MISENHEIMER — With seven wins in its past eight games, the Pfeiffer men’s basketball team has risen from the middle of the pack all the way to second place in the USA South Athletic Conference standings.
The Falcons have proven their ability to take a leap forward this season after a pair of disappointing 10-win seasons.
Eighth-year coach Pete Schoch’s team has a 12-7 overall record but has put together an impressive 8-2 record against conference opponents, landing Pfeiffer just a half-game behind Southern Virginia (18-4, 9-2 USA South) with four conference matchups left on the schedule.
On Saturday night, the Falcons took down the Knights in a landslide 100-72 victory at home inside Misenheimer’s Merner Gym.
Pfeiffer jumped to an explosive 53-33 halftime lead and finished with a 28-point win after outscoring the Knights by eight in the second half. Five Falcons finished in double figures (Daymon Beckwith, Alex Cunningham, Doug Smith, Jaylen Hamilton, Donte Forrester-Jhagroo) as the team notched its highest overall point total since racking up 104 points on Dec. 14.
Two days later, Beckwith was named the USA South Men’s Basketball Player of the Week as the senior guard averaged 19 points, five rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and a 63% shooting percentage from the field against two conference opponents.
In Pfeiffer’s 81-75 win over Brevard (11-9, 6-5 USA South) on Feb. 4, Beckwith scored a career-best 23 points along with four rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
The Jacksonville native’s 16.7 points per game currently ranks third in the conference, while former North Stanly star Doug Smith leads the entire USA South in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and is second in blocks (1.6).
The Falcons squared off with Methodist (6-14, 2-7 USA South) on Wednesday night in Fayetteville, and will now head to Greensboro this weekend to face the Pride (3-18, 2-8 USA South) before rounding out the regular season at home with Williams Peace (3-17, 1-8 USA South) on Feb. 18 and Mary Baldwin (12-9, 6-4 USA South) on Feb. 22.
The USA South Tournament is scheduled to begin on Feb. 25 with a championship game set for March 1; the Falcons defeated NC Wesleyan in the first round before losing to Greensboro in the semifinals in last season’s tournament.
Following its eight USA South victories this season, Pfeiffer now has a 50-46 conference record since reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division III and beginning play in the USA South during the 2018-19 season.