OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (1-11, 1-3 Great Midwest) lost to Kentucky Wesleyan College (4-6, 3-1 Great Midwest), 85-77, in the Sportscenter on Thursday.

SERIES/HISTORY: 

The Panthers have bested the Trojans in eight consecutive contests in the all-time series. After tonight's 14th meeting, KWC leads 12-2. Trevecca last defeated the Panthers January 25, 2016, 73-72.

Trevecca hosts KWC Trojan Fieldhouse on February 22nd at 4:15 PM.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trevecca big men established the early offense, as Adam Webb (JR/Lakeland, FL) opened the scoring with a jumper and two layups from Reed Smith (SR/Brentwood, TN) gave the Trojans a 6-2 lead two minutes into the game. The duo combined for all of the Trojans' first 12 points. Kentucky Wesleyan's Adam Goetz answered back with a five-point spurt of his own to give the Panthers their first lead of the contest, 7-6. The game was tied at 9-9 and 12-12 before the Panthers used an 11-0 run to lead 23-12 with just over 10 minutes left in the half. Imani Starling (JR/Nashville, TN) was the third Trojan to score which also broke up the Panthers offense run. Starling's layup sparked a Trojan run of nine to cut the deficit to 23-21. Nathan Harper (JR/Lexington, KY)'s 3-pointer with :42 seconds regained the lead for Trevecca, 34-32. After three made free-throws from KWC, the Trojans trailed by just one, 35-34, at the break. In the first five minutes of the second half both teams traded baskets and leads. The Trojans opened up a game-high six-point lead (49-43) when Reed Smith hit a foul shot with 13:27 to play. From there the Panthers strung together a 16-0 run to take a 59-49 advantage just over three minutes later (10:03). After that run, though the Trojans outscored the Panthers by two down the stretch KWC hung on for an 85-77 victory.

TEAM STATS BREAKDOWN

Trevecca shot 53.8% (28-52) from the field and 38.1% (8-21) from three-point range … the Trojans connected for 13 made free throws (13-18). Both teams produced similar shooting percentages all around, though the Panthers edged out the Trojans with more successful free throws. The Panthers pulled down 30 rebounds to the Trojans 25. Both teams shared the ball, as KWC had 22 assists while TNU produced 17.

PLAYER STATS REPORT

Reed Smith scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Trojans. Smith was an impressive 9-for-12 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free-throw line, while also getting others involved with team-high six assists. Chris Rogers (FR/St. George, VA) added 15 points off the bench to go with two rebounds and two assists. Both Austin Wills (JR/Benton, IL) and Adam Webb collected 13 points, while Webb neared a double-double with eight rebounds.

WHAT'S NEXT 

The Trojans close 2019 with a Saturday meeting with Davenport University (7-4, 1-2 GLIAC) at 2:00 PM.

It's the final non-conference game of the season for the Trojans and will be the first-ever meeting in men's basketball for both schools.

MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS

Visit Official Home of Trevecca Athletics at www.tnutrojans.com

Click for Live Stats / Live Video of home games

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