The Knights play tough defense on a Mid-Atlantic Christian player driving to the basket on Saturday.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Jaedyn Bayley (15) passes the ball to a teammate during the Knights’ season opening loss in Laurinburg.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Priest Wilson (5) boxes out a Mid-Atlantic Christian player during a free throw.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Caleb Brown (10) receives a pass and looks up court.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG —The St. Andrews Knights men’s basketball team was narrowly defeated 78-75 in their season opener at home on Saturday afternoon by Mid-Atlantic Christian. St. Andrews falls to 0-1 with the loss while the Mustangs improve to 1-1 with the victory.
The Knights trailed by seven at halftime (35-28) but outscored Mid-Atlantic Christian 47-43 in the second half to make things interesting. St. Andrews even held the lead (72-69) just outside of two minutes (2:06) left in the game but couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the win.
St. Andrews shot just 31.3% from the field (21-67) while the Mustangs were at 43.8% (28-64). Mid-Atlantic Christian was better at the foul line, shooting 58.8% (20-34) compared to 58.1% (25-43) for the Knights and also had the edge in points in the paint (24-16). St. Andrews can hang their hat on having more bench points (29-19), assists (10-8) and second chance points (13-3).
Jordan Taylor was the Knights’ leading scorer and rebounder with 15 points and eight rebounds, respectively. Jaylin McDuffie added 11 points and four rebounds of his own while Ma’Nas Drummond dished out a team leading five assists in the loss. Christopher Coleman contributed 11 points off the bench.
St. Andrews will now head on the road for the first time this season on Monday night as they get set to take on Johnson & Wales. Tipoff time is set for 7:00 p.m. at the JWU Wildcat Center in Charlotte.
Football blown out at Kentucky Christian
The Knights were defeated on the road by their conference rivals in a 85-26 final on Saturday afternoon. St. Andrews falls to 0-7 (0-4 against conference opponents) with the loss while Kentucky Christian improves to 2-7 (1-4 vs AAC teams) with the victory. It was both the most points the Knights have scored in a game this season and the most points they have allowed in a game this year.
Kedrick Patterson was the Knights’ leading passer, going 16-26 through the air for 143 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Devon Roesch caught seven passes for 94 yards and a touchdown while Juwan Lyons added three receptions for 30 yards and a score. Damarion McCaskill was the team’s leading rusher with 29 yards on just three attempts while Ellison Sandiford got a touchdown on the ground.
Lavarius Heath-Lewis was the defense’s leading tackler with eight. Rodarius Poag had the team’s lone sack on the day. They had six tackles for loss as a team.
The Knights will return to Laurinburg for their final home game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon against conference rival Bluefield. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Women’s volleyball swept by Bryan and Tennessee Wesleyan
The Knights faced off with a pair of conference opponents in Bryan and Tennessee Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday, respectively. They were swept by both, bringing their season record to 0-27 (0-18 in conference games).
The sets of Friday’s matchup with Bryan had scores of 25-13, 27-25 and 25-11. The Knights had fewer kills (16-39), more errors (19-18) and a worse hitting percentage in every set of the game.
Jade Alvarez and Emily Daniel had five kills apiece to co-lead the team. Kayden Pate had 12 digs to pace the Knights in that category while Arianna Little dished out 10 of St. Andrews’ 14 assists.
The sets of Saturday’s game with Tennessee Wesleyan had scores of 25-18, 25-19 and 25-11. The Knights had fewer kills (18-42) and a worse hitting percentage in two of the game’s three sets.
Maddison Larrimore had seven kills to lead the team while Bailey Zivitski paced the Knights in digs with 10. Little and Isabella Thurston each had six assists to share the team lead.
The Knights will wrap up their 2024 season with a home matchup against CIU on Tuesday night. The game will start at 6:30 p.m.
Men’s and women’s wrestling start seasons
Both programs had their first competitions of the 2024-25 season over the weekend. The women participated in the UMO Open on Saturday while the men headed to the UNCP Open on Sunday. No results have been made available as of now, continue to check the schedules on the St. Andrews Athletics website.
The women will next have the Life Open on Saturday, Nov. 9 with the competition starting at 9:00 a.m. The men will have the Averett Tri Match starting on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. It will be a two-day event.