Buena Vista, Va. — The Southern Virginia University men's basketball team capped off the regular season with an 88–75 Senior Night victory over William Peace University.

Prior to tip-off, the Knights honored five seniors — Jude Ballstaedt, Tillman Johnson, DJ Green, Matthew Hale, and Luc DeVore — for their contributions to the program. All five seniors earned the start and helped Southern Virginia jump out to an early double-digit lead.

The Knights used a dominant 24–6 run to build their largest advantage of the night at 24 points, highlighted by a three-pointer from Green and a fastbreak layup from Ashton Davis. William Peace responded late in the half, trimming the deficit from 24 down to nine in the final four minutes as Southern Virginia took a 45–36 lead into the break.

Ballstaedt paced the Knights with 12 first-half points, while Green added eight. Southern Virginia controlled the glass early, holding a 20–12 rebounding advantage, including a 14–7 edge on the defensive boards.

The Pacers came out strong in the second half, cutting the lead to six — their closest margin since early in the game. The Knights answered with back-to-back layups from Austin Mitchell before Ballstaedt took over offensively, scoring 12 consecutive points to extend the lead to 63–49.

William Peace made one final push, narrowing the gap to seven with seven minutes remaining. However, Johnson, Ballstaedt, and Mitchell combined to steady the offense. A clutch three-pointer from Green with just over two minutes left helped seal the win, and Johnson added back-to-back buckets to secure the 88–75 final.

Ballstaedt delivered a memorable Senior Night performance, pouring in 30 points to move into the program's top-10 single-game scoring performances. He also added three rebounds and four assists. Johnson followed with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-8 shooting, while Green contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. Mitchell was dominant on the boards, finishing with eight points on perfect shooting and 10 rebounds.

Southern Virginia finished with a 35–23 advantage in rebounding, an 18–4 edge in fastbreak points, and a perfect 14-for-14 performance from the free-throw line.

With the victory, the Knights secured the most conference wins in program history at 10–4 and earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming USA South Conference Tournament. Southern Virginia will host a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, February 24, with its opponent to be determined following the conclusion of conference play.

For all the latest updates on Southern Virginia University men's basketball, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_mbb on Instagram.