Men’s Weekly Basketball Notes, January 14, 2008

Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 13, 2008.

BREVARD - The Tornados took on not one but two SAC opponents this past week, falling to both in close games ... On Wednesday night BC hosted the Bears' of Lenoir-Rhyne ... The Tornados played the Bears' tight throughout the contest, never falling behind more than 10 points in the game ... Brevard got to within three-points late in the game, however, L-R was able to hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the 68-61 win ... BC had three players in double-figures as sophomores Andrew Freeman and Jonathan Whitson had 15 points and 14 points, respectively, while junior forward Joseph Chilton had 11 points to go along with eight rebounds... On Saturday afternoon, the Tornados hit the road for the first of four straight games on the road when they traveled to Harrogate, T.N. to take on Lincoln Memorial ... The Tornados hit their first seven shots of the contest and were able to push their lead up to as much as 20 points midway through the first half ... However, Brevard would go ice-cold in the second half, allowing Lincoln Memorial to get back into the game and eventually take the lead ... LMU outscored the Tornados 33-19 in the final 20 minutes of play to score the 59-56 win ... Again Jonathan Whitson led the way for the Tornados, scoring 17 points and pulling down seven rebounds ...Junior Sean Ferretti had a game-high nine rebounds in 31 minutes of play ... Brevard College (2-11) have a tough week ahead as they play three games, all on the road ... BC will take on the Catawba Indians on Wednesday, January 16, at 8 p.m. ... The Tornados will then look for redemption on Thursday, January 17, when they will try to revenge an early loss to the Flying Fleet of Erskine College at 7:30 p.m. ... On Saturday afternoon, Brevard will take on the Wingate University Bulldogs at 4 p.m. at Wingate University.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles posted a 2-0 week to improve to 10-2 (3-0 SAC) on the season...C-N completed a season sweep of Alabama-Huntsville during its SAC bye on Wednesday, winning 88-72 over the Chargers in Holt Fieldhouse…Junior Jesse McMurray had a career-high 19 points to lead the Eagles…McMurray hit 5-of-12 from three-point range in the win…Senior Darren Williams also made five threes…The Eagles hit 8-of-13 from long range in the first half to build a 40-27 halftime lead...A 19-4 first-half run was the key stretch in the game…McMurray knocked down three triples during that stretch…Bobby Guyton had a solid second half, finishing with 11 points, nine in the second…Tipton added six second-half points, including C-N's first two buckets…The Eagles won their second SAC road game of the season on Saturday 74-65 at Mars Hill…The 74 points was the second-lowest output by the Eagles on the year (68 vs. King, 12/17)…It was only the second time C-N has been held to under 80 points in a game this season, the first in a win…Carson-Newman trailed 34-30 at the half…C-N put up 40 second-half points on 16-of-29 shooting…The Eagles went just 3-of-9 at the line in the second half, despite shooting 77 percent at the line as a team…SAC free-throw percentage leader Darren Williams was 2-of-4 in the second half…The Eagles were mauled on the boards early, getting out-rebounded 31-15 in the first half…C-N bounced back to cut the margin to -10 for the game, making up for the struggles on the board with a pair of offensive "put-backs" late in the second half…C-N forced 24 Mars Hill turnovers in the win…Scott Williams led the Eagles with 15 points…Williams has led the Eagles in scoring in three of the six games he has played in since joining the team in December…Zach Hyatte added 10 for C-N...Jordan Dixon and Johnson each had nine points…McMurray, Tipton, and Guyton combined for 20 points in the second half, after each was scoreless in the first…Carson-Newman finished last week's play at 5th-nationally in scoring offense (90.4 ppg)… C-N is averaging 89.0 ppg after this week's action… The Eagles are also 10th-nationally in free throw percentage as a team at 77.4 percent…C-N was 12th in last week's NCAA stats in steals per game at 11.2…The Eagles are as balanced as any team in the country in scoring…C-N has four players averaging double-figures; Scott Williams (14.3), Andy Tipton (11.5), Darren Williams (10.8), Bobby Guyton (10.6)…Three other Eagles are averaging 9+ points per game; Jesse McMurray (9.8), and Andrew Johnson (9.7), and Zach Hyatte (9.3)…The Eagles host Wingate on Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse at 8 p.m.…With a win Wednesday, the Eagles would have their best start under Dale Clayton in the SAC at 4-0…In 2001-'02, C-N lost its first SAC game at Wingate 76-74, then won its next 16 SAC games to win both the SAC regular season and SAC tournament titles…The 10-2 start for the Eagles is Clayton's best …C-N will travel to Tusculum on Saturday for an afternoon battle with the Pioneers…Tip-off in Greeneville is scheduled for 4 p.m.

CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians split a pair of league games last week with both coming down to the final seconds ... On Wednesday, the Indians claimed a 74-73 win over Wingate following Dominick Reid's three-pointer with 11 seconds to play ... Saturday, Tusculum picked up an 82-79 win over a three-pointer with one second left ... Against Wingate, Antonio Houston scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, while Norman Monroe added 14 points ... The Indians shot only 37 percent, but were able to can 10-of-24 from three-point range and committed four less turnovers than Wingate to help offset a 61-44 deficit on the boards ... Wingate shot just 35 percent and had only two three-pointers ... Donald Rutherford pulled down 10 rebounds to equal his career high ... Catawba had not trailed in the second half until falling behind with 27 seconds left to set up Reid's game-winner ... The victory marked the 15th in the last 16 games vs. Wingate at Goodman Gym ... Houston and Reid each scored 20 points in the loss to Tusculum ... For Reid, who made four three-pointers, it marked his career best ... The Indians made nearly 43 percent of its shots and had just 10 turnovers, but could not overcome a 15-for-33 performance by the Pioneers from behind the arc ... Houston continues to pace the Catawba offense, averaging 18.1 points per contest ... The sophomore is adding 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists ... Rob Fields is chipping in with 12.1 points a game, while Reid, Monroe and Isaac Rose each scored over nine per outing ... Catawba will host Brevard on Wednesday in a non-conference tilt which will mark the first-ever meeting of the schools in men's basketball ... On Saturday, the Indians will travel to Mars Hill to tangle with the Lions ... Catawba has won seven straight against the Lions.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (10-3, 3-0) remains in a first-place tie with Carson-Newman in the South Atlantic Conference … L-R, on a three-game winning streak, defeated Brevard (68-61) and league-foe Newberry (75-62) on the road last Wednesday and Saturday, respectively … Against the Tornadoes, senior forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) tallied a double-double (18 points and 11 rebounds) while junior guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) also scored in double figures (13) to lead the Bears to the win in Brevard, N.C. … Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Newberry for the fifth straight time on Saturday with four players scoring in double figures led by junior forward Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) with 15 points … McDowell was playing in his second game as a Bear … Kindred (12 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots) had another outstanding game as Lenoir-Rhyne broke open a one-point halftime advantage (31-30) to lead by as much as 17 in the second half … Kindred is now in second place on Lenoir-Rhyne's all-time shot blocking list with 157 … Senior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) had his 32-game double digit scoring streak snapped against Brevard … Rudder is just 140 points away from becoming the 48th player to score 1,000 points in his Bear career … Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Mars Hill (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) and Lincoln Memorial (Saturday at 8 p.m.) in a pair of South Atlantic Conference games this week … Lenoir-Rhyne is 24-1 in its last 25 regular season conference home games … L-R leads the all-time series with Mars Hill, 44-22, and Lincoln Memorial, 3-1 … Lenoir-Rhyne is 13-1 in its last 14 games against Mars Hill and has beaten the Lions 12 straight times in the regular season … Lenoir-Rhyne has not lost at home to Mars Hill since the 1989-90 season as well.