Junior Raymont Benton and graduate seniors Quintin Hart and Jaden Ignacio shared the scoring load, but North Carolina Wesleyan's inside presence was the difference as the Battling Bishops (10-8, 4-3 USA South) registered an 85-76 USA South men's basketball victory over the Fighting Squirrels Saturday in Staunton.

MBU (10-7) suffered its second-straight setback and fell into a second-place tie with Pfeiffer, each with 5-2 records at the halfway mark of the conference schedule.  The Fighting Squirrels will try to get back on the winning track Wednesday (1/29) when they host first-place Southern Virginia (15-3, 6-1 USA South) at the PAC at 6 p.m.

Benton led MBU scorers with 18 points and six rebounds, followed by Hart with 17 points and Ignacio with 16 points.  MBU hit 26-for-61 from the field (42.6%), including 9-for-27 from three-point range (33.3%).  Ignacio is now just 31 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

NC Wesleyan countered with four players in double digits, including a game-high 22 points from Khalid Chavis-Hinds and a double-double from Ky'ron Kelly (16 points, game-high 12 rebounds).  The Battling Bishops finished with a 56.6 shooting percentage (30-for-53), including 5-for-11 from long range (45.5%).  NCW also held a 37-27 rebounding advantage.