Men’s Weekly Basketball Notes, January 7, 2008

Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 6, 2008.

BREVARD - The Tornados picked up their second win of the season on Thursday night, but fell to the Lions of Mars Hill for a second time this season on Saturday afternoon ... On Thursday night the Tornados shot lights out, as they defeated the Cobras of Virginia Intermont for the second time this season ... The Tornados played perhaps their best game of the season on both ends of the court against the visiting Cobras, as BC held Virginia Intermont to 27 points in the first half and 35 percent shooting from the floor for the game ... The Tornados shot 60.4 percent from the floor, including going 14-of-23 from behind the three-point line (60.9 percent) ... BC had three players in double-figures as sophomores Jonathan Whitson and Andrew Freeman had 18 points and 13 points, respectively, while Shane Galloway recorded a game-high 19 points off the bench as he connected on all five of his five three-point attempts ... Whitson added 10 rebounds to go with his 18 points to give him his second double-double on the year ... On Saturday afternoon, the Tornados jumped back into SAC play, as they hit the road to take on the Lions of Mars Hill ... The Tornados hung close with the Spartans for the first 25 minutes of the contest, until a little over midway through the second half the Lions heated up from behind the three-point arc and pulled away from BC ... The Lions hit eight-three pointers in the second half, while the Tornados had a season-high turnovers for the game ... Again Jonathan Whitson led the way for the Tornados, scoring 24 points and pulling down seven rebounds as he went against a number of different Lions players ... Fellow forward Joseph Chilton added seven points and 11 rebounds, while junior sharp shooter Radosav Babic ...Brevard College (2-9) will continue their tough SAC play next week as they will host Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, January 9, at 8 p.m. and then will travel to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to do battle with the Railsplitters at 4 p.m..

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 2-1 over the break to improve to 8-2 (2-0 SAC) on the season…C-N began the new calendar year with a bounce-back home win over King last Wednesday at home, 95-82…Senior Scott Williams set the pace with an impressive double-double, pouring in 20 points and adding 10 rebounds…Senior Andy Tipton also had 20, on 9-of-10 shooting, to lead the Eagles…Williams had 41 points in two games over the break, both against King…Tipton's 20 came after putting in only three points in C-N's loss at King in its prior game…The Eagles trailed the Tornado at home 42-34 just before half, but an 8-0 C-N run knotted the game at 42-42 early in the second half…King built its lead back out to five at 50-45, but the Eagles answered with a 35-14 run to pull away…Nine Eagles scored during the run, including Williams who had a solo five-point flurry in a matter of about 10 seconds…The Macon, Georgia-native split two King defenders for a layup, and after a King miss, knocked down a quick three in transition to push a two-point C-N lead out to 70-63…The Eagles would lead by as many as 16 at 80-64…Andrew Johnson added 13 in the C-N win…Carson-Newman moved to 2-0 in the young South Atlantic Conference with a 90-71 win Saturday night over Newberry…Scott Williams missed the game for C-N (after posting back-to-back 20-point games)…Junior Jesse McMurray picked up the slack for the Eagles…The Gate City, Virginia-native knocked down 5-of-7 from three-point range to finish with 19 points…Johnson added 13 for the Eagles, as did senior Darren Williams…Bobby Guyton had 10 for C-N…Carson-Newman led by 13 at the half 40-27…The Eagles exploded early in the second half…After Newberry cut the lead to nine at 40-31, C-N went on a 26-10 run to push the game out to 66-41…The Eagles led by their largest margin at 78-49…There was little pretty about the win, or, the game…The two teams combined for 61 free throws, 53 personal fouls, and 53 turnovers…The Eagles dropped their final game before a 10-day break for the holidays at King College, 102-68…The Tornado rolled by C-N on 14-of-22 shooting from three-point range…Scott Williams poured in 21 points and six rebounds for the Eagles in the loss… Guyton added 14 points in the loss on 5-of-7 shooting…The Eagles are shooting a solid 48 percent from the floor as a team…C-N is also making the most of its trips to the charity stripe, shooting 77 percent as a team…The Eagles are outscoring opponents by nine points per game (90.8-81.9)…The Eagles are back at home Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup with Alabama-Huntsville…C-N beat the Chargers 86-69 in late November…The Eagles return to SAC action on Saturday for an afternoon game at Mars Hill.

