Winston-Salem, NC - The Johnson & Wales Charlotte men's basketball team fell to host Carolina University 85-81 on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats used a 14-7 run over the final five minutes of the first half to open up a 53-44 halftime advantage over the homestanding Bruins as Anthoney Ray scored 19 first half points to pace JWU. 

A Ray three pointer to open the second half pushed the JWU lead to 12, its largest of the game, before Carolina U. quickly responded. The Bruins needed only eight minutes to trim the lead to just one possession. The Wildcats responded with a 10-2 run to re-establish a double-digit advantage at 80-70 with  7:23 to play, but the Wildcats would go cold from that point. They could only muster eleven points the rest of the way. Carolina U. took the lead with just under a minute to play and made four free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win.

Ray led the Wildcats with 24 points, while Fred Patterson added 18 more to go along with 7 rebounds. Nathan Meshida came off the bench to score 15 points, while Zyrion Wilkins added 10 off the bench as well. Jaylen Benson-Hollinhead contributed 7 points and 15 rebounds. 

The Wildcats are next in action on Wednesday when they travel to Pfieffer for a 7pm tip-off.