Weekly SAC Men’s Basketball Notes - Feb. 12, 2007

Men's basketball game recaps and notes for week ending February 11, 2007

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles have won two SAC games in a row, the latest an 82-80 defeat of Lenoir-Rhyne at Holt Fieldhouse… Carson-Newman College placed five players in double-figures in scoring as the Eagles defeated Mars Hill, 101-93 in men's basketball action Wednesday night in Stanford Arena. MHC fell to 7-14 overall and 3-8 in the SAC while the Eagles improved to 8-13 on the year and 1-9 in the conference ... C-N jumped out to a 6-0 lead after Scott Williams (Macon, GA) hit a shot in the lane but then MHC scored six unanswered points to tie the contest at the 16:06 mark. After that point, the first half remained close as the Eagles took a 43-41 advantage into the locker room ... Darren Williams gave C-N the lead for good on the Eagles next possession after hitting a shot from behind the arc. C-N went on a 20-to-9 run over the next five minutes to extend their lead to 13 points (69-56) after Andy Tipton hit a 3-pointer… Against L-R, Senior guard Kente Hart swished an 18-footer at the buzzer to give Carson-Newman an 82-80 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne at Holt Fieldhouse. C-N (9-13, 2-9 SAC) set the tone early as Deonte Williams stole an L-R pass and slammed home the Eagles first points ... C-N used a smothering defense to hold L-R (15-7, 9-3 SAC) to just 37 percent shooting in the first half as they took a 42-31 lead at halftime. In the second half, C-N picked up where they left off ... The Eagles built a 10-point lead with just more than seven minutes remaining when Scott Williams stole a Reggie Bratton pass and jammed two points home on a monstrous one-handed dunk to bring the Holt Fieldhouse crowd to life. Williams made the free throw to complete the three-point play as C-N led 70-60. Williams wasn't finished as just seconds later, Williams was fouled after making an improbable 15-footer that bounced off the back iron, rolled around the rim, and finally dropped through the net. Williams completed another three-point play to put the Eagles up 73-62 ... L-R stormed back, making 20-of-29 field goals for the half and going on an 8-0 run to pull within three points at 73-70 with 4:47 remaining. L-R's Josh Kindred tied the game at 76-76 on a three-point play with 3:29 remaining. Stephen Hinds' layup gave the Bears a 78-76 lead, but Deonte Williams made two free throws to tie the game at 78-78 with 1:34 remaining ... L-R's Marcus Springs swished a jumper for an 80-78 Bears lead with 1:03 to go, but Hart's two free throws tied the game again at 80-80 with 51 seconds remaining. The Bears worked the ball for one shot, but the Eagles made a crucial defensive stop to set up Hart's game -winner ... The two wins give C-N head coach Dale Clayton 277 for his career.

CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians won a pair of games last week, defeating Tusculum 60-46 and Newberry 89-80 to extend its current winning streak to four games ... Norman Monroe scored a career-high 16 points in the win over Tusculum as the Catawba Indians built a 60-33 lead with four minutes to play ... Antonio Houston added 14 points and Chris Wooldridge posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds ... Catawba held a commanding 48-30 edge on the boards and held Tusculum to just 24 percent shooting ... The 46 points was the fewest allowed by Catawba since also allowing just 46 points to Tusculum in 2002 ... Wooldridge hit on 10-of-14 shots and scored 25 points to pace the Indians past Newberry ... Freshman Rob Fields scored 13 of his career-high 17 points in the opening half ... Houston reached double figures with 13 points ... Catawba connected on 53 percent of its shot attempts ... Brian Graves dished out nine assists ... Wooldridge leads the team in both scoring (15.9) and rebounding (7.3) ... Houston is adding 15.4 points with Graves adding 13 points and is dishing out a league-leading 6.3 assists a game ... Catawba will play three games this week ... The Catawba Indians travel to Mars Hill on Monday and will host Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday ... Catawba will hit the road on Saturday for a game at Lenoir-Rhyne.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (15-7, 9-3), despite splitting its two games last week, remained a half-game ahead of Catawba, Presbyterian and Wingate in the standings of the South Atlantic Conference … The Bears defeated the Indians of Newberry College by a 63-54 score on Wednesday in Newberry, S.C., before falling to the Eagles of Carson-Newman, 82-80, Saturday in Jefferson City, Tenn. ... Three players score in double figures for the Bears - led by junior forward Reggie Bratton's (Charlotte, N.C.) 15 points - as Lenoir-Rhyne held Newberry to just 15 percent shooting (three-for-20) from behind the three-point line … The Bears also swept Newberry for the second straight year … Carson-Newman's Kente Hart (a game-high 21 points) hit a jump shot at the buzzer as the Eagles stunned the Bears, 82-80 ... Lenoir-Rhyne rallied from a 13-point deficit (46-33) early in the second half to take a two-point lead late in the game at 80-78 … However, a pair of free throws by Hart and his buzzer-beater did in Lenoir-Rhyne … Senior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) was one of four Bears to score in double figures, finishing with 17 points while Bratton added 14 points and nine rebounds … Lenoir-Rhyne shot 69 percent (20-of-29) in the second half in its rally that fell just a bit short … Springs also became the 45th player in school history to score 1,000 points for his Bears career … He now has 1,003 … Bratton extended his double-digit scoring streak to 15 games and has scored 10 or more points in 21 of the team's 22 contests this year … Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to face Lincoln Memorial and Catawba on Monday and Saturday, respectively … Both games begin at 8 p.m. … Lenoir-Rhyne has won 20 straight South Atlantic Conference Regular Season home contests … The Bears defeated the Railsplitters, 63-55, but fell to the Indains, 93-82, in overtime in L-R's last two games against its upcoming opponents … The series with LMU is tied at one while Lenoir-Rhyne's holds a 99-79 advantage against Catawba … Lenoir-Rhyne's contest with Catawba will be webcasted thanks to CSTV and the NCAA and will be in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Shuford Memorial Gymnasium …Catawba was Lenoir-Rhyne's first opponent in the gymnasium … The Bears defeated the Indians, 87-66, on February 16, 1957.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - You could say the Railsplitters were defeated by Presbyterian College Wednesday night due to the Blue Hose three point shooting, or it might have been because LMU only had eight players dressed out due to the suspension of three players last week for team rules violations. Whatever the reason, Presbyterian stayed near the top of the South Atlantic Conference race with a 73-57 win over Lincoln Memorial and added to what has become a frustrating three-game losing skid ... PC controlled the tempo for the entire contest, only trailing on three occasions. Perimeter shooting proved to be the most potent weapon, as the Blue Hose knocked down 13-of-30 shots behind the arc to pull away from the Railsplitters early ... Rebounding was another contributing factor in the game. Presbyterian dominated the boards 48 to 33 ... LMU's Beau Brown led all scorers with 22 points, while teammate Delroy Burke came in off the bench to score 15 for the Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial's only other player in double figures was senior Artavius Mitchell who finished with 10 ... Although Lincoln Memorial trailed visiting Mars Hill College for nearly the entire game, it was the Railsplitters' flat start of the second half that allowed the Lions to pull away in the final period and capture an 81-67 win in Harrogate on Saturday night ... When the Lions Thomas Moses hit a three point jumper