Weekly Men’s Basketball Notes, February 4, 2008

Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 3, 2008.

BREVARD - The Brevard College men's basketball went 0-2 this week, dropping both games against SAC opponents ... Brevard traveled to Newberry, S.C. on Wednesday night, as they squared off with SAC foe Newberry College ... The Tornados hung tough before ultimately falling to the Indians, 65-54 ... The first half was an offensive showcase, as both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor with the difference between the two teams coming from behind the three-point line ... The Tornados hit 4-of-9 from long distance, while the Indians connected on 7-of-14 three-point attempts to shoot 50 percent in the first half ... The Tornados held the lead on five separate occasions with the last lead being 26-25 at the 4:04 mark of the first half and never trailed by more than eight points before the half ended with the Indians ahead 38-32 heading into the halftime period ... The Tornados battled hard in the second half, as they kept the Indians with in reach for most of the final 20 minutes of play before Indians used their experience and roster depth to pull away in the closing minutes ... Brevard's offense struggled in the second 20 minutes of play, as BC cut the lead to four points with 8:04 remaining in the game, but couldn't get any closer as the Indians defense held strong in the second half ... The Tornados would look for some offense in the end, yet couldn't get a run together as the Indians hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the 65-54 win ... Sophomore Jonathan Whitson led the Tornados on Wednesday night, scoring 21 points, with 14 of those coming in the first half ... Also scoring in double figures for BC was Andrew Freeman with 15 points, all coming off three-point baskets ... In front of a packed-out and "whited out" Boshamer Gymnasium crowd, the Brevard College men's basketball team battled the Lions of Mars Hill to the limit before ultimately falling, 70-57 on Saturday afternoon ... BC exploded out of the gates and jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in front of a pumped up home crowd and held a 17-12 lead at the 12:08 mark of the first half on two made foul shots from sophomore Shane Galloway ... The Lions would hold off a late first half surge from the Tornados and take a 39-30 lead into the halftime break ... In the second half the Tornados, who shot 40.7 percent in the first half, went cold as they hit only 8-of-28 from the floor, 28.6 percent ... Taking advantage of Brevard's cold shooting, the Lions pushed their lead to double-digits and as high as 16 points on a number of occasions ... The Tornados would not give up and continued to play hard, cutting into the Lions lead in the final five minutes of play ... However, the Lions defense stiffened up and held off the Tornados to seal the 70-57 win ... The Tornados were led by sophomore point guard Cody Siniard, who had a season-high 14 points, as he went 2-of-3 from long distance on the afternoon ... Off the bench, Shane Galloway had 12 points, going 7-of-7 from the charity stripe ... Junior Joseph Chilton had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds ... For the game the Lions shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from the three-point line, while the Tornados shot 34.5 percent for the game, including only 19 percent from the three-point arc ... The Tornados continue their tough SAC schedule as they will travel to Hickory, N.C. to take on the Bears' of Lenoir-Rhyne at 8 p.m. ... On February 9, the Tornados will play host to Lincoln Memorial at Boshamer Gymnasium.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Eagles improved to 14-4 and 6-2 in the SAC with a pair of conference wins during an emotional week…C-N was without Head Coach Dale Clayton for both games…Clayton spent the week helping his mother in Florida ... Junior Bobby Guyton had his best and worst week as an Eagle…He finished with 32 points and 23 boards in two games, but was taken off the court in the final minute at Newberry on a stretcher…His effort Wednesday night against Catawba keyed the Eagles 129-123 win in overtime…Guyton had 17 points and 17 rebounds in 24 minutes…The game made a dent in the C-N record books, as C-N set the school record for points allowed (123) and total combined points (252)…Five other Eagles reached double figures in the win (Jordan Dixon 29, Darren Williams 18, Scott Williams 16, Andrew Johnson 11, and Clay Scott 10) …Dixon's had a career-high 29 points…Freshman Kevin Hare had 8 points and three boards in 14 minutes…All three are career-highs…Junior Zach Hyatte finished with eight points, but did collect 12 rebounds…The Eagles hit 11-of-28 from behind the arc in the win…C-N shot the ball well at the line as well, hitting on 34-of-39 free throw attempts (87 percent)…C-N held a 60-33 advantage in bench points…The game was high-paced and cleanly-played, as