HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — The No. 6 SCAD men's lacrosse team continued its impressive form with a commanding 24-6 victory over Columbia College (SC) on Saturday afternoon at the SCAD Athletics Complex.
 
RECORDS: The Bees improved to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while the Koalas fell to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the AAC.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: SCAD established control from the opening whistle, outscoring the visitors 6-2 in the first quarter with two goals from Ethan Cline and Eli Phillips and single tallies from Mason Hickman and David Nebus.
 
The momentum slowed slightly in the second period, but the Bees still outpaced their opponents 3-1—with goals from Ian Wildermuth (2) and Travis Cheristin —to take a 9-3 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Bees broke the game open in the third quarter, unleashed a relentless nine-goal barrage while holding the opposition to just one. During this stretch, Phillips and Sebastian Manuel each netted two goals, while Wildermuth, Hickman, Conor Marr, Cline, and Logan Ortigosa also scored to extend the lead to 18-4.
 
SCAD closed out the contest with six more goals in the fourth quarter, including scores from Griffith Long, Danny Harrington, Cline, Ryan Byrne, Manuel, and Adam Leblanc, scoring his first collegiate goal, to secure the 18-point win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Bees' offensive pressure was overwhelming as SCAD outshot the visitors 52-20 and held a significant 36-14 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Eli Phillips and Ethan Cline led the scoring charge with four goals each, with Phillips adding three assists and Cline totaling two for seven and six points, respectively. Sebastian Manuel tallied three goals and three assists, and Ian Wildermuth with three goals and one assist.
 
Mason Hickman added two goals and one assist, while eight others totaled one goal each.
 
On the defensive end, David Nebus was a force with a game-high eight ground balls and four caused turnovers. Danny Harrington and Gordon Beck also anchored the middle, with Harrington winning 11 faceoffs and picking up seven ground balls, while Beck added six ground balls and one caused turnover.
 
In the cage, Keaton Melcher earned the win with six saves in 45 minutes of action, while Callum Meroney added two saves in relief.
 
WHAT'S NEXT? The Bees will travel to Babson Park, Fla. to face No. 9 Webber International University at 2:00 p.m.