Catawba, Presbyterian, Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne Men Advance To Men’s Basketball Tournament Semifinals

Catawba College senior Brian Graves had a triple-double in leading conference champion and top seed Catawba survived a close call with ninth-seed Carson-Newman to take a 115-113 victory and advance to the semifinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. Catawba will face fourth-seed Lenoir-Rhyne, which set a school and tournament record by shooting 74.5 percent in a 101-90 win over Lincoln Memorial. The other semifinal on Saturday will feature second seed Presbyterian and third seed Wingate in a rematch of last year's tournament championship game.

No. 1 Catawba 115, No. 9 Carson-Newman 113

SALISBURY, NC -- Senior Brian Graves (Newport News, VA) posted his first career triple-double as top-seeded Catawba survived to defeat ninth-seeded Carson-Newman 115-113 in quarterfinal round action or the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night at Goodman Gym. The Catawba Indians improve to 19-9 and advance to face #4-seed Lenoir-Rhyne in one of Saturday's semifinal games to be held at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena in Hickory, NC. The Eagles end their season at 10-19.

Graves dished out a career-high 15 assists in the win and added 17 points and 10 rebounds. In three games against Carson-Newman this season the senior had 38 assists. Senior Chris Wooldridge (Norfolk, VA) scored a career-high 35 points, hitting on 16-of-20 field goal attempts. League Freshman of the Year, Antonio Houston (Charlotte, NC), added 22 points, canning a trio of three-pointers.

Catawba rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit and finally retook the lead at 82-81 on a Graves jumper with 13:16 left. The Indians built their lead to nine at 93-84 with 9:52 remaining, but the Eagles rallied behind a 13-5 run to get within a point on a jumper by Andrew Johnson (Cairo, GA) with 6:12 left.

Carson-Newman went on top 111-109 with 1:16 left on a three-point play by Deonte Williams (Selma, AL). Wooldridge would tie the game twice on dunks for Catawba and the Eagles would miss an opportunity with 20 seconds left to retake the lead. Graves missed a jumper in the waning seconds, but Houston grabbed the rebound and was fouled with three seconds to play. He connected on both free throws to give Catawba a 115-113 lead and Kente Hart (Evansville, IN) missed a three-pointer from half court as time expired.

Hart finished with 30 points and five assists for Carson-Newman. Scott Williams (Macon, GA) followed with 20 points, while Deonte Williams and Andy Tipton (Maryville, TN) each tallied 14 points. Carson-Newman used a late surge in the opening half to grab a 60-52 lead at the break. The Eagles used a 15-2 run to erase a 41-38 deficit to claim a 53-43 lead with 3:28 to go. Carson-Newman connected on seven three-pointers in the opening half, but was held to just one in the final stanza.

Catawba shot 65% in taking the win, making 69% in the second half. The Indians also made 7-of-11 from behind the arc, including 5-of-8 in the final half.

CATAWBA 115, CARSON-NEWMAN 113
CARSON-NEWMAN
Kente Hart 10-18 9-11 30; Scott Williams 6-13 6-6 20; Andy Tipton 3-11 6-7 14; Deonte Williams 6-12 2-4 14; Clay Scott 4-11 4-4 13; Andrew Johnson 4-5 4-4 12; Jesse McMurray 2-5 0-0 6; Jordan Dixon 1-5 0-0 2; Glab, Matt 1-1 0-0 2; Darren Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 37-83 31-36 113.
CATAWBA
Wooldridge, Chris 16-20 3-5 35; Houston, Antonio 7-13 5-6 22; Graves, Brian 7-14 2-4 17; Fields, Rob 5-8 2-2 14; Monroe, Norman 5-7 2-5 12; Murphy, Ahmad 3-4 2-2 8; Diggs, Jason 1-2 1-1 3; Williams, Donzell 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 45-69 18-27 115.
Carson-Newman....... 60 53 -113
Catawba............. 52 63 -115
3-point goals-Carson-Newman 8-21 (Andy Tipton 2-7; Scott Williams 2-6; Jesse McMurray 2-5; Clay Scott 1-1; Kente Hart 1-1; Deonte Williams 0-1), Catawba 7-11 (Houston, Antonio 3-4; Fields, Rob 2-4; Williams, Donzell 1-1; Graves, Brian 1-1; Diggs, Jason 0-1). Fouled out--Carson-Newman-Darren Williams; Deonte Williams; Clay Scott; Andrew Johnson; Andy Tipton; Kente Hart; Scott Williams; Jesse McMurray; Jordan Dixon; TEAM; Glab, Matt; Catawba-Brinkley, Montrell; Murphy, Ahmad; Fields, Rob; Diggs, Jason; Monroe, Norman; Houston, Antonio; Graves, Brian; Wooldridge, Chris; TEAM; Rose, Isaac; Magnusson, Finnur; Williams, Donzell;. Rebounds-Carson-Newman 37 (Deonte Williams 7), Catawba 42 (Graves, Brian 10). Assists-Carson-Newman 15 (Kente Hart 5), Catawba 30 (Graves, Brian 15). Total fouls-Carson-Newman 24, Catawba 26. A-318