to take Mars Hill into the locker room with a six point lead, the Railsplitter players must have realized that they needed to come out with tremendous intensity at the beginning of the second half to get back any momentum that Mars Hill had gained from the basket ... If the Railsplitters knew what they needed to do, they didn't get the job done. The Lions came out at the beginning of the second half and opened up a ten point lead by the 15:34 mark. By the time the clock ticked under eleven minutes to play, LMU had only been able to pull as close as five points when Mars Hill went on a run and pushed the lead back out to a seventeen point margin ... Eventually the Railsplitters succumbed to the Lions relentless attack and fell 81-67 ... The loss puts the Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team at 11-11 on the year and 5-7 in South Atlantic Conference play. Considering the Railsplitters were tied for second place in the league race the last time they faced the Lions, Saturday's loss in monumental in that it is the Splitters fourth consecutive loss and they have fallen from second to a tie for fifth in conference play since their last win, which was oddly enough an 82-62 drubbing of Mars Hill in North Carolina ... The Railsplitters were counting on a win Saturday night with road games coming up this week against league leading Lenoir-Rhyne College (15-5, 9-2) and fourth place Catawba College (13-9, 8-3). If the Railsplitters aren't able to salvage at least a split in one of these two road trips, things could snowball all the way into the end of the season. Tip-off for Monday's game with Lenoir-Rhyne is set for 8:00 p.m.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 1-1 last week. The Lions are 8-14 overall and 4-8 in the SAC ... In the first game of the week, Carson-Newman College placed five players in double-figures in scoring as the Eagles defeated Mars Hill, 101-93 in men's basketball action Wednesday night in Stanford Arena. The game saw six ties and 10 lead changes ... C-N jumped out to a 6-0 lead after Scott Williams (Macon, GA) hit a shot in the lane but then MHC scored six unanswered points to tie the contest at the 16:06 mark after Chris Aline (Reinach, Switzerland) hit a layup ... After that point the remainder of the first half was closely played. The Eagles took a 43-41 advantage into the locker room at the intermission ... MHC out scored C-N, 6-to-3 to start the second half and lead by one point (47-46) with 18:51 left in the game after P.J. Gore (Little River, SC) hit a 3-pointer. Darren Williams (Lawrenceville, GA) gave C-N the lead for good on the Eagles next possession after hitting a shot from behind the arc ... C-N went on a 20-to-9 run over the next five minutes to extend their lead to 13 points (69-56) after Andy Tipton (Maryville, TN) hit a 3-pointer. MHC cut the lead to six points with 3:26 left in the contest after Andy Miller (Franklin, NC) hit a high percentage shot in the lane but that was as close as the Lions would get ... Clay Scott (Jefferson, GA) and Kente Hart (Evansville, IN) led C-N with 16 points apiece followed by Scott Williams and Jesse McMurray who added 15 each. Darren Williams rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Scott Williams pulled down a game high 10 rebounds in the win ... C-N won the rebound battle, 41-to-34 ... Aline led MHC with a game high 18 points and five boards followed by Gore with 16. Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) tallied 15 points while Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, NC) and Kurtis Walford (Vancouver, Canada) added 12 each ... The Lions hit 56.1 percent (37-66) of their shots as opposed to C-N hitting 45.8 percent (33-72) of their shots. C-N scored 17 second chance points ... In the second game of the week, Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) scored a career high 30 points hitting 6-of-10 shots from behind the arc to lead the Lions past Lincoln Memorial University Saturday night in Tex Turner Arena. MHC improved to 8-14 overall and 4-8 in the SAC while the Railsplitters fell to 11-11 overall and 5-7 in the league ... In the first 16 minutes of the game neither team led by more than four points. Doug Green (Mars Hill, NC) hit a layup with 3:48 left in the contest to give MHC a 21-20 lead they would never relinquish. The Lions would take a 33-27 advantage into the locker room at halftime ... MHC came out of the locker room and out scored LMU 9-to-2 to lead by 13 points (42-29) with 17:49 on the clock after Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, NC) hit a shot in the lane. LMU then went on a 16-to-8 run to close the gap to just five points but that was as close as the Railsplitters would get ... MHC answered the comeback with a 12-to-4 run of their own seal the win and go ahead 13 points (62-49) on a 3-pointer by Polite with 5:59 left in regulation. Following Polite was McIver with 19 points and five rebounds and Chris Aline (Reinach, Switzerland) who added 11 points and seven boards ... MHC shot 55.1 percent (27-49) from the floor opposed to LMU hitting only 38.2 percent (26-68) from the field ... LMU won the rebound battle, 37-to-32 ... Beau Brown led LMU with 15 points