the two combined for only 35 turnovers, despite 170 combined shots…The Eagles led by as many as 16 in the first half, before Catawba began to chip away at the C-N lead over the next 25 minutes…C-N scored the first five points of overtime and never trailed in the extra period…C-N held on for a rugged 92-89 win over Newberry on Saturday afternoon in Newberry, South Carolina…Guyton led the balanced Eagles again with 15 points and six boards in only 24 minutes…Play was stopped with 52.9 second to play as Guyton went down hard to the floor with an apparent leg injury…After being treated at a local hospital, Guyton was able to return back to Jefferson City with the team…His team had to fight to hang onto a three-point win…Junior Jesse McMurray helped the Eagles to stay ahead in the second half…McMurray, who had five 3s in the game, hit three triples late to keep C-N ahead…He finished 5-of-8 from behind the arc…C-N finished with five players in double figures (Guyton 15, McMurray 15, Scott Williams 13, Jordan Dixon 12, and Darren Williams 11)…C-N overcame a poor day at the line, 19-of-31 (61 percent), as well as 24 turnovers…The Eagles led by as many as 18 in the first half, before Newberry roared back…C-N continues to be one of the nation's highest-scoring team, averaging 90.6 points per game…The Eagles were 4th-nationally a week ago in scoring offense, and could jump as high as second this week…C-N is also 11th-nationally in steals at 11.5 per game…C-N returns to action Wednesday night at North Greenville…The Eagles beat the Crusaders on December 13, 94-73…Carson-Newman hosts Mars Hill next Saturday night in Holt Fieldhouse.

CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians lost their only outing of last week, falling 129-123 at Carson-Newman in overtime ... The 123 points equaled the second-highest total by a Catawba team ... the Indians had scored 123 vs. Elon in 1968 and 131 against Alderson-Broaddus in 1982 ... Both of those games were regulation finals ... The 129 points was the most allowed in a game, surpassing the 126 points scored by J.C. Smith in a double-overtime game in 1975 ... Catawba shot 54 percent in the second half to help overcome a 53-46 halftime deficit and scored 65 points in the second 20 minutes and tied the game on Rob Field's layup with five seconds remaining ... Catawba hit just 3-of-9 in overtime and C-N led throughout after scoring the first five points of the extra period ... Antonio Houston led six players in double-figures with 33 points with 29 coming after the half ... Norman Monroe had a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Dominick Reid also posted a double-double with career-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds ... Houston is averaging 19.5 points a game and 22. 7 points in league action ... Fields, Reid and Monroe are also hitting for double-digits in league games ... Catawba will travel to Wingate on Wednesday and returns home to Goodman Gym on Saturday to host Tusculum ... The Catawba Indians won the earlier meeting with Wingate and lost at Tusculum on a shot in the final seconds.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (15-3, 8-0) made it eight in a row after defeating Wingate (72-68) and Tusculum (82-59) last Wednesday and Saturday on the road, respectively, in a pair of key South Atlantic Conference contests … L-R, who is in the midst of its longest winning streak in two years, now enjoys a two-game lead in the conference standings over Wingate and Carson-Newman … The Bears were able to rally from a 24-5 deficit to start the contest and defeat the Bulldogs Wednesday …Senior forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) led the way for the Bears with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots while senior forward Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) added 13 points apiece as L-R won at Wingate for the first time in four years … The Bears won despite 20 points from the Bulldogs' Sean Barnette …Lenoir-Rhyne raced to a 13-0 lead over Tusculum Saturday and rolled to its sixth straight win against the Pioneers … Rudder led the Bears with 15 points and was one of four players to score in double figures for Lenoir-Rhyne … L-R also limited the Tusculum to just 20 percent shooting (three-of-15) from behind the three-point line … The Pioneers entered the contest as the league's top three-point shooting team … Lenoir-Rhyne, who led by as many as 30 points in the second half, shot 66 percent (31-of-47) for the game and held a 32-19 advantage on the boards … Kindred remained second on the Bears' all-time shot blocking list with 173 … Rudder is just 80 points away from becoming the 48th player to score 1,000 points in Lenoir-Rhyne history … Bratton (1,246) and Kindred (1,119) already surpassed the mark this season … Lenoir-Rhyne is ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Poll … L-R hosts Brevard (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) and SAC-rival Newberry (Saturday at 8 p.m.) this week … Lenoir-Rhyne defeated both squads (68-61 over Brevard on Wednesday, January 9, and 75-62 over Newberry on Saturday, January 12) earlier this year … Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series with both Brevard (2-1) and Newberry (62-17) as well … Lenoir-Rhyne is 26-1 in its last 27 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season home games and is looking to start 9-0 in the conference play for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign, when it won its first 10 league contests … The Brevard game starts a three-game home stand for Lenoir-Rhyne.