JACKSON, Miss. – The William Carey Men's Basketball Team held on for a 71-68 victory over Tougaloo College Monday night.
 
"A tale of two halves but we stayed composed down the stretch in the 2nd half to pull out a good road win against a quality opponent," said Head Coach Steve Knight. "This was our 4th game in 8 days and each game has been nail biters. The ability to win close games has been a big plus for this squad."
 
The first five minutes saw both teams going back and forth but, behind an 8-0 run with six of those coming from Javeon Gordon, Carey pulled away to a 17-10 lead with twelve minutes to play. Over the next four minutes the Crusaders went on to build a 26-14 lead on five straight points by Cam Brown and Dylan Brumfield.
 
The Bulldogs managed to cut the deficit to five with just over four minutes to play. However, WCU took a 40-27 lead into the break as four different Crusaders closed the half on a 10-2 run.
 
WCU carried that momentum into the second half, taking their largest lead of the game at 52-36 with fifteen minutes to play. Over the next eight minutes it looked like Carey had things well in hand, but Tougaloo had other plans.
 
With WCU leading 60-50, the Bulldogs mounted a comeback and battled their way back to retake the lead 64-63 with two minutes remaining. Randarius Hughes quickly put the Crusaders back in front with a pair of free throws followed by a layup from Brumfield to make it 67-64 with a minute to play. After a quick basket by the Bulldogs to cut the lead to one, WCU sealed the victory, going 4 for 4 from the free throw line with the defense held Tougaloo without a field goal.
 
Dylan Brumfield led the offense with 20 points with Cam Brown finishing with 12 points.
 
Carey is back in action Saturday, February 8, as they take on UT-Southern. Play is set to begin at 2:00 pm at Clinton Gym.