Charlotte, NC - The Johnson & Wales Charlotte men's basketball team played twice in the span of twenty-four hours this weekend, splitting a pair of games against Brevard and Ferrum.

On Friday night in Brevard, the Wildcats used a 17-7 run late in the first half to turn a 23 all tie into a 40-30 lead. They went on to lead 47-36 at the break, shootng a sizzling 60.71% from the field (17-28).

JWU extended the lead to 20 over the first five and a half minutes of the second half, and Brevard (5-5) never threatened thereafter. JWU shot 54.2% for the game and knocked down a season-high thirteen 3 pointers. They also enjoyed a 43-23 advantage on the boards.

Kendall Wooldridge led all scorers with 25 points, while Nathan Meshida added 12. Jaylen Benson-Hollinhead recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. 

Saturday afternoon the Wildcats welcomed in another NCAA Division III opponent in Ferrum College. The Panthers raced out to a 7-0 lead in the game's first four minutes before the Wildcats rallied to trim the Ferrum lead to one at 19-18. Ferrum again pulled ahead by as many as 13 in the first half, as they shot 50% from the field. A Jaden Scriven dunk just before halftime trimmed the JWU deficit to 8 at 39-31.

The Panthers outscored the Wildcats by twelve over the first nine minutes of the second stanza to push their advantage to twenty at 69-49.  JWU continued to whittle away at the Ferrum lead, and Nathan Meshida's three pointer with 88 seconds to play cut the WIldcat deficit to just 4 at 79-75. Ferrum (8-1) made each of their six free throw attempts in the final minute to keep the Wildcats at bay, eventually winning 85-78.

The Wildcats next travel to McKeesport, PA on Saturday, 12/16 to take on Penn State-Greater Allegheny at 1:00pm.