart finished with a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds.

On the men's side, LaGrange opened the game with a 13-2 run and never looked back, forging a 17-point advantage at the break and upping that lead to 20, 80-60, with 4:35 remaining. The Bishops did manage a furious rally that cut the lead to single digits late, but the Panthers went 10-for-12 at the charity stripe in the final two minutes to hold on for the victory.

Senior Brandon Givens had a game-high 36 points, and he was joined in double-figures by junior Josh Morrison with 14. 

Wesleyan's women (10-13, 9-7 USA South) return to action on Wednesday night at home versus Averett at 7:00pm. The Bishop men (15-9, 6-7 USA South) wrap up their regular season schedule that same night at Christopher Newport.