MAYFIELD, Ky.- Senior Night is an occasion that is special for an athlete. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and as such players always want to shine on those nights. Mid-Continent University's Antonio Davis did exactly that on Saturday night.

On the tail end of an emotional roller coaster of a day, Davis - Mid-Continent's lone four-year senior - tallied a career-high 25 points, leading the Cougars (16-9, 4-2) to an 87-73 win over the Blue Mountain College Toppers (7-17, 0-7). The win ensured Mid-Continent will host at least one TranSouth Tournament game, and coupled with Bethel University's loss to Life University, it pulled Mid-Continent back into a tie for second in the TranSouth.

Blue Mountain opened the game by scoring the first nine points, forcing coach Winston Bennett to use a time out to stem the tide. After the timeout, Davis stepped to the forefront, scoring Mid-Continent's first eight points, en route to a 10-point first half, and the Cougars' comeback was underway. Blue Mountain did manage to push their lead back to eight points twice - 18-10 with 14:33 left in the half, and 24-16 with 11:09 remaining - but the resolve of Mid-Continent proved too strong. Lee Ames tallied 12 points in the first half, and Charles Peden added 13, but at the break, Mid-Continent led by just three - 37-34.

The second half was tight through the early portions of play, but again, it was Davis and Peden who stepped to the front of the line. Davis converted a traditional 3-point play at the 16:09 mark to put Mid-Continent ahead by four, 46-42, then scored again with 14:30 to play, sparking a 10-0 Mid-Continent run that saw the Cougars take a 10-point lead for the first time in the game, 54-44. Blue Mountain pulled to within six at ther 11:54 mark, but on the next trip down the floor, Davis squelched all notions of a Toppers' comeback with a 3-point bomb to push the margin back to 59-50. Mid-Continent began slowly pulling away in the middle stages of the half, and the lead reached as many as 21 points with 2:11 remaining.With 57 seconds left in the contest, Davis sank a pair of free throws to cap off a spectacular senior night effort, as Mid-Continent took the victory on Senior Night 87-73.

Davis's 25-point effort was a career high, and his 9-for-10 shooting night was a career best as well. Peden added 19 in the game, with Ames contributing 15, and Gavin Scott adding 10 points in the big win. The Cougars used a 21-for-34 (61.8%) shooting effort in the second half to put away the Toppers, making 36-of-65 (55.4%) shots overall on the night. From long range, the Cougars buried 7-of-16 (43.8%) shots, connecting on 8-of-13 (61.5%) foul shots in the game as well.

Mid-Continent now finds themselves in the thick of the race for the TranSouth title, and next week will be a crucial one if they are to get there. Mid-Continent will face two tough road tests, first on Valentine's Day, Mid-Continent will head to Pulaski, Tenn. to take on the TranSouth's top team - the Martin Methodist RedHawks (16-9, 6-1) at 8 p.m., before traveling to Henderson, Tenn. on Saturday to take on a resilient bunch from Freed-Hardeman University (10-16, 1-5) on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m.