followed by David Lopez with 13. Artavius Mitchell rounded out the double figure scorers for LMU with 11 points. LMU received 28 points from their bench ... MHC will host Catawba College on Monday night at 8 p.m. and then host Wingate on Wednesday night before playing North Greenville University in Stanford Arena on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team dropped both games last week to drop to 11-11 overall and -7 in league play…On Wednesday, the Indians dropped a 63-54 decision to the visiting Lenoir-Rhyne College Bears… Newberry was led by 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench from Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas)… The Bears started the game with a 9-0 run and held the Indians without a field goal until Eric Nwawel (Cameroon) tipped in a missed free throw by Cory Etheridge (Columbia, S.C.) with 14:19 until the break…But Nwawel's bucket got the offense rolling, as the Indians proceeded to go on a 12-0 run in just three-and-a-half minutes, taking a 12-9 lead with 11:45 before the half on a layup by Martin…The back and forth swings continued with a 10-0 Lenoir-Rhyne surge capped by a Jonathan Cook triple to make it 19-12 with 8:31 before the break… By the half, the Indians narrowed the deficit to two points with a breakaway layup by Terrance Spillers (Charleston, S.C.) on an assist from Tommy Burke (Newberry, S.C.) with 30 seconds left to make it 26-24 in the Bears' favor after 20 minutes… The guests extended their advantage quickly, opening the second stanza with a 5-0 run, of which three came on a Bratton three-point play…The scarlet and gray came back on a 9-2 rush, with a three-pointer by Zach Chandler (Greenville, S.C.) tying the game at 32-all with 16:28 to go…However, L-R took the lead for good on a pair of Donte Watson free throws with 14:23 to play, as the Indians' shots just wouldn't fall down the stretch… Despite the loss, the Indians still had a better shooting percentage than their opponents, with Newberry shooting .370 and Lenoir-Rhyne shooting .360 from the field. But the Bears nailed 23-of-29 chances from the charity stripe to ensure they stayed atop the conference table…The Indians' Danny Friend (Atlanta, Ga.) tied a career-high with 10 points, while six assists from Matt Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) also tied a career best… On Saturday, the Indians dropped an 89-80 road game at Catawba College… Catawba started off strong, bolting out to an 11-5 lead to start the game and never looked back, led by senior forward Chris Wooldridge's 10-for-14 performance for 25 points. Reserve Rob Fields had 17 points in 20 minutes off the bench... The home Catawba Indians were red hot from the floor, hitting more than 53 percent of field goals attempted… For Newberry, four players scored double-digits in points led by junior Terrance Spillers' 16. The Charleston, S.C. native also grabbed nine rebounds and picked up two steals in 26 minutes…Etheridge turned in a solid performance with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 behind the three-point line…Martin tallied 13 points and freshman center Kendrick Johnson (Orangeburg, S.C.) had 12 points and two blocks in 20 minutes… The Newberry defense forced a modest 18 turnovers, but capitalized on mistakes scoring 27 points off of Catawba miscues… Having lost two straight, the Indians will be looking to rebound quickly against Tusculum College this Wednesday at home in Eleazer Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m… Newberry travels to Wingate on Saturday for a 4 p.m. start

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian extended its winning streak to five games last week with a victory over Lincoln Memorial in its only game on the week … The victory over LMU moved the Blue Hose to within a half-game game of the SAC lead due to Lenoir-Rhyne's loss to Carson-Newman … It also marked the first time ever that Presbyterian had claimed a win on the hardwood against LMU as they had fallen in their first two meetings all-time … Pat Kiscaden (Oviedo, Fla.) came off the bench to lead the Blue Hose with 14 points, while Grant Herren (Oviedo, Fla.) and Drew Biggs (Alpharetta, Ga.) each scored 12 … Bryan Bostic (Norcross, Ga.) added 11 points of his own.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum men's basketball team went 0-2 last week to drop its season record to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in South Atlantic Conference play ... Tusculum opened the week with a 60-46 home setback to Catawba. TC followed that with a tough road loss at Wingate (65-58). Tusculum has played in 14 games this season that have been decided by 10 points or less ... Junior Lavanti Jeter has been on fire in his last three game where he is averaging 14 ppg. He recorded 20 points and eight rebounds against Catawba. He followed that with 11 markers against Wingate ... TC has recorded a three-point field goal in 549 consecutive games ... Tusculum returns home on Monday to host arch-rival Carson-Newman in the 101st recorded meeting between the two schools. Tusculum has won seven of the last nine meetings against Carson-Newman. TC will follow with road games at Newberry and Presbyterian.

