Weekly SAC Men’s Basketball Notes - Nov. 20

CARSON-NEWMAN - In the season opener against Brevard College, Darren Williams led all scorers with 29 points, making 10 of 14 field goals and five three-pointers. Scott Williams collected a double-double, leading the Eagles with 13 rebounds and adding 15 points while Hart also contributed a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists. Andy Tipton scored 10 points and grabbed three offensive rebounds. Deonte Williams scored 10 points on four-of-six shooting and grabbed three rebounds…. Kente Hart and Andy Tipton scored 15 points apiece in the loss to Augusta State…. With the win against Brevard, coach Dale Clayton earned the 270th victory of his career.

CATAWBA - The Catawba men split its opening two games at the Salisbury Roundball Classic … The Catawba Indians opened with a 104-69 thumping of Allen then fell to Georgia College & State University 82-74 on Saturday afternoon … Catawba shot 55 percent in its opener against Allen and canned 7-of-14 from long range … The Indians controlled the boards with a 48-38 advantage and had just 15 turnovers to 23 for the Yellow Jackets … Freshman Antonio Houston led Catawba with 13 points, hitting a trio of three-pointers … Chris Wooldridge and Norman Monroe each tallied 11 points, while Jason Diggs tossed in 10 points … Wooldridge also grabbed nine rebounds, blocked two shots and had two steals … Brian Graves dished out seven assists … Catawba held a seven-point halftime lead against GC&SU, but saw the Bobcats go on a 19-4 run to open the final half to take control … Wooldridge posted a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds … The senior hit on 11-of-15 shots in the loss … Catawba shot 48 percent in the loss, but made just 7-of-21 three-pointers and went 7-of-16 at the line … The Catawba Indians also surrendered 19 offensive boards to the Bobcats and had 22 turnovers to 14 for GC&SU … Graves also reached double figures with 12 points and handed out eight assists … The senior moved within 18 points of cracking the 1,000-point barrier … Catawba will host USC Upstate on Tuesday and are off over the Thanksgiving weekend, returning to play for the Walt Baker Classic at Goodman Gym on Dec. 1st and 2nd.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team started the year 2-0 for the third time in four seasons with a pair of wins at the USC Aiken Tipoff Classic Friday and Saturday at The Courthouse in Aiken, S.C. … Lenoir-Rhyne opened the year with an 83-60 win over Anderson before downing Morris by an 82-56 score … Against the Trojans in the season opener, five players scored in double figures led by senior guard Eric Mauldin's and Marcus Springs' 14 points … Mauldin also made all five field goal attempts … L-R used a pair of 13-0 runs in the first half to put the game away and led by as many as 31 in the second half en route to the easy win … Five players tallied 10 or more points in the victory over the Hornets as well … Senior guard Stephen Hinds (Winston-Salem, N.C.) came off the bench to score 20 points on seven-of-10 shooting and the Bears, as a team, finished with 12 treys … The Bears were ahead by 11 at break (46-35) and used a 12-2 run early in the second half to cruise to the win … Springs and junior guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) were named to the all-tournament team with their efforts … Lenoir-Rhyne remains on the road this Saturday when it travels to Belmont, N.C., to play Belmont Abbey Saturday at 7 p.m. … L-R leads the all-time series with Belmont Abbey, 38-34, but the two teams have not played in 10 years.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Railsplitters opened up the season with a 2-0 record for the first time in five years….. In the season opener against Lees-McRae LMU was led by David Lopez with 17 points, while Joplin Johnson added in nine… For the game LMU shot 53.2 percent from the field… On Saturday the Railsplitters had to battle back from a 13 point deficit to take a 74-71 win over King… The main difference in the game was rebounding as LMU out-rebounded King 36-24…. The Railsplitters were led by Joplin Johnson with 21 points…. Chris Williams scored 14 points and Beau Brown added in 13 points… LMU is now off until Nov. 28, when Brevard comes to town for a doubleheader.