No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne 101, No. 5 Lincoln Memorial 90

Hickory, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne College Men's Basketball Team (18-9) broke several records in its 101-90 victory over Lincoln Memorial University (13-15) Wednesday evening in the First Round of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Shuford Gymnasium.

The Bears, the fourth seed, shot 74.5 percent (35-of-47) from the floor to set a school and league tournament record in their victory over the fifth-seeded Railsplitters.

Lenoir-Rhyne's six-for-eight performance (75 percent) from the three-point line also set new marks as previously mentioned above.

Senior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park HS) tied a career-high with 25 points while junior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte HS) added 24 points and six assists off the bench as the Bears were able to defeat the Railsplitters despite 14 treys from Lincoln Memorial.

Lenoir-Rhyne, which shot 82 percent (14-of-17) in the first half, led by as many as 15 points on several occasions in the second half and was able to hold off Lincoln Memorial at the end.

Chris Williams (Fort Washington, Md.) came off the bench to score 25 points to lead the Railsplitters while David Lopez (Tucson, Ariz.) added 22 points and seven treys but it wasn't enough.

Lenoir-Rhyne also defeated Lincoln Memorial for the third time this year.

Junior forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C./Fuquay-Varina HS) made all nine field goal attempts and finished with 22 points for L-R, who will face top-seeded Catawba in the semifinals Saturday at 3 p.m., at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C.

LENOIR-RHYNE 101, LINCOLN MEMORIAL 90
LINCOLN MEMORIAL (13-15)
Williams, Chris 11-14 2-6 25; Lopez, David 7-13 1-2 22; Brown, Beau 7-14 0-0 16; Petty, Dominique 4-5 1-2 13; Jones, Ronnie 3-5 0-2 6; Wells, Kai 2-6 0-2 4; Crockett, Javan 0-1 0-0 0; Burke, Delroy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-59 8-22 90.
LENOIR-RHYNE (18-9)
Springs, Marcus 5-7 13-14 25; Bratton, Reggie 9-16 6-7 24; Kindred, Josh 9-9 4-5 22; Mauldin, Eric 4-4 0-0 11; Crawford, Ryan 5-6 0-0 11; Hinds, Stephen 2-2 0-0 4; Cook, Jonathan 0-1 2-2 2; Brown, A.J. 1-1 0-0 2; Watson, Donte 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-47 25-28 101.
Lincoln Memorial.............. 42 48 - 90
Lenoir-Rhyne.................. 46 55 - 101
3-point goals-Lincoln Memorial 14-23 (Lopez, David 7-10; Petty, Dominique 4-4; Brown, Beau 2-7; Williams, Chris 1-1; Crockett, Javan 0-1), Lenoir-Rhyne 6-8 (Mauldin, Eric 3-3; Springs, Marcus 2-2; Crawford, Ryan 1-1; Cook, Jonathan 0-1; Watson, Donte 0-1). Fouled out--Lincoln Memorial-Wells, Kai, Lenoir-Rhyne-None. Rebounds-Lincoln Memorial 24 (Mitchell, Artavius 6), Lenoir-Rhyne 24 (Kindred, Josh 7). Assists-Lincoln Memorial 18 (Wells, Kai 4; Brown, Beau 4; Williams, Chris 4; Lopez, David 4), Lenoir-Rhyne 18 (Bratton, Reggie 6). Total fouls-Lincoln Memorial 22, Lenoir-Rhyne 17. A-560
2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
First Round - No. 5 Lincoln Memorial at No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne Lenoir-Rhyne sets a Food Lion SAC Tournament record for team field goal percentage in a game ... Mark was also a school record as well