CATAWBA - After a poor performance in a 75-56 loss at JC Smith in its final outing before the break, the Catawba Indians won its first three games after returning to action then fell in double-overtime at St. Augustine's on Saturday ... The Catawba Indians pulled off one-point wins over Queens (92-91 OT) and Mt. Olive (79-78) at the Moretz Sports Classic at Lenoir-Rhyne just after Christmas and earned an 86-77 win at Chowan before the 105-97 loss at St. Augustine's ... Dominick Reid came up big against Queens, sending the game to extra-time on his three-pointer at the buzzer ... the freshman finished with a then-high 15 points ... Junior Cliff Burns had his best game with Catawba as he had 20 points, seven rebounds three blocks in the win, while Rob Fields tossed in 18 ... Reid would notch 19 points in the win over No. 22 Mount Olive, hitting on a perfect 4-of-4 from long range and adding seven rebounds ... Antonio Houston had 20 points and Fields another 16 ... Houston reached 20 points for the fourth time on the year against Chowan, while Fields poured in a career-best 19 ... Isaac Rose followed with 15 points and Reid tallied 11 points and seven assists as the Indians made just eight turnovers ... Some missed free throws late and turnovers helped St. Augustine's grab the 2OT win on Saturday ... Catawba placed six players in double figures, led by Houston's 19 points and eight rebounds ... Fields had 18 points and Rose added 16 and add seven rebounds ... Houston leads the team with a 17.5 scoring average and adds 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists ... Fields after averaging nearly 18 points over the last four games, is hitting for 13.2 a contest ... The Indians return to league action on Wednesday, hosting Wingate ... Catawba has won 14 of the last 15 against the Bulldogs in Goodman Gym.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (8-3, 2-0) currently sits in a three-way tie for first place in the South Atlantic Conference with Wingate and Carson-Newman … In its last game, L-R downed Tusculum by a 77-64 score Saturday evening at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … The Bears defeated the Pioneers for the eighth straight time at home and are now 24-1 in their last 25 league games at home … Senior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) led Lenoir-Rhyne with 17 points, his 32nd straight game scoring in double figures, while junior guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) added 15 points … L-R lost despite allowing 13 treys including five three-pointers from Tusculum's Jimmy Boone (a game-high 21 points) … The Pioneers, who held a 31-21 advantage in rebounds, committed 21 turnovers in the loss … Lenoir-Rhyne split its two games in the 2007 Moretz Sports Men's Basketball Classic at home (defeating No. 22 Mount Olive by an 83-74 score on Friday, December 28, before falling to Queens, 75-69, on Saturday, December 29) … L-R also split its two contests in the AASU/Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic in Savannah (beating Columbus State, 72-43, on Tuesday, December 18, before losing to the host school, Armstrong Atlantic State by a 56-45 count on Wednesday, December 19) … Senior forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) became the 47th player to score 1,000 points for his L-R against Mount Olive … Kindred now has 1,024 points for his career and moved into third place on the all-time blocks' list with 150 … Bratton has moved up to 30th place on the Bears' all-time scoring list with 1,139 points … Next up for the Bears to cross the 1,000-point scoring mark is Rudder (838 points) … Lenoir-Rhyne hits the road for its next two games: Wednesday, January 9, at Brevard (8:00 p.m.) and Saturday, January 12, against SAC-foe Newberry (4:00 p.m.) … Lenoir-Rhyne is tied with Brevard, 1-1, in the all-time series while holding a 61-17 advantage against Newberry.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Following a long break for the holidays the Railsplitters returned to action on Dec. 29 and 30 in the Union (Ky.) College Classic … First up was Alice Lloyd and LMU took charge mid-way through the first half and never looked back in the 83-66 win. Terry Delaney led LMU with 35 points, going 11-16 from the field and 13-16 from the free throw line. He also led LMU with 10 rebounds. Wadner Joseph also added in 15 points for the Railsplitters … The next night LMU faced host Union and fell to the Bulldogs 75-73 in a game that had six ties and 26 lead changes. Beau Brown led LMU in the loss with 36 points as he went 14-22 from the field and 7-13 from behind the arc … Ryan Whitaker added in 14 points and Terry Delaney scored 10 … On Jan. 5 the Railsplitters played their first SAC road game of the year as they fell at Wingate 90-72. Delaney led LMU with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Emmanual Njomo added in 11 points and seven boards while Beau Brown scored 10 … The Railsplitters now fall to 4-8 on the season and will travel to Tusculum on Wednesday for the 150th meeting between the two schools.