MARS HILL - The Lions lost their season opener at St. Andrews College Wednesday night on the road, 70-55. MHC fell to 0-1 on the year ... Jeff Worley (Charlotte, NC) hit a 3-pointer to end the first half and give host St. Andrews a three-point (33-30) lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the contest. Richard Stone (Williamsburg, VA) led SAPC with 19 points and seven rebounds followed by Keith Josey (Suffolk, VA) who came off the bench to record 15 points and add a game high 12 rebounds for a double-double on the night ... Taiwon Grooms (Landover, MD) was the only other double-digit scorer for the Knights with 13 points ... Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, NC) came off the bench to lead MHC with 13 points and six rebounds followed by Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) who scored 11 points and added five rebounds and the same number of assists ... Neither team shot well from the floor. MHC hit only 31.8 percent of their field goals (21-66) while SAPC converted on 42.4 percent (25-59) of their shots ... SAPC won the rebound battle, 50-to-37 ... After Worley gave SAPC a three-point lead at the break, the Knights opened the second half on a 13-to-5 run to take a 11-point lead (46-35) with 11:02 left in regulation after DeRalle Piersall (Dumfries, VA) hit a jumper ... MHC trimmed the deficit to five points (46-41) with 9:04 on the clock after Matt Williams (Henderson, NC) hit a 3-pointer but that was as close as the Lions would get ... SAPC led 33-30 at halftime behind Justin Brauda (Monroe, NC) and Josey's offensive performance in the opening frame. Brauda was 3-for-3 behind the arc and Josey was 4-for-7 from the field to score 18 combined first half points ... Polite led MHC with eight first half points ... Neither team led by more than three points in the first period. The first half saw 12 lead changes and eight ties ... Neither team shot well in the opening stanza. MHC hit only 36.4 percent (12-33) from the floor while the Knights converted on only 41.4 percent (12-29) of their shots from the floor. SAPC edged the Lions 21-to-19 in first half rebounds ... MHC will play at North Carolina A & T University on November 20. Game time in Greensboro is set for 7:30 p.m. The Lions will then host Brevard College on November 22 at 7 p.m. before playing at USC Aiken on November 25 at 2 p.m.

NEWBERRY - Newberry went 0-2 at the Anderson Hardwood Floors Tip-off Classic in Spartanburg, losing their two games by a combined four points … On Friday, the Indians fell to Limestone 79-78 … The Indians were led in scoring by Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas), who scored 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field. Martin also snagged six rebounds and five steals in his 29 minutes … Zach Chandler (Greenville, S.C.) scored 16 points and had four steals for the Indians, and was followed in double figures by Alonzo Hinds (Freeport, Bahamas) with 11 points. Hinds also had eight assists…On Saturday, Newberry lost to USC Upstate, 64-61 … Hinds led the Indians offensively with 13 points off the bench … Freshman Danny Friend (Atlanta, Ga.) scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Terrance Spillers (Charleston, S.C.) led the team with nine rebounds … Damion Harris (Greenville, S.C.) and Chandler each scored nine points … Newberry opens the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday night, hosting Allen University for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Eleazer Arena … On Friday, the Indians travel to Greenwood, S.C. for a 6 p.m. start against Lander University.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian opened its 2006-07 campaign with a 69-63 victory over Lander before a crowd of 753 at the Templeton Center on Wednesday evening … The Blue Hose were led in the contest by Bryan Bostic, who came within one rebound short of a double-double. The Norcross, Ga. native had a team-high 15 points and nine boards … Bostic shot exactly 50 percent from the field in the victory, going 6-for-12 … PC guard Sean Dixon (Marietta, Ga.) finished the contest with 11 points and two assists in 28 minutes of action … Center Martynas Versinskas (Kaunas, Lithuania) had a game-high tying three assists in the contest. Lander's Michael Griffin also had three dimes … Presbyterian opened the game by scoring the inaugural seven points in the game, holding Lander scoreless