NASHVILLE – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (14-7, 9-4 Great Midwest) knocked off Great Midwest leading Cedarville University (16-7, 10-3 Great Midwest), 89-86, on Thursday evening in Trojan Fieldhouse.
The Trojans have now knocked off the Yellow Jackets in back-to-back seasons and cut Cedarville's all-time series lead in half at 18-9 with tonight's win.

BREAKING IT DOWN
In what was billed as 3-point shootout, the Trojans did not disappoint from deep. Cedarville's Ethan Sellars hit the opening long shot to start the scoring. The Trojans shot the ball well inside the arc for their first six points before Pete Lambesis connected for the Trojans first 3-pointer at the 15:08 mark. The 3-pointer gave Trevecca the lead which they turned into as much as nine not even two minutes later at 20-11. Cedarville chipped away at the lead using a combination of everything but the 3-point shot and some consistent zone defense. The Yellow Jacket's 9-0 run under the 10-minute mark gave the visitors a 25-22 lead with 8:00 to play. Cedarville maintained the three-point advantage until Trevecca cut into it the closing minutes of the half. Down five with 2:32 to play, the Trojans scored six straight to take a 41-40 lead before Anthony Ruffolo of Cedarville stole a pass and scored at the buzzer to give the Yellow Jackets a 42-41 halftime advantage.

Jamal Cannady connected on a 3-pointer to start things for the Trojans in the second to recapture the lead. After back-to-back buckets by Cedarville, Trevecca used a 18-4 run take a 62-50 lead with 13:10 to go. The Trojans grew their lead to 14 after three consecutive deep shots with 10 minutes to play. The Yellow Jackets then used four 3-pointers to cut back into the Trojan lead and make it an 81-75 game with just 3:01 to go. Cedarville's Kyle Thomas and former Trojan Chris Rogers sliced further into the Trevecca lead and a Jacob Drees layup with :23 to play made it a one-possession game. After a pair of made free-throws by Jamal Cannady with :14 to play, Cedarville's Jayvon Maughmer drilled a 3-pointer to make it an 87-86 game with just nine seconds left. Cannady buried two more foul shots to give Trevecca an 89-86 lead. Playing with fouls to give benefited the Trojans greatly as they afforded two fouls before the Yellow Jackets could even set up an offensive look. In fact, Pete Lambesis' foul with 2 seconds left sent Maughmer to the line where the Cedarville senior missed the front end of a one-and-one to seal the game for the Trojans, 89-86.

KEY PLAYERS
Jalen Page produced a team-high 25 points with six rebounds and six assists. Lawrence Brazil was a very efficient 7-8 from the field to finish with 19 points and six assists. Jamal Cannady had 14 points while Lambesis produced 13. Tommy Gankhuyag just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

TEAM TIME
Trevecca shot 56.1% (32-57) from the field was 46.4% (13-28) from deep and was 80.0% (12-15) from the foul line. Both sides grabbed 31 rebounds, 19 assists and five steals apiece. Trevecca collected three more blocks, 4-1.

UP NEXT
The Trojans continue their four-game homestand when they welcome Thoms More University (13-9, 8-6 G-MAC) on Saturday, February 10 at 1:00 pm.

The Trojans and Saints have never met before in men's basketball.