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Beau Brown scored a game-high 28 points to lead Lincoln Memorial University over North Greenville University 90-76 Wednesday night. The Railsplitters improve to 6-13 on the season, while the Crusaders fall to 5-13 … LMU rode hot shooting and some easy buckets in the paint to an early 14-2 lead in the game's first six minutes. NGU then went on a 18-10 run to cut the lead to one point at the 7:59 mark in the first half. The Railsplitters extended that lead to as many as eight points before going to the locker room at the break leading 39-35 … LMU out-rebounded the Crusaders 20-10 in the first half, however, NGU shot 50 percent to the Railsplitters' 30 percent … In the second half, LMU steadily extended their lead. The Railsplitters held an 18-point advantage with 10:37 remaining in the game. The Crusaders never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way … Brown shot 10 of 24, including six 3-pointers in 39 minutes of action. Ryan Whitaker scored 19 points while dishing out six assists. Terry Delaney and Emmanuel Njomo added 18 and 17 points respectively … Less than a day and a half after LMU Head Men's Basketball Coach Hugh Watson announced he would retire after the 2007-08 season, the Bulldogs of Wingate University came to Harrogate and handed the Railsplitters a 99-70 loss to drop Lincoln Memorial to 6-16 on the year and 0-8 in the South Atlantic Conference … Watson's decision on Wednesday sparked hopes that the Railsplitters would respond with enthusiasm to send the 42-year coaching veteran out on a strong note … However, Saturday night's lackluster performance seem to accomplish just the opposite. Lincoln Memorial scored the opening bucket of the game but that was one of only a few times the Railsplitters would hold the lead in the first six minutes of the game … Eventually, the Bulldogs opened up as much as a 30 point lead on three different occasions in the second half before coming away with the final 29 point win … With seven games remaining on the regular season schedule and at least one game guaranteed in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Tournament, the Railsplitters probably won't win the league tournament but could make the season respectable with a strong finish … Lincoln Memorial's next outing will be Wednesday evening when they play host to east Tennessee rival Tusculum College in the Tex Turner Arena. The last time the Railsplitters and the Pioneers squared off, Tusculum emerged with a narrow 73-67 win in overtime. Wednesday night's game tips off at 8:00 p.m.

MARS HILL - The Lions won three games last week to extend their winning streak to four games. Mars Hill is now 9-10 overall and 3-4 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, Mars Hill avenged two earlier losses this season to Chowan University by defeating the Hawks 87-76 Monday night in Stanford Arena … Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, SC) had a great night for MHC. Coakley scored 13 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dished out nine assists in the win. The nine assists were a career high for Coakley and his eight rebounds was his second best effort this season on the boards. He also hit 50 percent of his shots and added a pair of blocks … Jordan Skinner (Yellow Springs, OH) led the Lions in scoring with 17 followed by Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) who tallied 16. Jabreel Moton (Cincinnati, OH) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lions with 14 points … Andy Miller (Franklin, NC) hit a layup with 12:19 left in the first half and the Lions never trailed again. MHC would lead by as many as 11 points in the first stanza after Josh Goble (Lenoir, NC) hit a 3-pointer. The Lions took a 38-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime … Mars Hill's largest lead in the contest was 12 points with 9:03 left in regulation after P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, SC) hit a shot from behind the arc. Chowan trimmed the Lions' lead to five points with 3:54 on the clock but that was as close as the Hawks would get. MHC went on a 11-4 run over the next two minutes to extend their lead back to 12 with 1:20 left in the game after Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) hit a couple of free throws … The Hawks won the rebound battle, 28-25 and received 36 points from their bench. MHC hit 57.4 percent (31-54) from the field, a season best. MHC also had their best free throw shooting performance of the season connecting on 82.4 percent (14-17) of their attempts. The Lions scored 36 points in the paint, 26 off Chowan turnovers and received 33 points from their reserves … In the second game of the week, P.J. Gore's (North Myrtle Beach, SC) lay-up with 0.3 seconds gave Mars Hill the lead for the first and only time as the Lions edged host Tusculum, 62-61 Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action … Jordan Skinner (Yellow Springs, OH) led all scorers with 23 points off the bench for the Lions, including 14-of-15 from the free throw line. Jamarl Glenn (District Heights, MD) added 14 markers, while Gore tallied five points, including the winning basket … The contest was plagued by a combined 55 personal fouls (TC 31, MHC 24), which saw four players foul out (TC 3, MHC 1) … The Lions trailed throughout the entire contest, with Tusculum holding its largest lead at 40-26 with 16 minutes remaining in the game. TC held a 55-46 advantage with 3:07 left, following a jumper by Ryan Troutman with the shot clock running down … MHC trimmed the deficit to three (55-49) when Moton drained a three-pointer with 2:32 remaining in the contest … With Tusculum leading 59-54, the Lions trimmed the TC advantage to one (59-58) thanks to four straight free throws by Skinner, including the last pair with 55.2 seconds left … Moore was fouled and the sophomore made two free throws to move the Pioneers back out to a three-point lead (61-58). Glen was fouled for Mars Hill and he canned his two free throws with 45 seconds left to bring MHC back to within one (61-60) … Tusculum worked the clock down to 22.2 seconds and called a timeout near midcourt, but on the ensuing inbounds pass, the Pioneers were whistled for five seconds, turning the ball over to the Lions … After a MHC timeout, the Lions worked for the last shot as Glen dribbled to the lane and dished off the ball to a streaking Gore from the right side who made the lay-up with less than a second remaining … The Pioneers attempted to draw a foul on the in-bounds pass, but none was called as Skinner stole the pass to seal the victory … Tusculum shot 44 percent from the floor, while limiting the Lions to 28 percent, including 5-of-28 (18 percent) in the first half as the Pioneers led 32-21 at the break … The Lions shot 24-for-31 from the free throw line, while making its final six charity stripe attempts in the final 88 seconds … In the final contest of the week, The Lions' men's basketball team extended their winning streak to four games in a row with a 70-57 victory over Brevard College on Saturday afternoon … Four players scored 11 points apiece in the win for Mars Hill. BC exploded out of the gates and jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in front of a pumped up home crowd and held a 17-12 lead at the 12:08 mark of the first half on two made foul shots from sophomore Shane Galloway … Mars Hill bounced back and tied the score up at 17-17 with 11:28 to play in the opening half and then took their first lead of the game on their next offensive possession, a jumper by Jordan Skinner (Yellow Springs, OH) giving the visiting Lions the 19-17 edge. A jumper by BC's Joseph Chilton on the Tornados next possession knotted the score at 19-19 … However, it was the last tie for the remainder of the contest as the Lions would go on a 7-0 run over the next 2:30 to take the lead for good. The Lions would hold off a late first half surge from the Tornados and take a 39-30 lead into the halftime break … In the second half the Tornados, who shot 40.7 percent in the first half, went cold as they hit only 8-of-28 from the floor, 28.6 percent. Taking advantage of Brevard's cold shooting, the Lions pushed their lead to double-digits and as high as 16 points on a number of occasions … The Tornados would not give up and continued to play hard, cutting into the Lions lead in the final five minutes of play … However, the Lions defense stiffened up and held off the Tornados to seal the 70-57 win … Mars Hill had a well-balanced scoring attack on Saturday afternoon, as four players - P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, SC), Josh Goble (Lenoir, NC), Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) and Jabreel Moton (Cincinnati, OH) - all had 11 points on the day … Skinner had nine points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Lions. For the game the Lions shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from the three-point line, while the Tornados shot 34.5 percent for the game, including only 19 percent from the three-point arc … Mars Hill improved to 9-10 overall … MHC will host SAC rival Newberry College on February 6, also at 8 p.m. before playing at Carson-Newman College on Saturday at 4 