Weekly Men’s Basketball Notes, December 17, 2007

Men's basketball game notes for week ending December 16, 2007

BREVARD - The Tornados (1-8) will not return to action until the New Year, when they will host Virginia Intermont on January 3 at 8 p.m. in Boshamer Gymnasium … Brevard College's lone win of the season came against Virginia Intermont back in November … The Tornados will then take on the Lions of Mars Hill for the second time this season on Saturday, January 5, at 4 p.m.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Eagles built a 30-point lead in the second half en route to a 94-73 victory over North Greenville University at Holt Fieldhouse … The Eagles used a stifling defense to hold the Crusaders to just 44 percent shooting for the game and a mere 17 percent from three-point range. The Eagles collected 18 steals with Scott Williams swiping four North Greenville possessions … Andrew Johnson led Carson-Newman with 15 points while Jesse McMurray scorched the nets with four three-pointers for 12 points. In his first game for the Eagles this season, Williams added 11 points while freshman Kevin Hare scored 10 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line ... Against Lees McRae, Zach Hyatte scored 20 points and five other Eagles scored in double figures as Carson-Newman claimed a 100-84 victory … The Eagles (6-1) forced 26 Bobcat turnovers, but trailed 41-39 at halftime after shooting just 40 percent in the first 20 minutes and only 16 percent from three-point range … In the second half, the Eagles came out firing and outscored the Bobcats 61-43. Bobby Guyton grabbed nine rebounds and scored 15 points along with Scott Williams. Andy Tipton added 14 points and Jesse McMurray knocked down four three-pointers for 12 points … Guyton had two blocks and Jordan Dixon had three steals to lead Carson-Newman in that category.

CATAWBA - The Catawba men won in its only outing of the week, knocking off previously undefeated St. Augustine's 72-69 ... Senior Isaac Rose had a career night as he made all 10 of his field goal tries and notched career-bests with 24 points and eight rebounds ... His free throw with 1:50 left put the Indians up to stay at 68-67 and he added a three-point play with 49 seconds to go for a 71-67 edge ... Of his 10 fields goal, two were three-pointers - one to tie the score at 55-55 with 10:02 to play and the last with 4:25 left gave the Indians a 65-62 lead ... Rose had reached double figures only one other time, scoring 16 points earlier this year in a loss to Virginia State ... Catawba got out of the gates quickly against the Falcons, leading by as many as 13 points in the opening half as the Indians shot a blistering 59.3 percent ... St. Augustine's rallied in the second half and took the lead with 14:44 remaining ... the Falcons held the lead for most of the next 10 minutes before the late Catawba rally ... Antonio Houston and Rob Fields each added a dozen points, while Norman Monroe tossed in 11 ... Catawba shot 51 percent for the game and helped limit the Falcons to just 32.5 percent, which helped offset a 51-39 deficit on the boards ... St. Augustine's grabbed 27 offensive rebounds, but were only able to score 18 second-chance points, while Catawba got eight off seven offensive boards ... Houston still paces the Indians in scoring at 18.1 points per game ... Fields and Monroe are each adding 11.9 a contest ... Monroe leads the team at five rebounds per game ... The Indians have won four of five since dropping their opening two games and are allowing just over 70 points a game in those outings after giving up 90 in each of the first two games ... Catawba will close out its pre-Christmas slate on Monday at J.C. Smith ... the Indians will play at Lenoir-Rhyne's Moretz Sports Classic in late December and have early January dates at Chowan and St. Augustine's before returning home to Goodman Gym to host Wingate in SAC play on Jan. 9.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (5-1) won its lone game of the week on Friday (December 14) by an 83-66 score over Belmont Abbey (3-5) at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … Senior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points while freshman guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) added 18 points as L-R won for the 33rd time in its last 36 home games … L-R led by just two points at halftime (34-32) but blew the game open in the second half by building its lead to as much as 22 in coasting to the win … Senior forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.), who scored 11 points against Belmont Abbey, is now just 22 points away from becoming the 47th player in Bear history to score 1,000 for his career … Meanwhile, Bratton increased his double-digit scoring to 27 contests dating back to last year … Lenoir-Rhyne next travels to Savannah, Ga., to play in the AASU/Chatham Orthopaedics Holiday Classic ... L-R will take on Columbus State (Tuesday at 3 p.m.) and Armstrong Atlantic State (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) … L-R will be playing Columbus State for the first time in school history while Armstrong Atlantic State leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 8-4.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The North Georgia College & State University used a season high 22-points from Andre Morgan to get by Lincoln Memorial 66-57 and win their third in a row Saturday evening in non-conference action … The first half saw the Saints and Railsplitters battle to four ties and three lead changes in the first 10 minutes until North Georgia used a lay-up by Jakirra Millsap to take a 14-12 lead with 9:00 minutes remaining in the first half. The Saints would extend that lead to six points on a lay-up by Andre Morgan, but a three-pointer from the Railsplitters' Wadner Joseph at the 5:32 mark made it an 18-15 North Georgia advantage … Lincoln Memorial (3-5) cut the Saints' lead to a bucket at the 4:44 mark, but Morgan took control and led his team to a 10-point halftime lead. North Georgia came out focused in the second half and knocked down three straight buckets to take a 34-18 lead, capped by a jumper from senior Xavier Trice … The Railsplitters kept fighting though, cutting the Saints lead to just five points at 53-48 on a pair of free throws by Terry Delaney with 4:36 remaining. The Saints would sink their free throws down the stretch however, and pull away with a 66-57 win over Lincoln Memorial … North Georgia was led by Morgan who scored a season high 22 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Trice and Anthony Rowe each added 11, while R.J. Hofler chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds … Lincoln Memorial had three players in double figures, including Beau Brown who led the way with 16, Delaney with 14, and Joseph with 12. Ronnie Jones made his presence felt on the boards, as he grabbed 11 rebounds … The Railsplitters will now have some time off for Christmas before returning to action on Dec. 29-30 in the Union College Classic.