for almost four minutes before they scored at the 16:11 mark on a Brenton Harris layup to make the score 7-2 … The two tangled closely for the entire first half with Presbyterian holding a 40-38 advantage at the conclusion of the first stanza … Lander's Jarred Jackson nailed a three-point shot at the outset of the second half to give the Bearcats a 41-40 lead. It would be the last lead of the evening for Lander as Presbyterian went on a game-high 11-0 run to take a 51-41 lead … The Bearcats would get as close as five at 68-63 in the final minute of the game, but Presbyterian held on and used a Travis Sligh (Columbia, S.C.) free throw with 1.5 seconds left in the contest to set the final tally at 69-63 in favor of the Blue Hose … Lander was led in the loss by Jackson's game-high 24 points … Presbyterian improves to 1-0 with the win, while Lander falls to 0-1. The Blue Hose square off against upstate rival North Greenville at the Templeton Center next Tuesday, Nov. 21 … Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum men's basketball team recorded an 88-64 road win at Brevard in the first recorded meeting between the two schools. The Pioneers record its sixth straight season opening win ... Chris Poore posted 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while Serge Poppe poured in a career-high 22 points, all in the second half ... Tusculum shot a sizzling 61 percent from the floor, including 64 percent in the second half. The Greeneville duo of Jimmy Boone and Gabe Story accounted for 14 and 13 points, respectively for the Pioneers ... Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 526 consecutive games. TC also shot 15-for-16 from the free throw line for 93.8 percent ... Tusculum will play only once this week when the Pioneers host Bluefield (Va.). It will be the 24th overall meeting between the Pioneers and Ramblin' Rams. TC leads the all-time series 14-9.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team opened the 2006-07 season with a 103-82 NCAA Division II victory over North Greenville University Wednesday night in Hayes Gymnasium on the NGU campus. Five Bulldogs hit double figures, led by junior forward Sean Barnette and his 24 points ... Barnette notched his ninth career double-double (points, rebounds) against the Crusaders, pulling down 10 rebounds to go with his 24 points. Against North Greenville, Barnette hit 56.3 percent of his field goals (nine-of-16). In 2006, Barnette led Wingate to its first Food Lion SAC tournament championship since 2000. He was named the 2006 Food Lion SAC tournament Most Valuable Player ... Senior forward Shaun Kirkland and redshirt junior center Bryan Grier had 17 points each for the Bulldogs at North Greenville. Wingate junior guard Sam Holmes had 13 points in his Bulldog debut, while junior forward Greg Wenger contributed 11 points ... Wingate led 51-34 at the break, thanks to 55.9 percent shooting in the first half. Barnette had 15 points before intermission. The Bulldogs hit nine of their 10 three-point field goals before the break, with Barnette and Holmes nailing three each in the first 20 minutes ... The Bulldogs shot 53.8 percent in the second half. The Crusaders were not able to cut the margin any lower than 14 points after halftime. North Greenville picked up Wingate's hot hand from three-point land, nailing seven triples in the second half ... In the first half, Wingate bolted to an early 19-8 advantage on a short jumper by Barnette with 13:54 to play in the opening frame. North Greenville rallied, mounting a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 19-18 on two free throws by Randel with 11:08 left in the first half ... The Crusaders would get no closer, as the Bulldogs quickly pushed their margin back to double-digits. Holmes hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the visitors up 36-26 with 6:35 remaining in the first half ... Wingate has five games in a row at home, starting with a Tuesday tilt against Lander (7 p.m.). The Bulldogs host St. Andrews Presbyterian Saturday (4 p.m.) ... Wingate's campaign this winter will be highlighted by a trip to the Bahamas over Christmas break, as the Bulldogs will take on the defending NCAA Division II national champions, Winona State, on December 19. Another NCAA tournament team from last season, Drury (Mo.) University, will join Hillsdale (Minn.) College in rounding out the field for the Bahamas Sunshine Shootout.