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill played only one game over the break. Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) tied his own school 3-point record hitting seven shots from behind the arc to score 33 points as the Lions defeated local rival Brevard College 87-66 in Stanford Arena Saturday afternoon … Stoney was 7-9 from behind the arc and 5-5 inside the 3-point line. As a team, MHC hit 13 shots from 3-point range that tied the existing school record. MHC hit 13 three-pointers against Wingate University on January 24, 2004 … The Lions improved to 4-5 on the season … Josh Goble (Lenoir, NC) hit a 3-pointer 17 seconds into the contest and the Lions never trailed the Tornados. MHC led by as many as 14 points (29-15) with 9:03 left in the first half after Tony Blake (Canton, NC) hit a 3-pointer. The Lions would enjoy a nine point (40-31) lead at the intermission … The Lions came out of the locker room and went on a 19-5 run to take a 23-point lead (59-36) with 15:05 on the clock after Polite hit a 3-pointer. Mars Hill's biggest lead was 25 points (64-39) with 13:28 left in regulation after Goble hit a shot from long range. BC could only trim the deficit to 19 points the rest of the way … MHC scored 16 points in the paint and 20 off Tornado turnovers. BC out rebounded the Lions, 41-30. MHC hit 54.4 percent (31-57) of their field goals while BC connected on only 37.7 percent (20-53) of their shots from the floor. The Lions hit 41.9 percent (13-31) of their 3-point attempts … Polite added five assists and the same number of steals to go along with his 33-point scoring performance. Goble followed with 19 points and nine boards. He knocked down 4-8 shots from behind the 3-point line … Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) recorded 10 points off the bench to round out the double-digit scorers for MHC … MHC will play at Chowan University on Monday, January 7. Game time in Murfreesboro is set for 7:30 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The holiday break was sandwiched by two games for the Newberry men, but 2007 held greater results than the beginning of 2008… On Dec. 17, 2008, the Indians avenged a loss earlier in the season with a 73-54 demolition of Coker College at home… Cory Etheridge led the Indians to their largest win of the season with 13 points… Clemente Martin and Grant Domsic each put in 10 points in the win… Terrance Spillers had eight points and five assists, while Keith Marshall added five assists… The Newberry reserves made the most of their opportunity to shine with the large lead as the Indians scored 41 points off the bench… Every Indian player had a chance to play at least three minutes in the second half, with Ty Overmyer netting an impressive six points in four minutes… The beginning of the 2008 calendar year saw the Indians struggle at the charity stripe against a hot-shooting Carson-Newman team, as Newberry fell to 0-2 in SAC play with a 90-71 loss to the Eagles… Martin scored 15 points in only 14 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble… Domsic added 12 points, while Matt Alexander and Vytautas Valiulis each netted 10… The Indians only connected on 20-of-39 free throws in the 19-point loss… One bright spot was the establishment of a new South Atlantic Conference record, as Newberry grabbed 28 offensive rebounds, breaking a record that Elon College had held since 1992-93… The Indians have a chance to even their SAC record this week, with both games at home… Newberry will host Mars Hill at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Lenoir-Rhyne at 4 p.m. Saturday.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers posted a 1-2 record (since Dec. 17) to move their overall mark to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in the South Atlantic Conference… Tusculum opened with a convincing 86-62 home win over Anderson University (S.C.)… In that game, the Pioneers poured in 15 three-pointers, including eight by sophomore guard Kyle Moore… Moore finished with 26 points, shooting 9-for-13 from the floor, including 8-of-11 from beyond the arc… He also dished out six assists in the win… Seniors Jordan Lear and Lavonti Jeter added a dozen markers each, while Jimmy Boone posted 11 points in TC's first home game in over a month… Against No. 22 Mount Olive, Tusculum rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a second half lead, but a free throw with 10 seconds left by the Trojans, sent TC to a 60-59 defeat… Moore led Tusculum with 21 points, including five treys… Lear added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Jeter finished with 14 points and seven boards… In the league lid-lifter at Lenoir-Rhyne, Tusculum dropped its