OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team (4-1, 0-0 G-MAC) earned a 78-61 victory over Simmons College of Kentucky Monday evening inside the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Wesleyan now leads the all-time series 3-0, having played Simmons each of the last three seasons. The Falcons, coached by former University of Louisville star DeJaun Wheat in his first season at the helm, were much more competitive compared to the previous two matchups but ultimately fell to 3-7 on the season.
The Falcons scored the first six points of the game to set the tone. The first ten minutes stayed that competitive, but Wesleyan was able to create some space on the scoreboard before halftime.
Leading 21-18, the Panthers were finally able to make a run. Wesleyan reeled off a 10-1 burst, highlighted by an and-one and a three-pointer from LaVonte Harris, to build a 31-19 advantage.
The Panthers led 41-32 at the break after a Ke'Andre Jones layup with just two seconds left.
Simmons pulled within four at 43-39 with just under 15 minutes left, but that was as close as the Falcons could claw. Wesleyan scored the next 14 points, highlighted by two fastbreak slams from Jones, to effectively put the game away.
In the late minutes, Tavion Williams and Gavin Reed were effective off the bench. Wiliams had a dunk and hit two free throws and Reed swished two threes.
Jones had a team-high 13 points along with five rebounds, Harris was right behind him with 11 points and five assists, and Armandas Plintauskas joined them in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Wesleyan next travels to St. Louis, Missouri, for a matchup versus USML, who received votes in the preseason NABC Coaches Poll. Tipoff is set for 1:00 PM and the game will be available to stream live on the GLVC Sports Network.
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