No. 3 Wingate 66, No. 6 Tusculum 56

WINGATE, N.C. --- The third-seeded Wingate University men's basketball team held off No. 7 Tusculum College 66-56 Wednesday night in a quarterfinal game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Cuddy Arena.

Wingate (20-8) advances to Saturday's tournament semifinal against No. 2 Presbyterian College in a rematch of last year's final. Tusculum ends its season at 13-15.

SAC Player of the Year Sean Barnette finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Bryan Grier accounted for a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds to go along with five blocked shots.

Tusculum senior Larry Minnefee led the Pioneers with 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting, while senior Chris Poore ended his collegiate career with 14 points and five rebounds. Junior Jordan Lear added 13 points, while junior Lavanti Jeter tallied four points and a season-best 12 rebounds.

Wingate led 28-23 at halftime and raced out to an 11-point advantage (40-29) with 13:57 remaining in the game. Tusculum answered with a 15-4 run and tied the game at 44-44 on a Corey Poindexter three-pointer with 8:40 left in the game.

The Bulldogs responded with nine unanswered points, including a dunk by Grier and a three-pointer by Justin Baker to take a 53-44 lead with 4:14 remaining.

Tusculum cut the deficit to 59-54 following a tip-in by Jeter at the 1:30 mark, but that was as close as the Pioneers would get.

Wingate shot 46 percent from the floor and 73.9 percent from the foul line (17-23). Tusculum shot 4-of-12 from the free throw line (33.3%).

WINGATE MEN 66, TUSCULUM 56
TUSCULUM (13-15 overall)
Minnefee, Larry 8-16 4-6 22; Poore, Chris 7-18 0-1 14; Lear, Jordan 5-13 0-1 13; Jeter, Lavanti 2-5 0-2 4; Poindexter, Corey 1-1 0-0 3; Boone, Jimmy 0-1 0-0 0; White, Tyler 0-1 0-0 0; Poppe, Serge 0-1 0-0 0; Story, Gabe 0-1 0-2 0; Williams, Eric 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 4-12 56.
WINGATE (20-8 overall)
Barnette, Sean 7-12 9-10 24; Grier, Bryan 5-8 2-3 12; Baker, Justin 3-4 4-4 11; Kirkland, Shaun 4-11 2-5 10; Staley, Larry 2-4 0-0 5; Smith, Bill 2-6 0-0 4; Coles, Tommy 0-3 0-0 0; Holmes, Sam 0-2 0-1 0; Villines, Kenny 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 17-23 66.
Tusculum...................... 23 33 - 56
Wingate....................... 28 38 - 66
3-point goals-Tusculum 6-17 (Lear, Jordan 3-9; Minnefee, Larry 2-6; Poindexter, Corey 1-1; Boone, Jimmy 0-1), Wingate 3-14 (Baker, Justin 1-2; Staley, Larry 1-2; Barnette, Sean 1-4; Smith, Bill 0-4; Holmes, Sam 0-2). Fouled out--Tusculum-Poore, Chris; Story, Gabe, Wingate-Kirkland, Shaun. Rebounds-Tusculum 31 (Jeter, Lavanti 12), Wingate 36 (Grier, Bryan 10). Assists-Tusculum 11 (Minnefee, Larry 3), Wingate 10 (Smith, Bill 4). Totalfouls-Tusculum 22, Wingate 18. A-729
2006 Food Lion SAC men's basketball tournament, quarter-finals. Wingate will face Presbyterian Saturday at 8 p.m. (Hickory, N.C.)

No. 2 Presbyterian 56, No. 7 Newberry 48

CLINTON, S.C. - Grant Herren led the Blue Hose with 17 points and second-seeded Presbyterian College (20-8) advanced to the semifinals of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Basketball Tournament with a 56-48 win over rival and seventh-seeded Newberry College at the Templeton Center on Wednesday evening.