fifth straight game against the Bears in a 77-64 set back… It was also TC's eighth straight loss at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium… Boone paced Tusculum with a career-high 21 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the floor, including five 3-pointers… Lear added 17 points, while Moore accounted for 13 points… Against the Bears, Tusculum shot 13-for-27 from three-point land and out-rebounded L-R by a 31-21 margin, including 13-4 on the offensive glass… Lear moved into ninth-place on the TC all-time scoring list with 1,262 points… He has scored in 67 straight games and in 92 of his 93 career outings… Lear is leading the team in scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.5)… Lear is averaging 19 ppg in his last seven contests… Tusculum's seven losses have come against teams with a combined 53-23 record… The Pioneers have made a three-point field goal in 565 consecutive games… Junior guard Ryan Troutman leads the SAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.62), including a stellar 5.67 ratio in his last three games (17 assists/3 turnovers)… Tusculum begins a four-game home-stand, including three contests this week… TC hosts Concord on Monday in a rematch of last month's meeting… It will be the 13th overall meeting in a series that is tied (6-6)… Tusculum is 5-0 all-time in Greeneville vs. Concord… Tusculum will take on Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday and Catawba on Saturday.

WINGATE - The Wingate University Bulldogs picked up a win before the break and then returned from the lay-off to improve to 2-0 in the SAC with a 90-72 win over Lincoln Memorial Saturday ... Sophomore guard Brandon Plummer led the way against LMU, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the first half. The sophomore was eight-of-nine from the field, while hitting all three shots from beyond the arc. Senior guard Ernest Mangum came off the bench to score 13 points. Junior forward/guard DeMario Mattox had 12 points, five assists and five steals. Senior forward/guard Sean Barnette had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs ... Wingate used a big first half to secure the win. The Bulldogs shot 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc to build a 51-29 halftime lead. The lead would grow as high as 31 with nine minutes remaining in the game ... The Bulldogs shot a season-best 60.3 percent from the field in the game. They had 12 steals while forcing 24 turnovers. Wingate racked up assists on 28 of 35 made baskets. Five different Bulldogs had at least three assists, led by junior point guard Rosco Turner's seven ... The Bulldogs won 83-69 at Shaw December 19. Wingate had four players in double figures, led by Barnette with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Plummer added 16 points for the Bulldogs. Redshirt senior forward Bryan Grier had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots. Mattox chipped in with 12 points, five steals and four assists ... Wingate shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, while hitting five-of-11 three pointers to build a 45-25 halftime lead. They held Shaw to just 21 percent shooting in the first half. The Bulldogs held off a late second half rally to secure the 14 point win. Wingate shot 48 percent for the game, they also had 11 steals and forced 21 turnovers. Shaw shot 33 percent from the field for the game ... Barnette leads the Bulldog attack with 19.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He also leads the conference in both categories. The 2007 SAC Player of the Year and SAC Male Athlete of the Year has scored in double figures 51 consecutive games ... Grier is averaging 13.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots per game. He is shooting 68.4 percent from the field. Grier leads the conference in blocks and field goal percentage. He is the top shot blocker in SAC and Wingate history. He has 387 career blocks, only 29 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 1995-1998. Plummer rounds out the double-digit scorers, averaging 13.4 points per game ... Barnette and Grier have been named to the initial Player Watch List for the 2008 Collegiate Basketball Invitational. The event will be held April 24-26 in Wadsworth, Ohio. The All Star Game will conclude the event on Saturday evening, April 26, with a live national television broadcast slated on ESPNU. Sixty-four players will be chosen for the 2008 CBI. Players will be divided into eight teams of eight players and will each play three games in front of professional team representatives, agents, national media and basketball fans. The CBI Player Watch List will be updated periodically as the season progresses ... Wingate returns to action Wednesday, when they travel to Catawba for an 8 p.m. start time. The Bulldogs return home Saturday, when they host Lincoln (Pa.) at 4 p.m. in Cuddy Arena.