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Lavonti Jeter recorded 22 points and scored the go-ahead basket with a minute left in overtime on a fast-break dunk as Tusculum College defeated Lincoln Memorial University, 73-67 Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Pioneer Arena. The Railsplitters fell to 4-9, 0-3 SAC … It was the 150th career meeting between the two Tennessee rivals and the fourth overtime outing in the series. LMU was paced by Beau Brown's double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Terry Delaney posted a gutty performance with 18 points and five rebounds in the loss. Ryan Whitaker added 13 points, while Ronnie Jones hauled in eight boards … The Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters trailed by as many as 21 points and spotted Brevard College a 9-0 lead in Saturday night's non-conference battle of future South Atlantic Conference opponents before coming back to win 59-56 to capture their fifth victory of the year … The Tornados took the offensive game to the Railsplitters in the early minutes, scoring all six of the nine opening points in the paint to take a commanding 9-0 lead. The margin eventually inflated to 21 with 5:29 to play in the first half and LMU fans had nothing to cheer about. By the end of the first half, the Railsplitters had managed to cut the deficit to 11 as they went into the locker room trailing 37-26 … As the second half got underway, Lincoln Memorial picked up where they left off at the end of the first half and by the 7:49 mark the Railsplitters took the lead for the first time 47-46. Although the Tornados regained the lead nearly two minutes later on a basket by Jonathan Whitson, the deficit was short lived, and Lincoln Memorial quickly got back the lead, holding off Brevard down the stretch to come away with the 59-56 win … Railsplitter freshman Ryan Whitaker led Lincoln Memorial in scoring with 15 points, while sophomore Beau Brown had 14 points and junior Wadner Joseph came in to score 11 off the bench … Terry Delaney led the Railsplitters in rebounding with eight boards … Now 5-9 overall and 0-3 in the South Atlantic Conference, the Railsplitters will return to league play on Wednesday evening when they play host to the Indians of Newberry College. The Indians are 5-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play. Wednesday's game gets underway at 8:00 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 1-2 during the week. The Lions are now 5-7 overall and 1-1 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, regulation was not enough for either Chowan or Mars Hill Monday night at the Helms Center. The Hawks and Lions pushed each other through 40 minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime to find a winner. The Hawks once again took a lead into halftime. The Hawks led the Lions 34-28 at halftime … Neither team was able to establish dominance on either side of the court throughout the first half as much of the game was played in an up-tempo fashion … P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, SC) led MHC with 11 points and the Hawks were led by Jaleel Nelson with 13 points in the first half. The second half started much like the first half. Both teams played up-tempo basketball, however, the Hawks were able to control the scoring as they built a lead as big as 11 points during the second half … The Lions did no go away, they chipped away at the Hawks lead minute by minute. MHC was able to come all the way back and with 6:55 left in the game Mars Hill took the lead for the first time since early in the first half … From there, the chaos began. The two teams traded baskets and remained tied until 5:59 was left in the game. This is when Mars Hill took back the lead at 55-53. Over the next few minutes the schools battled until Mars Hill took a three-point lead with just 3:30 left. Then, with the shot clock winding down Aaron Scott rose over his defender and hit a deep three to tie the game at 60-all … Mars Hill quickly took the lead back and held onto their lead until Chris Kenon stepped to the free throw line and nailed two shots to tie the game back up at 62 with just 58 seconds remaining in the game. The two teams traded baskets and were at a stand still at 66-66 … With time winding down Mars Hill's Jordan Skinner (Yellow Springs, OH) drove the lane, pulled up and made a huge shot and was fouled by the Hawks. Skinner made his free throw to push the lead to three points, 69-66 in favor of Mars Hill. As time winded down it looked as if the Hawks were going to be unable to get up a desperation heave until Chris Kenon found Joe Brice from almost out of bounds by his bench. Joe, with nearly no time left pulled up for a three and banked the shot home sending the game into overtime … Once overtime began the Hawks were able to use that momentum to pull away from the Lions. Chowan outscored Mars Hill 16-9 in overtime to earn the 85-78 win … MHC was led by Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) who had 21 points, Gore who had 17 points, and Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) who netted 11 points … In the second contest of the week, The Newberry College men's basketball team was unable to hold on to a 14-point halftime advantage as the Indians fell, 84-71, to the Mars Hill College Lions in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday night … Mars Hill was led by P.J. Gore's (North Myrtle Beach, SC) 19 points off the bench, as the junior was 8-of-12 from the field. Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, SC) had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) earned 15 points … Newberry had four players score in double-digits, but falls to 5-7 overall and 0-3 in SAC play … The Indians couldn't have started the game much hotter as they jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes highlighted by a thunderous dunk from Martin and triples from Alexander and Bakinde. The Lions responded with an 11-2 run to narrow the lead to 12-11 with 14:26 until the break … Both sides struggled to pull away from each other until a 10-0 Newberry run punctuated by a Sami Badawi (Zaragosa, Spain) jumper with 4:31 left in the half gave Newberry a 36-24 lead. Domsic's triple from way downtown gave Newberry a 47-33 lead at the half … The Lions answered with a roar out of the locker room, scoring the first 11 points out of the break, narrowing the deficit to a solitary point just three minutes into the second stanza. Newberry was unable to score for the first 4:11 of the half. Mars Hill took its first lead of the game with 12:51 to play, when Jabreel Moton's (Cincinnati, OH) trifecta gave the Lions a 53-51 advantage … The teams battled back and forth over the next seven minutes, with Newberry claiming its final lead of the game on a three-point play from Martin with 5:35 to play. The Indians would not connect on a field goal attempt for the remainder of the game … Mars Hill went on a 17-3 to finish the contest and scored a total of 19 points off turnovers in the second half … In the final game of the week, The Lions were out scored 44-31 in the second half to fall to Carson-Newman College, 74-65 in Stanford Arena Saturday evening … The first half saw five ties and two lead changes before MHC took a 34-30 lead into the locker room at the break. C-N connected on only 27.6 percent (8-29) of their shots from the floor in the initial period … After four more ties and three additional lead changes, Scott Williams (Macon, GA) gave the Eagles the lead for good at the 6:08 mark by hitting 1-of-2 shots at the charity stripe. The Eagles would then rattle off five unanswered points to lead by six points (65-59) with 5:18 left in regulation after Williams hit a shot from behind the arc. Consecutive layups by Jabreel Moton (Cincinnati, OH) and P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, SC) brought the Lions within two points (65-63) with 3:33 left in the contest but C-N answered with back-to-back baskets by Andy Tipton (Maryville, TN) and Bobby Guyton (Jesup, GA) to extend their advantage back to six points with 2:07 left in regulation … MHC was forced to foul down the stretch and C-N converted 3-of-4 attempts to seal the win. MHC shot poorly from the charity stripe connecting on only 42.3 percent (11-26) from the line … MHC also struggled from long range hitting only 13.3 percent (4-30) of their 3-point shots. MHC out rebounded C-N, 51-41 and scored 38 points in the paint … C-N received 36 points off their bench while the teams combined to score 46 points off the same number of turnovers. Goble (Lenoir, NC) led MHC with 18 points, seven rebounds and his career high four blocks in the game. Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) added 12 points while Moton scored 10 in the contest … Moton also tallied a game high nine boards in the game … MHC will play at SAC rival Lenoir-Rhyne College on Wednesday, January 16. Game time is set for an 8 p.m. start. MHC will then return home to host Catawba College at 4 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College Indians had a rough week, dropping to 0-4 in league play with home losses to Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne… The Indians are now 5-8 overall and are on a season-worst three-game losing skid… Newberry has yet to win a game in the year 2008… On Wednesday, the Indians jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead, but were unable to control the game in the second half as they stumbled to an 84-71 loss… Freshman Grant Domsic led the team with 15 points, while Matt Alexander netted