MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Warner University men's basketball scooted past the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan with a big second half win.
 
-2021 Men's Basketball National Championship presented by Ballogy
-Game: #3 Tennessee Wesleyan vs. #2 Warner University
-Location: Montgomery, Alabama
-Montgomery Bracket "B"
 
It was an all-out effort for the Royals as the they saw first half woes that saw them trailing by 11 with a score of 28-39. The Royals did not play bad in the first half, it was the Bulldogs that caught the hot hand as a team shooting 52% from the field and hitting a whopping 6-13 from three-point range.
 
The Royals flipped the script in the second half outscoring the Bulldogs 39-23. Just three minutes into the second half (17:06), Warner saw their biggest deficit of the night as Tennessee Wesleyan pulled out to an 18-point separation of 48-30. The Royals used a 12-0 scoring run turning on the jets to cut into the lead and eventually would turn the tide.
 
With 00:30 left on the clock, the Royals did the unthinkable and completed the comeback as Joseph Martz hit a jumper to give Warner the 62-61 lead. Exchanging free-throw attempts, it was the Royals that hit 3-4 and took the win over the Bulldogs 66-62.
 
Joseph Martz was the overall point leader for the Royals finishing the night with 17 points, 3 assists and 1 steal. Darryl Mercer Jr. tallied 14 points and snagged 3 rebounds. Logan West was the leading rebounder with 9 rebounds and also finished with 2 steals.
 
With the win the Royals eliminated the Bulldogs from the 2021 Men's Basketball National Championship presented by Ballogy. This was just the third time in the matchup history the two schools played each other and the first time playing in postseason. It's been 10 years since the last matchup which the Royals won 80-64 in Lake Wales, Fl.
 
The opening win moves Warner into the Montgomery Bracket "B" Championship game to face the host and #1 seed, Faulkner University. The Eagles are sitting with a 25-2 record and bring in an NAIA national ranking of No. 7. One of their losses during the regular season was to the (1) Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats where they fell just 82-84.
 
This will be the biggest test by far for the (RV) Warner Royals matching up against the (7) Faulkner Eagles.
 
The final game of the Montgomery Bracket will be played tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST.
 
Live video and stats are available, video for purchase.
 
Video: https://ssacsports.tv/?S=faulkneruniversity ($12 for the game)
Stats: http://www.dakstats.com/websync/Pages/Tournament/TournamentPage.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&tour=3396