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The Pfeiffer men’s basketball team won its first USA South tournament championship in a 108-80 drubbing of second-seeded North Carolina Wesleyan in front of a raucous Merner Gym crowd Saturday night.

Pfeiffer’s win gave the Falcons an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III national tournament which kicks off Friday. The Falcons will travel to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia for a first-round match with the Roanoke College Maroons (23-5).

The Falcons (18-7) had five players score in double figures, led by Daymon Beckwith, who had 21 points and four assists. Alex Cunningham tacked on 15 points and Donte Forrester-Jhagroo helped out with 12 from the bench.

Pfeiffer grabbed 40 rebounds in Saturday’s game compared to North Carolina Wesleyan’s 38, led by six boards from Daniel Fulp.

Pfeiffer did a great job disrupting North Carolina Wesleyan shots in the contest, coming away with seven blocks. Jaylen Hamilton led the way individually for the Falcons with three rejections.

After jumping out to a 19-18 advantage, Pfeiffer went on a 9-0 run with 11:32 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Beckwith to increase its lead to 28-18. The Falcons then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 44-37 advantage. Pfeiffer did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 26 of its 44 points close to the basket.

Following intermission, Pfeiffer kept widening that lead, expanding it to 67-58 before going on a 16-0 run to grow the lead to 83-58 with 7:00 to go in the contest. The Falcons kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 108-80 win. Pfeiffer got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 35 of its 64 points.

Beckwith earned the USA South Tournament MVP, while Alex Cunningham and Jaylen Hamilton were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Joining the trio from Pfeiffer were Khalid Chavis-Hinds and Marquis Eskew from N.C. Wesleyan and Tillman Johnson of Southern Virginia.