Wallace Community College Selma pushed the pace Monday night against city rival Selma University, daring the Bulldogs to keep up. They couldn’t.

The Patriots (7-4) raced up and down the floor, forced turnovers and turned a close game into a 93-69 rout.

“That’s what we try to do. I try to stay out of half court offense as much as possible,” WCCS head coach Foster Davis said. “I didn’t use as many people as I usually do but when you use a lot of people, you want to go up and down a little bit more.”

Davis cut his rotation for Monday’s game, hoping to send a message to his team, which had lost its last two games. While the Patriots’ got back on the right track, Selma University (0-7) lost its seventh straight game to begin the season.

“It was bad defense on our part,” Selma University head coach Jeremy Fortune said. “They wanted it more and it showed tonight. Any loose ball they got to. Any ball on the floor they got to. They shared the ball and that’s the tale of the tape right there.”

The Patriots were able to impose their tempo on the Bulldogs, who prefer a slower pace and more half court sets. Monday both teams ran up the floor at a dizzying pace, as basket after basket fell.

Jeffery Mack, who led WCCS with 24 points, knocked in four three-pointers in the first half, but the Patriots couldn’t pull away from a game Selma squad. Even after the Patriots’ Perry Rudolph beat the buzzer before halftime with a jump shot from the free throw line, WCCS only led 42-36 at halftime.

Selma knotted the game quickly in the second session. Adrian Nelson’s layup made it 44-44, but Wallace would take the lead on the Patriots’ next possession and not release it the remainder of the game.

The Patriots led 53-50 with 14 minutes to play, but scored 28 of the game’s next 13 points to jump out to a gigantic lead. Many of those points were scored on transition baskets, as turnovers started piling up for the Bulldogs.

WCCS’ Darrel Lynch caught fire during the run, scoring 19 of his game high 25 points in the second half.

Lynch made six field goals and stayed aggressive, getting to the free throw line to help the Patriots build on their advantage. Fortune said his team continues to make the kind of mistakes that plague young teams.

“We just got totally out of sync,” Fortune said. “What’s working for them, it’s like their mind is telling them the crowd is not into it, so let me do something else.”

The Patriots will play at Marion Military Institute Tuesday. Selma’s men will play Grambling State Saturday.