MARS HILL - MHC played only one game last week. They lost at USC Aiken. The Lions are now 3-5 on the season … USC Aiken (7-0) used a 23-0 run in the first half and a 13-0 run to start the second to build a 35-point lead Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center before holding on for a 96-87 victory over visiting Mars Hill (3-5). The Pacers are ranked 15th nationally … Junior Chris Commons, who scored 38 points in the Pacers' 85-71 victory over Mars Hill to start the season, led four USCA players in double figures with a game-high 28 points … After falling behind 11-4 early on, the Pacers played an incredible stretch of basketball to close out the first half and open the second. Coming out of the first media timeout at the 14:55 mark, USC Aiken used a 23-0 spurt to take control and outscored the Lions 48-22 for the rest of the first half … The Pacers then opened the second half with a 13-0 run and scored 22 of the first 27 points to lead 74-39 with 14:47 left in the game. The USC Aiken defensive pressure led the Pacers' 23-0 run as they took control after a slow start. Mars Hill committed eight turnovers and missed all five of their field goal attempts during the spurt, which lasted just three minutes and 58 seconds. The Pacers did not let up from there, and Commons gave the hosts their biggest lead of the game at the 5:05 mark. Commons scored 15 points in the half while Jeremy Fears came off the bench to tally 11. In the half, USCA held a 24-13 edge in rebounding, a 25-16 advantage in points in the paint, got 28 points from their bench, and scored 27 points off of 19 Mars Hill turnovers. USCA looked to blow the game wide open early in the second half as they scored the first 13 points of the period. Commons scored eight points during the run, and Mars Hill committed four more turnovers. A 21-4 MHC run was capped by a Jabreel Moton (Cincinnati, OH) three as the Lions cut their deficit under 20 points at 78-60 with 9:24 left … The visitors kept the pressure on and the USCA lead continued to shrink. A free throw by Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) with 1:59 remaining cut the lead under 10 for the first time at 90-81. However, the Lions would get no closer than eight the rest of the way, and the Pacers got four free throws from Fears to seal the victory … Fears had his fourth-straight double figure scoring game with 18 points, while Kingsley Oguchi and Cordaryl Ballard added 13 and 12 respectively … USCA held a 44-32 final edge on the boards, getting seven from Commons, six from Oguchi, and five apiece off the bench from Seth Leonard and Rashad Flowers. Getting five steals from Fears and four each from Commons and Ballard, USCA had 18 steals in forcing 28 Mars Hill turnovers … The Pacers shot 45.2 percent (33-73) from the field, including 8-for-28 from long range. The hosts won despite allowing an opponent to shoot over 50 percent for the first time this season. The Lions shot 52.6 percent (30-57), including 9-for-19 from long range … USCA hit 22-for-29 from the line while Mars Hill knocked down 18-for-30. Polite led MHC with 19 points and four assists followed by Josh Goble (Lenoir, NC) with 18 points and three rebounds … Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, SC) added 17 points while Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) recorded 16 points in the contest. Glen and Coakley tallied seven and five boards in the game, respectively … The Lions will return to action on January 5 when they host Brevard College at 4 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team played once this week after the finals break, falling to Limestone College, 77-64, on Saturday… The loss drops the Indians to 4-5 overall on the season… The Indians shot only 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the floor, and were outrebounded (44-34) for the first time this season… Clemente Martin led the Indians with 22 points and five assists… Vytautas Valiulis scored 17 while Grant Domsic netted 11 points… After giving up an initial three-pointer, two Valiulis buckets gave Newberry its only lead of the game with 17:37 remaining in the half… The Indians were able to tie the game at 7-all with 13:33 left in the half, but Limestone went on a 16-2 run over the next five minutes, taking a 23-9 lead with 8:50 until the break… Newberry narrowed the lead to three with four minutes remaining, but the Saints took an eight point lead into the dressing room at 38-30… The Saints kept finding the bottom of the nets early in the second half, taking a 15-point lead, but the Indians were able to narrow the deficit to five points at 54-49 with 10:33 to play… However, the Saints were able to keep the Indians at a distance and pull out the win… The Indians struggled from the free throw line, only shooting 18-of-32 (56.3 percent), while the Saints were 15-of-20 from the charity stripe…Newberry closes out the first semester Monday night with a home matchup against Coker College in Eleazer Arena at 7 p.m… Coker won the two teams' earlier matchup, 70-68, in Hartsville.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (4-5) were victorious in their only action of the week, posting a 69-61 victory at Lees-McRae… Tusculum wraps up a seven-game road swing with a 4-3 mark, including victories in three of its last four outings… Senior forward Lavonti Jeter led the Pioneers with 22 points, shooting 9-for-10 from the floor… He also went 4-for-5 from the free throw line and added six rebounds… Senior forward Jordan Lear added 18 points and a game-best eight rebounds… Sophomore Jimmy Boone posted a dozen markers in the victory… Sophomore guard Kyle Moore was held 13 points under his seasonal average, but still dished out eight assists in his 38 minutes of action… Tusculum rallied from a pair of nine-point deficits in the first half and trailed 31-24 at halftime… TC used an 11-4 run to start the second period tying the game at 35-35 with 16:46 remaining following a basket by Lear… TC went on a 10-2 spurt thanks to three straight baskets by Jeter… TC moved out to its largest lead of the game at 63-50 following a 7-0 run, capped off by a three-point play by Bryan Spriggs… Tusculum shot 49 percent from the field, including 54 percent in the second half… Lear leads the Pioneers in scoring (18.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg)… He also leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (45.2 percent)… Lear has scored in 64 straight games and in 89 of his 89 career games… TC has made a three-point field goal in 562 consecutive games… Lear has 1,217 career points, the 11th most in school history and needs one point to tie former All-SAC guard Pat Compton (1999-03; 1,218 pts)… Tusculum returns home on Wednesday to host Anderson University in the first recorded meeting between the Pioneers and Trojans.

