COLUMBIA, S.C. - CIU men's basketball has righted the ship as the Rams won their second straight Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game on Saturday after starting the season 0-3 in the conference. CIU defeated Montreat College (N.C.) 90-85 to move back above .500 at 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the AAC. The win was extra sweet as the Cavaliers upset CIU in last year's AAC Men's Basketball Tournament, but the Rams returned the favor on Saturday. 

CIU led 21-19 with just under ten minutes left in the first half when the Rams would turn it up offensively and outscore the Cavaliers 11-to-3 over the next five minutes and then take a 42-35 advantage into halftime. The Rams extended the lead all the way to 20-points several times, with the last 20-point advantage coming at 78-58 with just under eight minutes left to play. The Cavaliers bench would come in and get the lead all the way down to just five points by the final horn, but it was too little too late. 

Darrian Oates led CIU in scoring on the evening with 22 points shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep. The Rams were dominant inside as Christian Howard and DiAnthony Heathcock held Montreat's bigs JaJa Davis and Noah Dunn to 27 combined points. Dunn had been averaging 23 points per game on as his own before tonight's contest. For the Rams' Heathcock had nine points and seven rebounds, while the freshman Howard went 8-of-8 from the field, scoring 16 points. CIU had two other players in double figures as Jalen Brinson had 12 points and five assists, while Skyler McKinney scored ten points and pulled down five rebounds. 

What Coach Tony Stockman is saying:
"We have played CIU basketball the last two games. Our attention to detail on the defensive end has been outstanding. I'm was glad to see Darrian have a good game; we need him to be aggressive for us to win. 

Up Next:
CIU will head to Point University (Ga.) for a 4 p.m. matchup with the Skyhawks on Tuesday, Nov. 23.