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College Indians split two home games this weekend to bring their record to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in South Atlantic Conference action… On Wednesday, the Indians defeated Brevard, 65-54… Grant Domsic led Newberry with 16 points to propel the Indians to their third straight win… Newberry only shot 39.6 percent from the floor, but canned a season-high 12 points and turned the ball over only four times to pull out the win… Stephane Bakinde and Clemente Martin each scored 14 points, while Matt Alexander added 11… Kendrick Johnson set a new school record for blocked shots in a game by re-directing eight Tornado shots… On Saturday, the Indians narrowed a 15-point halftime deficit to as few as one point in the second half, but fell to Carson-Newman, 92-89… Martin shot a splendid 14-of-17 from the floor for a career-high 32 points, and earned his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 11 rebounds… Alexander tied career highs for points and rebounds by earning his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds… Johnson fell just short of his first career double-double and the school's first recorded triple-double with nine points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks… Johnson is now only five blocks short of setting the school's career record in only his sophomore season… Bakinde added 12 points and Vytautas Valiulis scored 10… While five Eagles scored in double figures, the Indians' inability to put away free throw opportunities told the story of the loss… Newberry was a dismal 10-of-27 (37 percent) from the charity stripe in the loss… The Indians have a chance to even their conference record this week, but it will be tough with both games on the road… Newberry travels to Mars Hill for an 8 p.m. tipoff Wednesday… The Indians play at Lenoir-Rhyne at 4 p.m. Saturday in a game which will be featured worldwide on a CSTV.com webcast.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (8-12, 2-6 SAC) dropped a pair of South Atlantic Conference games at home last week, falling to Mars Hill (62-61) and Lenoir-Rhyne (82-59)… Tusculum has lost its last five games, including three in a row at Pioneer Arena… In the Mars Hill game, the Pioneers led almost the entire game, until the final 0.3 seconds when the Lions scored a lay-up in the final moments for their first and only lead of the contest… Tusculum sophomore Kyle Moore posted 21 points, including five 3-pointers, while senior Jordan Lear added 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss… The contest was plagued by a combined 55 personal fouls (TC 31, MHC 24), which saw four players foul out (TC 3, MHC 1), including Tusculum starters Lear and senior Lavonti Jeter… Mars Hill trailed throughout the entire contest, with Tusculum holding its largest lead at 40-26 with 16 minutes remaining in the game… TC held a 55-46 advantage with 3:07 left, following a jumper by junior Ryan Troutman. MHC trimmed the deficit to three (55-49) on a three-pointer with 2:32 remaining in the contest… With Tusculum leading 59-54, the Lions trimmed the TC advantage to one (59-58) thanks to four straight free throws, including the last pair with 55.2 seconds left… Moore was fouled and he made two free throws to move the Pioneers back out to a three-point lead (61-58)… Mars Hill canned two free throws with 45 seconds left to bring the Lions back to within one (61-60)… Tusculum worked the clock down to 22.2 seconds and called a timeout near midcourt, but on the ensuing inbounds pass, the Pioneers were whistled for five seconds, turning the ball over to the Lions. After a MHC timeout, the Lions worked for the last shot and made the lay-up with less than a second remaining… The Pioneers attempted to draw a foul on the in-bounds pass, but none was called as MHC stole the pass at midcourt to seal the win for the visitors… Tusculum shot 44 percent from the floor, while limiting the Lions to 28 percent, including 5-of-28 (18%) in the first half as the Pioneers led 32-21 at the break… Against Lenoir-Rhyne, the Bears led wire-to-wire while posting an 82-59 win... Eleven different players scored for the Bears as L-R shot 66 percent from the floor, including 17-of-24 (75%) in the first half…Lenoir-Rhyne scored the first 13 points of the game en route to taking a 44-28 advantage at the intermission… Moore led the Pioneers with 16 points, while Jeter accounted for 14 markers and seven rebounds off the bench... Ryan Troutman added nine points and six assists, while sophomore Jimmy Boone finished with eight markers… Lenoir-Rhyne erupted out of the gate making five of their fist seven shots, TC cut into the deficit with a 7-2 spurt, capped off by a three-pointer by Boone… L-R answered with five straight points as the Bears led 22-9 and wouldn't surrender its double-digit lead for the remainder of the afternoon… L-R out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 32-19 margin and the Bears