BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – The William Carey Men's Basketball Team came from behind late, to defeat Blue Mountain Christian University 61-55 Saturday afternoon in SSAC action.
 
After a back and forth start, the Toppers offense caught fire and raced out to a 24-14 lead with 12 minutes to play in the half.  After a quick a timeout, the Crusaders went back to work and with the help of a 10-0 run, the game was tied with under eight minutes remaining in the half.
 
From there Blue Mountain would go on to take the lead until a Kaeden Laws layup with under two minutes left would give Carey their first lead since the opening minutes at 33-32.  However, the Toppers would close the half with five straight points to take a 37-33 lead into the break.
 
WCU came out of the break and quickly erased the deficit with a 6-2 run but BMCU answered with a 7-0 run to take a 46-39 lead with 14 minutes left to play.  For the next eight minutes the Toppers would hold the lead until Ashton Campbell drained a three point basket and followed with a layup with five minutes to play to give the Crusaders the lead for good at 56-43.
 
Ankerion Gross would push the WCU lead to five with Earl Smith and Dylan Brumfield converting three of four free throws to seal the victory.  The Crusader defense took care of the rest holding the Toppers without a made field goal for the final 10 minutes of the game and scoreless for the final seven minutes.
 
Kaeden Laws led the offense with 14 points.  Ankerion Gross finished with 13 points while Dylan Brumfield had 12 points.
 
WCU is back in action Tuesday, January 16, as they take on Mobile in conference action.  Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm at Clinton Gym.