a career-best 14 points as well as seven rebounds… Clemente Martin scored 13 points and had six rebounds, while Stephane Bakinde scored 12 points and had eight boards… Newberry opened the game on a 10-0 run, and a spectacular long distance shot from Domsic gave the hosts a 47-33 half time lead… Mars Hill answered by scoring the first 11 points of the second half and took its first lead of the game at the 12:51 mark with a triple from Jabreel Moton… Although the two teams continued to battle, the Lions claimed the lead by going on a 17-3 run to end the game… Newberry looked to earn its first conference win on Saturday, but fell to Lenoir-Rhyne, 75-62… It is Newberry's lowest offensive output thus far this season… Domsic, Martin and Vytautas Valiulis tied for the team lead with 14 points… Kendrick Johnson tied his own school record for blocks in a game with six… For the second straight game, the Indians stormed out of the gates offensively, with a quick 10 points on layups from Martin and triple from Bakinde and Matt Alexander giving Newberry an early 10-6 lead…Lenoir-Rhyne came back on an 10-4 run to give the Bears their first lead of the game at 18-14 with 7:16 until the break…The Bears pushed ahead by as many as five points, but Newberry narrowed the deficit to 31-30 at halftime… However, the Bears' hot shooting in the second half combined with a slow start from the Indians would combine to provide L-R its fifth straight win in the series… L-R began the second half on an 18-8 run to go up by 11 points on a McDowell trifecta with 12:38 left in the game… Newberry chipped away at the lead, with Domsic's only six points of the half and a fast break layup from Valiulis narrowing the deficit to six points at 57-51 with 7:43 left… However, the guests quickly reversed the swing with an 11-0 run over the next 3:24 to put the game out of reach… The 17-point lead was the Bears' largest of the game… The visitors shot a scorching 55.2 percent from the field on 16-of-29 shooting in the second stanza… Lenoir-Rhyne also became only the second team this season to out-rebound the Indians, holding a 40-33 advantage on the glass… The Indians play twice this week, including their longest road trip of the season with a visit to Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday night… Newberry briefly steps out of the SAC loop on Saturday when the Indians host Claflin for a 4 p.m. start.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (8-7, 2-1 SAC) recorded three home wins this past week, including a pair of South Atlantic Conference victories… TC has won seven of its last 10 games… Tusculum opened the week by avenging an earlier season loss to Concord, 67-64… Jordan Lear recorded 25 points, including a lay-up with 17.9 seconds remaining for the TC victory… Lear shot 10-for-16 from the floor and poured in 16 second half points as TC never trailed in this highly contested ball game… Kyle Moore finished with 16 points and six assists off the bench, while Jimmy Boone and Lavonti Jeter tallied nine points each… Tusculum followed that outing with a thrilling 73-67 overtime win over Lincoln Memorial… It was the 150th meeting between the two Tennessee schools… Jeter led the TC charge with 22 points and scored the go-ahead basket with a minute left in the extra frame on a slam-dunk… Jeter shot 9-for-11 from the floor and pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds… Lear added 19 points, while Moore posted 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists… Boone rounded out the TC scoring with 10 markers… TC shot 52.9 percent from the floor, while limiting LMU to 32.8 percent, including 3-of-12 in the overtime period (25%)… But the most thrilling game to date was against Catawba as the Pioneers rallied from a seven-point deficit in the second half and Lear canned a 25-foot three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left as TC won 82-79… Lear finished with 21 points, including 17 in the second half while shooting 6-for-8 from the field in the final 20 minutes… Moore led all scorers with 23 points, including seven 3-pointers... He also contributed six rebounds and five assists… Jeter accounted for 18 points and a game-best nine rebounds, while Ryan Troutman posted 14 markers and seven assists…. Tusculum shot 50 percent from the field, including 15-for-33 from three-point territory (45.5 percent)… Lear has recorded a three-point field in his last 17 games… During that 17-game run, Lear is shooting 48-for-115 (41.7 percent)… Tusculum has made a three-point field in 568 consecutive games… Lear has scored 1,326 points in his 96-game career (7th all-time at Tusculum)… After playing four games in seven days, the Pioneers will have a brief break before hosting in-state foe Carson-Newman on Saturday… It will be the 102nd meeting between the two schools… C-N leads the all-time series 74-27, but the Pioneers have won eight of the last 10 meetings, including a sweep of last year's series.