got over half of its offensive production from its bench (42 points)… Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 573 consecutive games… Lear eclipsed the 1,400-point plateau in Saturday's loss to Lenoir-Rhyne… Lear has scored 1,404 points in his 101 career games at Tusculum (7th all-time in school history)… Lear was limited to 0-for-2 shooting from three-point land against L-R, ending his string of 21 consecutive games with a tray… He has scored in 74 straight games and has hauled in a rebound in 42 consecutive outings… Jeter has recorded over 30 minutes on the floor in five games this season… TC is 4-1 in those contests… Tusculum will be on the road for a pair of games this week against the last two teams they have posted victories against… The Pioneers will be at in-state foe Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, before traveling to Catawba on Saturday… Tusculum defeated LMU 73-67 in overtime last month, led by Jeter who accounted for 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds… When TC and Catawba met last month, Lear hit a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left as the Pioneers pulled out an 82-79 victory.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team went 1-1 overall on the week, making the Bulldogs 15-5 overall and 6-2 in the South Atlantic Conference. Wingate is tied with Carson-Newman for second place. Wingate fell to first-place Lenoir-Rhyne 72-68 Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena, the first home loss of the season for the Bulldogs. Wingate responded with a 99-70 win at Lincoln Memorial Saturday ... In the LMU victory, redshirt senior forward/center Bryan Grier (Charlotte, N.C.) became the NCAA Division II all-time leader in career blocked shots. The all-time leading shot blocker in school and conference history, Grier rejected three shots Saturday night to give the Vance High School graduate 419 career blocked shots. The previous record was held by James Doyle of Concord (W.Va.) University. Doyle blocked 416 shots for the Mountain Lions from 1995 to 1998 ... Grier and the Bulldogs got back on track Saturday night, topping LMU 99-70 in Tennessee. Barnette led the way with 27 points, going 10-for-14 from the field, while hitting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Grier had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, including the record breaker ... Senior guard Ernest Mangum (New London, N.C.) had 13 points while senior guard Sam Holmes (Danville, Va.) added 12 points for the Bulldogs. Tommy Coles (Danville, Va.) had four points and a team-high seven rebounds ... Wingate shot a blistering 58.1 percent from the field (36-of-62) including going 18-for-29 in the first half (62.1 percent). The Bulldogs hit eight-of-20 from beyond the arc, while converting 25 LMU turnovers into 29 points. Wingate had 12 steals on the night, led by Barnette with four and Holmes with three ... The Bulldogs have only one game this week, when they host Catawba Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Wingate lost the first meeting 74-73 at Catawba. Grier had 22 points, 19 rebounds and five blocked shots in the first Catawba contest. Barnette add 13 points and nine rebounds. Mattox and junior point guard Rosco Turner (Lexington, N.C.) had 11 points each for the Bulldogs ... Senior forward/guard Sean Barnette (Rock Hill, S.C.) led the Wingate attack Wednesday night with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Grier added 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots ... The Bulldogs came out on fire against Lenoir-Rhyne, taking a 24-5 lead in the first eight minutes. Barnette had nine points in the opening spurt. Wingate junior forward Kenny Villines (Fayetteville, N.C.) finished the run with back-to-back inside hoops ... Lenoir-Rhyne would close the gap throughout the half, including an 8-0 run before intermission to trim the lead to 35-32. The Bears would then take the lead in the second half, and extend it to as much as 11 at the 4:28 mark ... Wingate would not go away. They would hold the Bears scoreless for the next 3:34 while cutting into the lead. Grier and Barnette each hit a pair of free throws. A lay-up from Grier cut the lead cut the lead to four with 23 seconds left. DeMario Mattox (Rocky Mount, Va.) grabbed a steal, allowing Grier to notch another lay-up to cut the lead to 68-66 with 16 seconds remaining ... The Bears would hit a pair of free throws, then Wingate answered with a Mattox put-back with two seconds left to cut the lead back to two. The Bears would ice the game with a pair of free throws at the other end ... Wingate shot 39.4 percent from the field (26-of-66), while hitting 14-for-29 from the free throw line (48.3 percent). The Bears shot 47.4 percent from the field (27-of-57). The Bulldogs held a 51-40 advantage in rebounding, including a 25-10 edge in offensive rebounds. The two teams combined for 43 turnovers (22 for L-R, 21 for Wingate).