WINGATE - The Bulldogs won two games last week, improving their record to 16-6 overall and 8-3 in the SAC ... On Saturday afternoon, Wingate senior guard Justin Baker had a team-high 17 points as the host Bulldogs defeated Tusculum College 65-58 in Cuddy Arena. Wingate junior guard/forward Sean Barnette contributed 14 points and six rebounds to the victory. The Bulldogs are 16-6 overall and 8-3 in the SAC ... The first half was close the entire way and Wingate sophomore Kenny Villines hit a shot as the halftime horn sounded to give the Bulldogs a three-point halftime lead at 32-29 ... The second half was back-and-forth as the score was tied six times and the lead changed 13 times throughout the game. Tusculum held a four-point lead with 8:00 remaining in regulation, as the Pioneers clung to a 51-47 advantage. Wingate then scored nine straight points to take the lead for good ... Barnette exploded for a season-high 29 points as the Bulldogs defeated North Greenville University 103-77 in an NCAA Division II match up Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena on the Wingate campus ... Four Bulldogs hit double digits against the Crusaders. Baker netted 19 points. Senior guard Shaun Kirkland and redshirt junior forward Bryan Grier contributed 11 points each. Grier notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... On Wednesday, Wingate held a 56-35 advantage at the break. Barnette (19 first-half points) and Baler (13 first-half points) combined for 32 points and eight three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. As a team, Wingate knocked down 11 three-point baskets in the first stanza ... A steal and dunk by Grier give the Bulldogs a 56-28 edge at the 2:22 mark. The 28-point bulge was Wingate's largest first half lead. The Bulldogs shot 55.6 percent (20-of-36) in the first 20 minutes ... North Greenville could not cut the margin any lower than 17 points in the second half. The Bulldogs built a 29-point advantage when junior forward Ryan Thys drained a three-point field goal with 3:50 remaining, pushing Wingate's lead to 96-67 ... Barnette was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III men's basketball first team (college division), selected by CoSIDA, last week. He earns Academic All-District honors for the first time in his career. Barnette is the only student-athlete from the South Atlantic Conference to earn first team honors ... Barnette leads the SAC in scoring with 20.3 points per game. He is 34th in the NCAA Division II in points per game. The Northwestern High School graduate is listed in the SAC top 10 in seven statistical categories. Barnette passed the 1,000-point plateau during Wingate's 83-61 win over Anderson University on Nov. 27 ... Wingate is ninth in the latest NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional poll (released Feb. 7). Lenoir-Rhyne (fourth) and Presbyterian (eighth) also represent the SAC in the regional listing. The Bulldogs visit Presbyterian College Monday night at 8 p.m. Wingate will hit the road again Wednesday for a 8 p.m. contest at Mars Hill College. The Bulldogs will host Newberry College Saturday (Feb. 17) at 4 p.m. ... Grier is fifth in the NCAA Division II in blocked shots per game. The 2005-06 NCAA Division II leader in rejections, Grier is averaging 3.3 blocked shots per game this season. Thanks to the efforts of Grier and his teammates, Wingate is the number one team in NCAA Division II in blocked shots. The Bulldogs average 7.2 blocks per game.