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team outscored Lincoln (Pa.) University 75-36 in the second half to take a 128-85 victory Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs improve to 10-4 overall with the non-conference win ... The 128 points is a school and South Atlantic Conference record for points in a game. Wingate's previous high was 124 points in a 124-97 victory over Morris (S.C.) College Nov. 20, 2000. The previous league record was 125 points, tallied by Carson-Newman College against Allen (S.C.) University Nov. 27, 2004 ... Three Bulldogs recorded double-doubles against Lincoln. Wingate senior forward/guard Sean Barnette led the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt senior forward/center Bryan Grier added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior point guard Rosco Turner notched his first career double-double, racking up 17 points and a career-high 10 assists ... Four more players scored in double figures for Wingate. Bulldog sophomore guard Brandon Plummer had 13 points. Senior guards Sam Holmes and Ernest Mangum and junior forward Kenny Villines had 12 points each. Thirteen different Bulldogs scored with eight players recording at least nine points ... The Bulldogs shot a blistering 65.1 percent from the field in the second half (28-of-43), while draining eight-of-15 second half three-pointers. Wingate shot 54.7 percent for the game, hitting 47-of-86 attempts. The Bulldogs dished out 33 assists on the evening. Wingate was 13-for-32 from three-point range. The Bulldogs committed only 12 turnovers ... Wingate held a decisive 63-45 rebounding advantage against Lincoln, thanks to the 10 boards each by Barnette and Grier. Both teams grabbed 20 offensive boards. The Bulldogs dominated inside, recording a 58-30 advantage in points in the paint. Wingate also outscored Lincoln 26-6 in fast break points, while the Wingate bench scored 56 points compared to Lincoln's 14 bench points ... Grier had a monster game at Catawba, with 22 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and five blocked shots. The Vance High School graduate is second in the NCAA Division II in blocked shots per game. The Indians won the game on a three-point field goal with 11.4 seconds remaining in the contest ... The Bulldogs had grabbed their first lead since the 12:05 mark of the opening half on a second-chance basket by Barnette with 27 seconds left. Barnette contributed 13 points and nine boards for the Bulldogs. Turner and junior forward/guard DeMario Mattox had 11 points each for the visitors ... Last week, Grier averaged a double-double with 19.5 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game. He also shot an astounding 72.2 percent from the floor (13-of-18) last week ... Grier had two double-doubles (points, rebounds) last week, giving him 26 for his Bulldog career ... Grier leads the SAC in rebounding (9.5 rebounds per game), blocked shots (4.2 blocks per game) and field goal percentage (69.0 percent). In the NCAA Division II statistics, Grier is second in the country in blocked shots per game and eighth in field goal percentage. Grier is second on Bulldog scoring charts with 14.7 points per game. He joined Wingate's 1000-point club in November ... Grier is the top shot blocker in SAC and Wingate history. He has 394 career blocks, only 22 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 ... The 2007 SAC Player of the Year and SAC Male Athlete of the Year, Barnette has 1941 career points. With 59 additional points, Barnette will become the first 2,000-point scorer in SAC men's basketball history. A three-time All-SAC performer and a two-time Food Lion SAC tournament MVP, Barnette averaged a league-leading 21.6 points per game in 2006-07 ... Barnette has scored in double figures in 53 consecutive contests, dating to his sophomore year. This season, Barnette is averaging 19.6 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. The Rock Hill Northwestern graduate leads the SAC in scoring.