Avila Drops Road Tilt with Central Methodist

FAYETTE, Mo. – Despite a strong second half in which Avila stayed within as close as a point, a big first half edge was more than enough to power the Eagles of Central Methodist (2-1) to a 96-69 victory over the Eagles of Avila (1-3) on Thursday night.

It was by no means an otherworldly offensive performance from Central Methodist – Avila actually shot better than CMU from the field and from beyond the arc, albeit on fewer attempts – but CMU committed far fewer turnovers, and took better advantage of their chances than did Avila.

For the first few minutes the matchup was neck and neck. Trailing 9-4, Dylan Holloman – making his first start as an Eagle – and DJ Pitia hit back to back buckets to bring the Eagles back to within 9-8, forcing a timeout from Central Methodist. Two minutes later, back to back buckets from Emilio Elliott and Brandon Johnson put the visitors in front for the first time, 12-9 with 13:19 left in the first half.

Central Methodist pieced together a quick 7-0 run to vault back ahead but Avila stayed firmly within arm's length, staying within 26-20 on a basket from Jae'lon Carter. But CMU completely took over down the stretch of the first half: Avila's only field goals in the final six minutes were three-pointers from Jaylin Dinkins and Donte' Simpson, and by halftime CMU had stretched its lead from eight points to 26.

Once again, Avila was right in the game for the entire second half – Central Methodist outscored Avila by only one point over the final 20 minutes – but the damage had already been done, and the visiting Eagles could not stage a comeback from their halftime deficit.

Simpson led the Eagles with 16 points off the bench, making all but one of the 12 total shots he attempted. He was joined in double figures by Jorden Gilmete with 12 and Pitia with 11; Johnson turned in a solid all-around game with eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. James Jordan led Central Methodist with 29 points and Jaquan Morris scored 16 off the bench.

Up next for Avila men's basketball is their final road game against a former Heart of America foe, coming up this Monday, November 14 in Baldwin City against Baker. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 PM; you can watch live on the Heart Conference Network.