Weekly SAC Men’s Basketball Notes - February 26, 2007

Men's basketball game recaps and notes for week ending February 25, 2007

CARSON-NEWMAN - Against Catawba, C-N shot 51 percent from the field, but the Indians maintained the up-tempo pace of the game. The Indians led 54-50 at halftime, but Darren Williams hit a three-pointer to open the second half to put the Eagles within one at 54-53 ... A Chris Woolridge dunk and an Antonio Houston three-pointer put Catawba up 59-53 with 17 minutes remaining in the game ... The Indians built a 10-point lead at 69-59 with 15 minutes to go, but the Eagles kept fighting ... Late in the game, Jesse McMurray hit his fourth three-pointer to move the Eagles to within five points at 104-99 with less than two minutes remaining, but a Brian Graves steal and layup gave the Indians the lead for good at 106-99 with 1:03 remaining ... In the regular season finale against Wingate, Carson-Newman surpassed the 100-point mark for the third straight game ... C-N (9-18, 2-14 SAC) kept close in the first half, shooting 41 percent from three-point range. Scott Williams scored 18 first half points on 70 percent shooting from the field and three treys ... In the second half, Wingate built a quick six-point lead, but a Scott Williams layup kept the Eagles within four at 58-54. Wingate then went on a 11-4 run early in the second half for a 67-58 advantage, but Jordan Dixon made two free throws and Darren Williams swished a three-pointer to pull the Eagles back within six at 73-67 with 14:21 to go ... Darren Williams hit another triple while Kente Hart and Andy Tipton hit consecutive jumpers as Wingate's lead was narrowed to 87-81. Scott Williams' trey with 11:14 to go gave C-N new life as the Eagles trailed by just three points at 87-84 with 11:14 remaining ... Midway through the game, Tipton hit another triple and Scott Williams hit one of two free throws to pull C-N within two points at 99-97 with 6:52 left ... Two Kente Hart three-pointers made the score 113-11 with less than three minutes to go and Scott Williams' two free throws made the score 117-114 with 2:03 to go, but WU's Bill Smith made two free throws and Larry Staley's layup with 33 seconds left gave the Bulldogs their 19th win of the season ... Scott Williams led the Eagles with 32 points while Hart posted a double-double with 29 points and 10 assists. Darren Williams added 16 points while Andy Tipton and Clay Scott finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively ... The Eagles travel to Mars Hill on Monday night, February 26, to take on the Lions in the first round of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament.

CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians claimed the 2006-07 South Atlantic Conference Championship with a pair of wins last week, ending the regular season on a nine-game winning streak ... The championship is the second for Catawba in the last three seasons ... On Wednesday, Catawba defeated Carson-Newman 112-107 then beat Presbyterian at home 63-57 on Saturday in a battle of co-leaders to take the crown ... The men shot 58 percent in scoring a season-high 112 points at Carson-Newman ... Freshman Antonio Houston tied a career-high with 29 points, while Chris Wooldridge added a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds ... Brian Graves also had a double-double with 14 points and tied his career-best with a dozen assists ... The Catawba Indians held a 44-31 edge on the boards ... Catawba led by double-digits several times in the second half, but CN rallied to get within 106-102 with a minute to play ... Catawba made all six free throw attempts in the final 37 seconds to seal the victory ... Against PC, Catawba led virtually the entire contest ... PC grabbed a 14-13 lead for its only edge in the first half, but Catawba answered with a 6-0 run to go up by five ... The Indians led 27-23 at the break and built its lead to 43-32 with 12:43 to go ... PC rallied from a 50-42 deficit, scoring nine straight points to go up 51-50 with just 2:46 left ... Houston hit a jumper to put the Indians back on top and added two free throws with 1:44 remaining for a 54-51 lead ... PC tied the game on a three-pointer with 57 seconds left, but Graves answered 15 seconds later to put Catawba up for good at 57-54 ... The Indians made all six free throws in the final 22 seconds to earn the win ... Houston tallied 18 points, while Graves added 17 ... Wooldridge posted his second double-double of the week with 14 points and 10 boards ... Norman Monroe also reached double figures in both wins, scoring 12 at Carson-Newman and 10 vs. PC ... Catawba will host the winner of the Carson-Newman/Mars Hill in the quarterfinals of the league tournament on Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (17-9, 11-5) split its final two games last week to end the regular season and finish in a tie for third place in the South Atlantic Conference … However, Lenoir-Rhyne loses the tiebreaker to Wingate and will be the fourth seed in the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament … The Bears will face the fifth-seeded Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial University Wednesday at 7 p.m., at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … L-R swept the season series from Lincoln Memorial and leads the all-time series with the Railsplitters, 2-1 … Lenoir-Rhyne fell to Wingate last Wednesday on the road, 81-67 ... The Bulldogs reeled off 11 straight points to end the half and led by as many as 20 points after break … Senior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) was L-R's top scorer, finishing with 14 points … However, Wingate's Justin Baker spearheaded the Bulldogs' attack, leading all scorers with 23 points and five three-pointers … Lenoir-Rhyne bounced back to defeat Mars Hill, 85-50, on Senior Night … L-R was honoring its three seniors who were playing their regular season home game: Springs, Stephen Hinds (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Eric Mauldin (Albemarle, N.C.) … Lenoir-Rhyne raced to a 40-23 lead at halftime and a 15-0 run in the second half turned the contest into a rout … Springs scored a game-high 21 points, including 18 in the first half, while junior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to score 16 points in the win … L-R has beaten Mars Hill 12 straight times in the regular season and the Lions have not won at Shuford Gymnasium since the 1989-90 campaign … Lenoir-Rhyne went 7-1 against SAC foes at home but just 4-4 versus league competition on the road … L-R is guaranteed a fifth straight winning season … Bratton has scored in double figures in 25 of the team's 26 games this year including 19 straight while Springs had topped double figures in 10 straight contests … Junior Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) is third all time in blocked shots with 119 and third in single-season blocks with 61.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - North Greenville survived a furious comeback by the Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team to escape with the 93-90 win on Tuesday. In the first half, North Greenville rode 68 percent shooting to a 44-28 halftime lead. The Crusaders hit eight 3-pointers, while getting up by as many as 22 points in the first period ... However, in the second half, LMU battled back with a barrage of 3-pointers. The Railsplitters hit 14 in the second half alone and 21 for the game ... The two teams combined for 34 3-pointers in the game ... Beau Brown's triple with seven seconds remaining in the game cut NGU's lead to two points. P.J. Schumacher was fouled on the ensuing play. Schumacher hit the first free throw, missing the second, but was able to get his own rebound and call timeout to preserve the 93-90 victory ... North Greenville's Amonzo Gantt led all scorers with a season-high 34 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Jordan Richmond knocked down ten of 12 shots to score 27 points. Richmond also had seven rebounds and four assists. Schumacher added 11 points and nine rebounds ... David Lopez led the Railsplitters with 26 points on 9-22 shooting, including eight 3-pointers. Dominique Petty hit seven triples en route to 23 points. Beau Brown added 20 points, while Chris Williams chipped in 14 points ... The Newberry Indians cut a 20 point LMU lead to two on Saturday, but the Railsplitters stood their ground to survive the run and come away with a 75-68 victory to solidify the No. 5 spot in the South Atlantic Conference regular season race ... Playing in front of a sizable home crowd that included many family members and friends on senior night, the Railsplitters looked as though they were extremely focused in the first half with David Lopez (Tucson, AZ) leading the attack from behind the three point line. Lopez had 17 points at the end of the half, knocking down 5-6 three pointers to give the Railsplitters a 33-27 lead at the intermission ... Nearly midway through the second half of play, the Railsplitters threatened to run away with the game as they extended the lead to 20 with 11:29 remaining in the contest. Newberry came storming back however, cutting the 20 point LMU margin to just three with 2:41 to go ... LMU's senior leadership down the stretch helped the Railsplitters survive the storm, and Lincoln Memorial escaped with a narrow seven point win to sweep the home and away series with Newberry ... Lopez led all scorers with 23 points while freshman Beau Brown (Athens, TN) put in 16 more to help the cause. Also in figures was LMU senior Artavius Mitchell (Chicago, IL) who finished the evening with 14 points to help push the Railsplitters to 13-14 on the year and 7-9 in the South Atlantic Conference ... Having clinched the No. 5 position in the final South Atlantic Conference regular season standings, the Railsplitters now prepare to take on the league's No. 4 ranked team Lenoir-Rhyne College in quarterfinal action of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Wednesday night in Hickory, North Carolina. The game between the Railsplitters and the Bears is set to get underway at 7:00 p.m. on the Lenoir-Rhyne campus.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill lost two games week. The Lions are now 8-19 overall and 4-12 in the SAC. MHC will begin SAC Tournament play this coming week ... In the first game of the week, Larry Minnefee scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures as the Tusculum College men's basketball team defeated Mars Hill College 79-48 Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena ... Jordan Lear added 16 points, including four 3-pointers, while Chris Poore accounted for 15 points and five rebounds. Jimmy Boone posted 11 points, while Gabe Story tallied a double-double with 11 points and a dozen boards ... Mars Hill was led by Chris Aline's (Reinach, Switzerland) 11-point effort, while P.J. Gore (Little River, SC) tallied nine points in the loss ... Tusculum shot 51.8 percent for the game, including 15-of-27 in the first half as the Pioneers enjoyed a 38-26 lead at halftime ... Lear led the TC charge in the first half as he accounted for 11 points, including a 24-foot three-pointer with three seconds remaining in the period as TC went on a 16-5 run in the final five minutes ... In the second half, Tusculum used a 19-7 run early in the second half and added a 10-0 spurt later in the period to put the game away ... Tusculum won the battle of the boards by a 39-25 margin, including 24-9 in the second half ... In the second game of the week, the Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team defeated MHC 85-50 Saturday evening at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium ... Senior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Bears with 21 points, including 18 in the first half as Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Mars Hill. The Bears raced to a 40-23 lead at break and put the contest away with a 15-0 run in the second half ... Junior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to score 16 points and L-R, as a team, limited Mars Hill to just 31 percent shooting (19-of-62) for the contest ... Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, N.C.) led Mars Hill with 19 points but the Lions hit just seven of 30 three-point attempts (24 percent) ... Mars Hill returns home to face Carson-Newman in the league tournament first round on Monday night.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team went 0-2 in the final week of the regular season… On Wednesday, the Indians dropped a 60-29 decision to the visiting Blue Hose of Presbyterian College in what was likely PC's final visit to Eleazer Arena… On Saturday, Newberry came back from 20 points down in the second half but couldn't complete the comeback, losing, 75-68, to Lincoln Memorial University… In Wednesday's loss to Presbyterian, the Indians' four seniors - Tommy Burke, Zach Chandler, Alonzo Hinds and Eric Nwawel - started in their final game in Eleazer Arena… However, PC held Newberry scoreless for over eight minutes of the first half, and took a 33-13 lead into the break… The second half wasn't much better for Newberry, as the Indians scored their fewest points in a game in the shot clock era, and the fewest points ever scored by a South Atlantic Conference team… Burke led the Indians with eight points… One of the highlights of the night came at the 11:18 mark of the first half, as freshman Kendrick Johnson blocked his 42nd shot of the season, setting a single-season school record in that category… Johnson eclipsed Jonathan Stackhouse's 41 blocks in the 2000-01 season despite missing the opening seven games of the season… Saturday proved to be a better day for the Indians, but the loss to LMU dropped them from fifth place to the seventh seed entering this week's Food Lion SAC Tournament… Three Indians scored in double digits, led by Clemente Martin's 17 points… Cory Etheridge scored 11 points and Zach Chandler scored 10, while Terrance Spillers grabbed 11 rebounds, 10 of which were on the offensive end of the floor… The Indians set a SAC record by grabbing 28 offensive rebounds in the game, breaking a record that had stood since 1992-93… The Indians outrebounded LMU, 53-30, in the game, but only shot 34.7 percent from the floor, while the Railsplitters were good for 50.0 percent shooting… The Indians start the Food Lion SAC Tournament in the quarterfinals as the No. 7 seed… They will face off with No. 2 seed Presbyterian College in Clinton at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian ended last week at 1-1 … The Blue Hose opened the week by picking up a dominating 60-29 victory over rival Newberry at Elezear Arena and then closed out the week by falling to Catawba at Goodman Gym, 63-57 … The loss to Catawba snapped a season-high nine-game winning streak for the Blue Hose … Grant Herren tied a career high with 25 points in the loss to Catawba … Second-seeded PC opens the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Basketball Tournament with a home game against rival Newberry at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum men's basketball team ended the regular season winning three of its last four games, including a 79-48 win over Mars Hill in the Pioneers' home finale… Five Tusculum players scored in double-figures led by the 16-point efforts of senior Larry Minnefee and Jordan Lear… Senior Gabe Story recorded a double-double with his 11 points and 12 rebounds… Senior Chris Poore accounted for 15 points in her final Tusculum home game, while rookie Jimmy Boone tallied 11 markers in the win… Tusculum shot 52 percent from the floor in the game, including 56 percent in the opening half… The Pioneers will be the No. 6 seed in this week's Food Lion SAC Tournament and will be at third-seeded Wingate… It will be a match-up of the last two SAC Tournament Champions and will mark the third time the Pioneers and Wingate have faced off in the postseason… The Bulldogs swept the season series, but Tusculum has won four of the last six meetings… Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 553 consecutive games… Tusculum coach Jim Boone has recorded 348 career wins, the 34th most amongst active NCAA Division II coaches.

WINGATE - Wingate University senior guard Justin Baker averaged 27.5 points per game last week as the Bulldogs won two SAC games. He hit 61.1 percent (18-of-36) of his field goals in the two victories last week, helping Wingate earn the third seed in the Food Lion SAC tournament ... Baker hit a season-high 32 points in a wild 122-116 SAC road win at Carson-Newman Saturday night. Baker hit 14-of-22 shots against the Eagles. The Lumberton High product had a double-double against Carson-Newman with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Earlier in the week, Baker notched 23 points in 81-67 SAC home victory over Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night. He added six rebounds against the Bears ... For the season, Baker is averaging 18.9 points per game. A 2006 All-SAC selection, Baker hit 17.1 points per game last season as Wingate won the 2006 Food Lion SAC tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II play-offs ... Baker eclipsed the 1000-point plateau for his career in Wingate's win over Lenoir-Rhyne. Four Bulldogs hit double figures against the Bears. Wingate junior guard/forward Sean Barnette had 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocked shots. Bulldog senior forward Shaun Kirkland netted 14 points, while redshirt junior center Bryan Grier chipped in 11 markers ... Baker posted a double-double with 32 points and 10 rebounds against Carson-Newman. Barnette grabbed eight rebounds to go along with his 31 points. Kirkland added 14 points, Larry Staley contributed a career-high 12 points and Grier finished with 11 points for the Bulldogs.