Weekly SAC Men’s Basketball Notes - Jan. 15, 2007
Men's basketball game recaps and notes for week ending January 14, 2007
CARSON-NEWMAN - Darren Williams scored 18 points, but Mars Hill rallied late in the second half to defeat the Eagles, 71-67 to hand the Eagles their third consecutive loss in the South Atlantic Conference ... Carson-Newman led the Lions 33-32 at halftime after shooting 39 percent from the field in the first half ... Williams and Andy Tipton led the Eagle charge in the second half. Williams hit his first trey of the half and Andy Tipton added another with 16:29 left to give C-N a 41-37 lead. Williams hit consecutive treys to give the Eagles a 47-40 lead with 15:00 left. Williams nailed another triple to give the Eagles their largest lead of the second half at 50-42 ... Tipton's three-point play reclaimed the Eagles lead, but Gore followed up a Chris Aline miss with a two-handed dunk to cut C-N's lead to 53-52. Darren Williams swished his final trey of the game after a hard foul by Thomas Moses and made his free throw to complete a four-point play and give the Eagles a 57-52 lead midway through the second half ... Against Wingate, Carson-Newman junior center Clay Scott (Jefferson, Ga.) led the Eagles with a season-high 20 points. Scott hit nine-of-13 field goals. Eagle junior guard Scott Williams (Macon, Ga.) had 16 points off the bench, while junior forward Andy Tipton (Maryville, Tenn.) chipped in 15 points. Scott Williams hit three-of-four three-point field goals.
CATAWBA - Catawba dropped two of three games last week with both losses coming on the road ... On Monday, the Catawba Indians fell at Wingate 90-81 after falling down by 18 in the opening half ... A late three-pointer by Brian Graves gave Catawba a 53-50 win over Tusculum on Wednesday, while the Indians saw Presbyterian pull away in the second half for a 69-56 win over Saturday ... Catawba trailed Wingate by 16 at the half, but stormed back to within two with five minutes to play ... The Indians were outrebounded 49-35, but helped force 29 Bulldog turnovers ... Chris Wooldridge scored a career-high 29 points in the loss, hitting on 12-of-20 field goals ... The senior added seven rebounds and four steals ... Graves had eight assists and five steals ... Against Tusculum, Catawba shot just 32 percent, but Graves hit a pair of late three-pointers to help Catawba pull out the home win ... Graves canned his final shot with 12 seconds left to break a 50-50 tie ... His first triple put Catawba up 50-49 with 3:31 left ... Graves finished with 11 points and eight rebounds ... Wooldridge also had 11 points and eight boards ... Ahmad Murphy had six steals and Catawba helped hold the Pioneers to just 33 percent shooting and only 26 percent in the second half ... Wooldridge had another huge game in the loss at PC, scoring 25 points on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting from the field ... The senior averaged 21.7 points and 5.7 rebounds for the week ... The senior leads Catawba, scoring 16 points per game and grabbing 7.4 rebounds a contest ... Freshman Antonio Houston is hitting for 14.9 points a game with a team-leading 27 three-pointers ... Graves adds 12.7 points and is dishing out 5.9 assists ... The Catawba Indians will host Mars Hill on Wednesday then travel to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (10-5, 4-1) won all three of its South Atlantic Conference games this week and are now tied for first place atop the league standings with Lincoln Memorial, who they will play on Wednesday at 8 p.m., in Harrogate, Tenn. … L-R defeated Presbyterian (75-61) and Newberry (61-54) at home on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, before beating Mars Hill, 69-55, on the road Saturday afternoon … The victories over the Blue Hose and Indians pushed the Bears' winning streak to 17 games against league foes at home … Against PC, Lenoir-Rhyne rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit (26-14) to defeat the Blue Hose for the sixth straight year at home … L-R used a 21-4 run to break a 50-all tie in the second half to turn the contest into a rout … Junior forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) led all scorers with 20 points and junior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to score 17 points as the Bears shot 65 percent (15-of-23) after break ... Two days later, the Bears received a double-double performance (16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds) from Kindred while Bratton and senior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) added 14 points apiece as Lenoir-Rhyne held Newberry to 33 percent shooting (11-of-33) after halftime … On Saturday, L-R won at Mars Hill for the sixth straight year behind Springs' 17 points … Lenoir-Rhyne won despite 22 turnovers as it pushed its winning streak to a season-high four games … L-R and Lincoln Memorial met only once before, during the 2003-04 season, in which the Railsplitters won by a 71-63 score.