Herren, who now has 985 points in his career, was 7-for-11 from the field in the victory. The Oviedo, Fla. native was also 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.

The All-SAC second team member was one of two Blue Hose in double figures in the game as Drew Biggs (Alpharetta, Ga.) ended his night with 14 points. Biggs hit two three-pointers in the contest and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Newberry placed two in double figures as well. The Indians' Alonzo Hinds had 14 points, while Clemente Martin finished the contest with 12 points.

The Blue Hose led for the majority of the game, extending their lead to as many as 14 points in the early going of the second half.

Newberry fought back, pulling to within six with a minute left in the contest.

The Blue Hose connected on all six of their free throw attempts over the course of the final minute to place the game out of reach and earn the eight-point victory.

Ranked sixth in the South Atlantic Region of NCAA Division II, Presbyterian ended its efforts on Wednesday with three wins over Newberry this year.

The Blue Hose outscored the Indians 186-120 in the three victories that very well may be the final three times that the rivals ever take the hardwood against each other.

The Blue Hose finish the overall series for now with a commanding 57-34 all-time lead.

The victory also ends another dominant year for the Blue Hose at the Templeton Center. Presbyterian was 13-1 in their home arena this season.

The Blue Hose are 38-3 at the Templeton Center over the last three seasons.

The victory also allows the Blue Hose to claim 20 or more wins in a season for the second consecutive season. PC head coach Gregg Nibert has now obtained 20 or more wins six times in his 18 seasons as the head man at Presbyterian.

Presbyterian will face third seeded Wingate in the semifinals of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Basketball Tournament at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 3 in Hickory, N.C. at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena.

The winner of the contest will advance to the championship game to be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 4 at the CVCC.

PRESBYTERIAN 56, NEWBERRY 48
NEWBERRY
Hinds, Alonzo 6-13 1-2 14; Martin, Clemente 4-12 4-5 12; Etheridge, Cory 1-7 3-3 6; Spillers, Terrance 3-7 0-0 6; Chandler, Zach 2-6 0-1 5; Friend, Danny 1-3 0-0 2; Johnson, Kendrick 1-1 0-1 2; Alexander, Matt 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 9-15 48.
PRESBYTERIAN
Grant Herren 7-11 3-4 17; Drew Biggs 3-5 6-6 14; Sean Dixon 2-7 2-2 7; Pat Kiscaden 2-5 0-0 6; Bryan Bostic 1-5 3-4 5; Martynas Versinskas 1-1 1-2 3; Travis Sligh 1-2 0-1 2; Brian Epperly 0-3 1-3 1. Totals 17-39 17-26 56.
Newberry............ 18 30 - 48
Presbyterian........ 23 33 - 56
3-point goals-Newberry 3-15 (Etheridge, Cory 1-5; Hinds, Alonzo 1-4; Chandler, Zach 1-4; Alexander, Matt 0-1; Martin, Clemente 0-1), Presbyterian 5-16 (Drew Biggs 2-4; Pat Kiscaden 2-5; Sean Dixon 1-4; Bryan Bostic 0-3). Fouled out--Newberry-Spillers, Terrance; Chandler, Zach; Martin, Clemente; Friend, Danny; Johnson, Kendrick; Hinds, Alonzo; Nwawel, Eric; Etheridge, Cory; Alexander, Matt; TEAM; Burke, Tommy; Kennedy, Lane;, Presbyterian-Drew Biggs; Bryan Bostic; Travis Sligh; Ryan Lamb; Quinton Ferrell; Grant Herren; Martynas Versinskas; Sean Dixon; Brian Epperly; TEAM; Walt Allen;; Pat Kiscaden;. Rebounds-Newberry 37 (Martin, Clemente 9), Presbyterian 27 (Drew Biggs 5; Travis Sligh 5; Bryan Bostic 5). Assists-Newberry 6 (Alexander, Matt 4), Presbyterian 9 (Sean Dixon 4). Total fouls-Newberry 26, Presbyterian 18. A-1274