LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats are back on their home floor, back in the zone, and back in the wins column.

Taylor Ball's career night fueled a wire-to-wire 82-54 win over NCCAA North Region rivals Moody Bible Institute, as the Sabercats were firing on all cylinders.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 82-54 Moody
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 173
• Records: MBU (4-8), MBI (1-11)

STORY

Ball and Stephen Wilkerson led the Sabercats out to a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes, and the Blue and Gold never looked back. Both Ball and Wilkerson would hit a dozen points in the first half alone, and Caleb Moultrie's seven points from the bench fueled a 14-point effort from the non-starters. Maranatha was running Moody into the ground, and Ball and Wilkerson were leading the way.

In the first half, Maranatha put up 43 points and out-rebounded Moody 30-13 to account for 15 more looks from the field. The Sabercats were eager, balanced, and in control entering halftime ahead 43-24.

The break helped the visitors, as Moody improved their game to register 30 second-half points, and although the Sabercats had fewer chances, they shot a tidy 56.7 percent from the field to keep the Archers well out of range. The Sabercats had all 15 student-athletes contribute to the win in the second half, making it a team effort on the return trip to the wins column.

The second half held some highlights, as Ball put up his career-high 21 points and 14 rebounds while Wilkerson completed his double-double. Malachi Herbster made his collegiate debut by adding a bucket, and it was all one-way traffic on a celebratory return trip to the home floor for MBU.

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MBU Starters: 2- Ball, 3- Mayhak, 4- Steuerwald 5- Sanders, 23- Wilkerson 

STATS

• Ball: 21 PTS, 14 REB (both career highs)
• Wilkerson: 12 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST
• Moultrie: 10 PTS, 4 REB
• MBU: All 15 student-athletes contributed to the win
• Last year: The Sabercats beat Moody in the regular season and in the NCCAA North Region Championship
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series, 48-15

OPPONENTS

• Moody competes with the Sabercats for the NCCAA North Region
• Moody took 2nd place to MBU in last year's North Region Championship
• Moody's lone win this season came with a 124-point performance against Emmaus Bible College

NEXT

The Sabercats will host North Central University on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Find details at mbusabercats.com/schedule.