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Railsplitter men's basketball team trailed 34-32 at the half of Monday night's game with Tusculum College but captured the lead in the second half to defeat the Pioneers of Tusculum College 67-63 in South Atlantic Conference play ... Lincoln Memorial freshman Beau Brown was nearly unstoppable, hitting nine of eighteen shots from the field, including five of nine behind the three-point line to finish the evening with a game-high 25 points to lead the Railsplitters ... Seniors Joplin Johnson and David Lopez also put together double figure performances with Johnson scoring 11 points and Lopez 10 on the way to the Lincoln Memorial men's seventh win of the year and their second in South Atlantic Conference play ... Following the game, LMU Head Coach Hugh Watson was pleased with his teams' performance. "When Kai came into the ballgame he turned things around," said Watson. "He was able to get the ball to Beau and that got the outside going for us. I was really proud of Chris Williams effort in the first half, both offensively and on the boards." ... For most of the game Wednesday evening against Presbyterian College, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team looked dominating in its 74-57 win over the Blue Hose ... Lincoln Memorial hit 58.7 percent from the field and a blistering 45.5 percent from behind the arc to move to 3-1 in league play and to stay tied with Wingate University for first place in the South Atlantic Conference ... From the opening tip Lincoln Memorial looked like a polished team that had been playing together for many years. That is quite remarkable since the Railsplitters only have four players from last season's squad ... Shooting guard David Lopez continued to set the nets ablaze by scoring 22 points on seven of thirteen shooting which included three three-pointers. Athens, Tennessee, freshman Beau Brown notched another double-figure performance of 15 points to back Monday night's 25 point output against Tusculum College. Artavius Mitchell also scored double digits for Lincoln Memorial by adding 10 points on a perfect four of four shooting from the field to help the Railsplitter cause ... A 79-77 double overtime win against Newberry College on Saturday night has propelled the Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team into a tie with Lenoir-Rhyne College for first place in the South Atlantic Conference ... The Railsplitters led by two points with 1.3 remaining in regulation when Newberry's Clemente Martin slammed home an inbound lob from mid court toe tie the game at 67 all, sending it into overtime ... In the first overtime period, the two teams traded baskets several times before LMU's David Lopez sent the game into double overtime with almost no time remaining on the clock on a running jump shot down the lane ... Down the stretch, free throw shots by Railsplitter Lopez and teammate Artavius Mitchell proved to be enough to allow the Railsplitters to come away with a 79-77 win to improve to 4-1 in league play ... Lincoln Memorial's Lopez led all scorers with 24 points, while Railsplitter junior Chris Williams came off the bench to score 18 second half points to give LMU some offensive lift. LMU center Joplin Johnson also made into double figures by scoring 11 points before fouling out after 32 minutes of play ... This week the Railsplitters return to the home floor and the Tex Turner Arena for their next conference battle with Lenoir-Rhyne College. The winner will stand alone at the top of the South Atlantic Conference. Tip-off for the men's game will be at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 2-1 on the week. All of the games were conference contests. MHC is now 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the SAC ... In the first game of the week, the Lions out scored Newberry College 13-7 in the overtime period, as the Indians fell to MHC, 80-75 ... Mars Hill was led by Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, NC) who recorded his career high 21 points to lead the Lions to victory. The game saw 21 lead changes and nine ties. Newberry had its winning streak snuffed at five games despite a 24-point effort from Zach Chandler (Greenville, S.C.), who went 5-of-5 from behind the arc in the first half ... Both teams scored 28 points in the opening half and 39 points in the second half to send the game into the extra session. It was both team's first overtime game of the season ... Terrance Spillers (Charleston, S.C.) scored two free throws to give Newberry a 69-67 lead, but a three-pointer by Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) with 4:05 left in the extra period gave Mars Hill the lead for good. The Lions extended the lead to 80-73 with 27 seconds remaining after Tony Blake (Canton, NC) hit a foul shot ... Newberry got the ball in its hands multiple times but the Lions' defense held strong ... Following McIver for the Lions was Polite with 14 points. Chris Aline (Reinach, Switzerland) had eight points and nine boards while P.J. Gore (Little River, SC) tallied eight points and the same number of rebounds ... Cory Etheridge (Columbia, S.C.) scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Indians, while SAC Player of the Week Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas) scored 12 points and snagged nine boards ... Newberry out rebounded Mars Hill, 43-to-34, but only shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the floor. MHC scored 42 points in the paint, 12 off turnovers and received 21 points from their bench ... In the second game of the week, Mars Hill rallied late in the second half to defeat Carson-Newman College, 71-67 to hand the Eagles their third consecutive loss in the South Atlantic Conference ... Carson-Newman (6-7, 0-3 SAC) led the Lions 33-32 at halftime after shooting 39 percent from the field in the first half. Williams and Andy Tipton led the Eagle charge in the second half. Williams hit his first trey of the half and Andy Tipton added another with 16:29 left to give C-N a 41-37 lead ... Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) answered with a three of his own, but Williams responded with consecutive treys to give the Eagles a 47-40 lead with 15:00 left. Williams nailed another triple to give the Eagles their largest lead of the second half at 50-42 ... Mars Hill rallied with an 8-0 run capped by P.J. Gore's (Little River, SC) three-pointer and a Kurtis Walford (Vancouver, Canada) free throw to tie the game at 50-50. Tipton's three-point play reclaimed the Eagles lead, but Gore followed up a Chris Aline (Reinach, Switzerland) miss with a two-handed dunk to cut C-N's lead to 53-52 ... Darren Williams swished his final trey of the game after a hard foul by Thomas Moses (Madisonville, TN) and made his free throw to complete a four-point play and give the Eagles a 57-52 lead ... The Lions reclaimed the lead on consecutive treys by Gore and Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, NC) for a 60-59 advantage. Tony Blake (Canton, NC) then made six of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the win for Mars Hill ... In the final contest of the week, Lenoir-Rhyne College's men's basketball team converted on 53.3 percent (24-45) of their shots from the field to leave Stanford Arena with a 69-55 victory over Mars Hill College Saturday afternoon in Stanford Arena ... Tyler Boardman (Clemmons, NC) hit a layup forty seconds into the contest to give L-R a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the contest ... The Bears largest lead in the half came at the 5:39 mark when Boardman hit a layup to put the Bears up 14 points (30-16). The Lions then went on a 13-to-4 run to pull within five points (34-29) at the break. The Bears out scored MHC 20-to-10 in the first 12 minutes of the second frame to lead by 15 points (54-39) with 7:52 left in the contest after Jonathan Cook (Chattanooga, TN) hit a 3-pointer ... MHC closed the gap to nine points on two occasions down the stretch but that was close as they would get. The Bears were 5-of-13 from behind the arc (38.5 percent) and 16-for-22 (72.7 percent) at the foul line ... L-R scored 34 points in the paint and won the rebound battle, 39-to-26. MHC struggled shooting from the floor converting on only 32.7 percent (17-52) from the field. The Lions hit only 27.6 percent (8-29) of their shots in the second stanza ... Marcus Springs (Charlotte, NC) led L-R with 17 points and six rebounds followed by Eric Mauldin (Albemarle, NC) and Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, NC) who scored 10 points apiece. Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, NC) added eight points, three rebounds and the same number of blocks in the win ... P.J. Gore (Little River, SC) led MHC with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) followed with 10 points in the game ... MHC will play at Catawba College on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. and then play at Wingate University at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team suffered through a tough stretch this past week, losing two overtime games to Mars Hill and Lincoln Memorial ... Last Monday, the Lions sent the game into overtime when they converted on a free throw with 32 seconds remaining. In the extra stanza, Mars Hill was just too much and went on to the 80-75 victory ... Newberry hit the road again last Wednesday as they faced Lenoir-Rhyne. In a game that saw an 8-0 run by both the Bears and Indians in the final 8:00, Lenoir-Rhyne made a key defensive stop to preserve the 61-54 victory ... The Indians returned to Eleazer Arena on Saturday and faced new conference member Lincoln Memorial. Trailing 67-65 with 1.3 seconds to play, the Bahamian tandem of Alonzo Hinds and Clemente Martin sent the game into the extra session. Hinds lobbed the ball to Martin off an inbounds play, and Martin slammed the alley-oop home with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock ... However, Lincoln Memorial returned the favor with 0.6 seconds in the first overtime. The Railsplitters were down, 72-70, when David Lopez scored a running layup to keep the game going. A three-poin field goal by Hinds with less than seven seconds on the clock brought Newberry back within one. LMU's Artavius Mitchell only converted one of two free throws on the next possession, but a desperation three-pointer by Chandler to win the game didn't fall, giving the Railsplitters the double-overtime victory ... Chandler continues to lead the team in scoring with 13.6 ppg while freshman Terrance Spillers is still the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.2 rpg ... The Indians will step out of conference on Wednesday evening to travel to Orangeburg, S.C. to face Claflin and will resume SAC play with a 4 pm tip-off on Saturday at Tusculum.
PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian fell in two of its three games last week … The Blue Hose commenced the week by falling to L-R and new conference member Lincoln Memorial before snapping the season-high two-game skid with a 69-56 victory over Catawba on Saturday at home … The loss to Lincoln Memorial marked the first time since Dec. 30, 2005 that PC had fallen at home … PC had won 14 straight at the Templeton Center prior to the loss to the Railsplitters … The loss also negated a 10-game home league winning streak … Presbyterian's response on Saturday garnered the Blue Hose their seventh home victory this season … PC is currently 7-1 at the Templeton Center this season and 32-3 in its digs since the outset of the 2004-05 season … Presbyterian travels to Wingate and Carson-Newman this week … The Blue Hose do not return home until Jan. 27 when they will square off against rival Newberry.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum men's basketball team enters this week's action with a 7-8 overall record and 0-4 in South Atlantic Conference play… The Pioneers have lost its last five games including losses to Lincoln Memorial (67-63), Catawba (53-50) and Brevard (68-67) this past week… Tusculum has played in nine games this season that have been decided by 10 points or less… Six of TC's last seven outings have been decided by four points or fewer… In the Brevard game, TC lost as BC notched the winning points on a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining… The contest was a close one throughout as the lead changed hands 17 times, including 11 in the second half alone. The game was also tied on 10 occasions… Tusculum was led by junior Jordan Lear's 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including four 3-pointers… Lear also accounted for six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals… Senior Chris Poore tallied 13 points and six rebounds in the loss… The Catawba Indians canned a three-pointer with 12 seconds left in the game as the host team defeated visiting Tusculum 53-50… Tusculum was led by Poore, who accounted for 15 points, while Lear posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds… Defense was the name of the game on the evening as Tusculum was held to 32.7 percent shooting, the Pioneers limited the Catawba Indians to just 31.7 percent from the floor… Tusculum's Gabe Story recorded six points and six rebounds in the loss… Tusculum opened the week with a four-point loss at in-state foe Lincoln Memorial (67-63)… Tusculum was paced by Poore's season-high 25 points as the Greeneville senior shot 10-of-16 from the floor, to go along with seven rebounds… Williams accounted for 10 points, while senior Larry Minnefee added eight points late in the game… Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 541 consecutive games… The home loss to Brevard ended an eight home-winning steak against non-conference opponents… Lear is closing in on a personal milestone… He has 958 points in his 73 career outings as a Pioneer… He needs 42 more points to become the 16th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau… Poore has already surpassed 1,000 points in his career, including his first two collegiate campaigns at Anderson University (S.C.)… In his 44 games in a Pioneer uniform, he has notched 600 points… Tusculum will travel to Carson-Newman on Wednesday to take on the Eagles… Tusculum has been victorious in its last four trips to Jefferson City and have won four of the last five meetings against C-N… Tusculum will close out the week with Saturday's home contest against Newberry.
WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball won two South Atlantic Conference games last week. The Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent in the first half and coasted to an 87-74 South Atlantic Conference victory Carson-Newman College Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena on the Wingate campus. With the two wins last week, Wingate improves its record to 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the SAC ... Bulldog junior forward/guard Sean Barnette led all scorers with 22 points against Carson-Newman. He hit eight-of-12 field goals and four-of-seven attempts from three-point land. Wingate senior guard Justin Baker also had a hot hand, nailing nine-of-15 field goal attempts en route to a 21-point performance ... Wingate senior guard Shaun Kirkland had 15 points off the Bulldog bench, while junior center Bryan Grier contributed 14 markers. Grier hit six-of-seven field goal attempts on the afternoon ... The Bulldogs converted 22 Eagle turnovers into 26 points. Carson-Newman managed only five points off 14 Wingate miscues. Eight Bulldog players recorded at least one steal, led by Baker with three thefts. Wingate notched 13 steals on the afternoon ... The top shot-blocking team in the nation entering the week, Wingate blocked six shots Saturday against Carson-Newman. Bulldog sophomore center Sam Carlisle led the way with three rejections. Wingate won the battle of the boards by a slim 39-38 margin. Bulldog sophomore forward Kenny Villines topped the charts with a career-high 13 rebounds ... On Monday night, Baker notched his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds as Wingate outlasted Catawba 90-81 in Cuddy Arena. Barnette led the Wingate offense with 24 points ... Barnette averaged 23.0 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game last week as he led Wingate to two league victories. Barnette hit 60.7 percent of his field goals during the week (17-of-28) ... Last week was a good seven days for Barnette. He is featured in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated (January 15 edition). Barnette can be found in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the magazine (page 30). Barnette leads the South Atlantic Conference in scoring with 20.1 points per game ... The Wingate University men's basketball team is listed in the latest NCAA Division II statistics. For the Wingate men, Grier is third in blocked shots in NCAA Division II. Grier led the nation in blocked shots following the 2005-06 season. Grier is the all-time Wingate and SAC leader in career blocked shots. As a team, the Bulldog men are leading the blocked shots per game category. The team is averaging 7.8 blocks per game (entering the week) ... The Bulldogs are in the middle of a four-game home stand. Presbyterian College visits Wednesday night for an 8 p.m. SAC contest (listen at Red Zone Media). On Saturday afternoon, Mars Hill College comes to town for a 4 p.m. matinee. Wingate is 6-1 at home this season. The Bulldogs compiled a 10-3 ledger at home in 2005-06. Wingate won the 2006 Food Lion SAC tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II play-offs.