WINGATE - The Wingate University Bulldog men's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 71-66 victory over the Fayetteville State Broncos Saturday night in Cuddy Arena. With the non-conference triumph, the Bulldogs improve to 7-3 overall. The FSU contest was Wingate's only action last week, as the Bulldog student-athletes were involved in final exams ... Wingate redshirt senior forward/center Bryan Grier led the way with 18 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and three assists. Grier was perfect from the floor, hitting seven-of-seven field goals Saturday night. Senior forward Sean Barnette added 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore guard Brandon Plummer chipped in with 10 points for the Bulldogs ... Wingate would hold onto a small margin through much of the first half. Lay-ups from junior guard Rosco Turner and junior forward Kenny Villines gave the Bulldogs an eight-point lead (19-11) with 8:50 remaining in the half. FSU quickly trimmed the lead back to three at 19-16 ... Wingate stretched the lead back to eight on two occasions, thanks to a lay-up and a free throw from Barnette. The single free throw at 1:43 gave Wingate a 31-23 advantage. The Broncos closed the half on a 6-0 run, making the score at intermission 31-29 Wingate ... Wingate shot 44 percent in the first half (14-of-32). The Broncos shot 30 percent in the opening frame (12-of-40). Neither team could buy a three-point field goal, as the Bulldogs and the Broncos combined to shot three-of-19 from three-point land in the opening frame ... The second half would also be tightly contested. Wingate took a seven-point edge (47-40) on a pair of free throws from Larry Staley (Charlotte, N.C.) at the 14:26 mark. The lead would stay between four and seven points for the next 10 minutes ... Fayetteville State cut the lead to three (68-65) with 3:32 remaining in the game. The Broncos had a chance to cut into the lead again, but missed a shot. Barnette grabbed the rebound and sent a long outlet pass to Grier, who then dished it to redshirt freshman forward Ben Davis (Chapel Hill, N.C.) for a lay-up and a foul with over two minutes left. The Davis hoop put Wingate up 70-65 with 2:17 to play ... Neither team would hit a field goal the rest of the way. The two teams traded single free throws to account for the final margin ... Wingate shot 44 percent from the field in the game (28-of-64). The Broncos shot 35 percent (28-of-80), while hitting only four-of-25 three pointers. Fayetteville State held a 52-44 edge on the glass; six Broncos had five or more rebounds ... The Bulldogs outscored the Broncos 44-32 in the paint. Also, Wingate converted 14 FSU turnovers into 14 points. Bulldog junior guard/forward DeMario Mattox had a game-high four steals ... Barnette leads the Bulldogs and the South Atlantic Conference with 21.1 points per game. He is Wingate's top rebounder with 8.7 boards per game. On the season, Grier is averaging 14.4 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game and 4.3 blocks per game. He is shooting 67.4 percent from the floor ... Grier leads the SAC in blocked shots. He is second in the league in field goal percentage. Grier is the top shot blocker in SAC and Wingate history. He has 378 career blocks, only 38 shy of the NCAA Division II career record. The all-time NCAA leader is James Doyle of Concord (W.Va.) University, who blocked 416 shots from 1995 to 1998 ... Wingate returns to action Wednesday, December 19, when they travel to Shaw University for a 7 p.m. start time. The Bulldogs will return to SAC play Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, hosting Lincoln Memorial University for a 4 p.m. encounter.