Weekly Men’s Basketball Notes, March 3, 2008

Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending March 2, 2008.

BREVARD - In their final week of play, the Brevard College men's basketball team split their two home contests ... The Tornados scored their first win over a South Atlantic Conference opponent on Wednesday night, defeating the Indians of Newberry at home on "Black Out" Night, 74-68 ... The Tornados controlled the pace of the game from start to finish, executing their offense both effectively and efficiently, shooting a season-high 54.2 percent from the field for the game ... After Newberry hit the first basket of the game to take a 2-0 lead, the Tornados answered on the next possession to tie the score up at 2-2, three minutes into the game ... The two teams traded baskets for the majority of the first half, with neither team able to pull away from the other ... The Tornados pushed their lead to five at 21-16 on a made free throw by Radosav Babic at the 4:45 mark, their biggest lead to that point ... The Indians answered with a 7-2 run of their own over the next two minutes to knot the score up at 23-23, the fifth time in the first 20 minutes of play ... Yet the Tornados did not give in and finished the half with a 5-0 run to take a 28-23 lead into the halftime break ... In the opening minutes of the second half, again both teams went back-and-forth with the each one answering the other on both ends of the floor ... However, the Indians battled back to tie the score for the sixth time of the contest at 35-35, with 14:54 remaining in the contest ... The two teams would tie the score up again only a minute later at 37-37 before the Indians took a two point lead on a jumper by Cory Etheridge, their first lead in the second half ... However, BC answered with a three-pointer by sophomore Andrew Freeman to take a 40-39 lead at the 12:16 mark ... In the final 12 minutes of play, the Tornados controlled the game outscoring the Indians 34-28, and made key plays down the stretch to seal their first win over a SAC opponent this season ... After pushing their lead to 12 points at the 4:50 mark, the Indians cut the BC lead down to five points with 2:45 to play ... Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch by the Tornados sealed the win, hitting 11-of-16 foul shots in the final three minutes of regulation, headlined by point guard Cody Siniard who hit seven shots from the charity stripe ... The Tornados held on for the 74-68 win over the Newberry Indians ... Brevard was led by junior forward Joseph Chilton, who finished the game with a season-high 24 points, connecting on 10-of-12 shots from the floor ... Siniard added 12 points, hitting 9-of-13 free throws in the game, while fellow sophomores Jonathan Whitson and Andrew Freeman had 11 points apiece ... Junior sharp-shooter Radosav Babic had 10 points of the bench for the Tornados in only nine minutes of action ... Whitson had 11 rebounds to go along with his 11 points, recording his seventh double-double of the season ... Coming off a win on Wednesday night over the Newberry Indians, the Brevard College men's basketball team battled back from a slow start to push the Catawba Indians to the limit before falling 77-64 in their season finale on Saturday afternoon ... The Tornados had a rough first half, as BC shot only 25 percent from the floor and scored only 17 points in the opening 20 minutes of play ... The Catawba Indians jumped at on top early, outscoring the Tornados 13-4 in the first seven minutes of play ... The Indians pushed their lead to double digits at the 7:59 mark of the first half, but did not give in there, as they outscored the Tornados 17-8 in the final eight minutes of play to take a 38-17 lead into the halftime break ... In the second half, the Tornados turned things around as a layup by sophomore Jonathan Whitson at the 19:32 mark, triggered a 12-0 BC run over the next four minutes of play to cut the Catawba lead to nine at 38-29 ... Brevard would get as close as nine points on three separate occasions in the second half, but could not get any closer as the Indians had an answer to ever Tornado offensive run ... A jumper by junior Joseph Chilton at the 2:26 mark cut the Catawba lead to eight at 69-61, the closest that the Tornados had been since early in the first half ... However, Catawba made some clutch shots down the stretch, including hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the closing minutes of play to seal a 77-64 road win over the Tornados ... The Tornados were led by Whitson's 17 points and 12 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season ... Fellow forward Chilton had 15 points, while sophomore Shane Galloway added 13 points off the BC bench ... Saturday afternoon's game was the season finale for the Tornados, as they finished their second year as an NCAA Division II provisional member and their first year playing a full South Atlantic Conference slate ... The Tornados finished 4-24 for the season.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Eagles closed out their regular season with a disappointing 0-2 week, falling on the road to Catawba and Wingate…Carson-Newman is 18-8 overall and 8-6 in the SAC…The Eagles will host Mars Hill in the opening round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Wednesday evening…C-N turned in two wild halves at Catawba in a 103-102 loss Wednesday night…The Eagles fell behind by as many as 24 in the first half, trailing 66-48 at the half…The 66 points is the most allowed in a half by the Eagles this season…Carson-Newman took the lead late after a furious comeback…The Eagles jumped ahead at 100-99 on a layup by Scott Williams with 1:29 to play…Tied at 102-102, Carson-Newman got the stop it needed with a chance to win, but Andy Tipton had the ball knocked away from him with just over six seconds to play…The Eagles forced Catawba to take the ball the length of the floor, the Indians' Rob Fields did, and was fouled with 0.3 seconds to play…He made the second free throw for the Indian win…Williams had one of his best games of the season…He had 24 points and 10 boards to lead the Eagles in both categories…Tipton added 23 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles…C-N forced 23 Catawba turnovers, while committing only 15…After allowing 66 points in the first half, the Eagles held Catawba to 37 in the second…C-N wrapped up its regular season at Wingate on Saturday afternoon with a tough 99-89 loss…The Eagles got 22 points from Scott Williams and 11 rebounds, another double-double, in a losing effort…C-N led 31-22 before Wingate went on a 30-16 run to close the half…Junior Zach Hyatte added 15 points for the Eagles, going 7-of-10 from the floor…The Eagles hit just 7-of-24 three-point attempts in the game…Tipton, senior Clay Scott, and Jordan Dixon all reached double figures with 12, 10, and 10 respectively…C-N battled back in the second half, but came up just short…The Eagles actually led 75-71 with 8:53 to play, but an 11-2 spurt by the Bulldogs sealed the game…C-N is on pace to set the SAC record for points per game average for a single season…The Eagles are still 2nd-nationally pouring in 90.8 points per game…C-N hosts Mars Hill on Wednesday night…The No. 3-seeded Eagles swept the regular season series with the Lions…C-N beat Mars Hill in Holt Fieldhouse in February, 103-93.

CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians earned two wins last week and secured a first round home tournament game ... The Indians topped Carson-Newman 103-102 and won at Brevard 77-64 ... The Indians raced to a 66-48 halftime lead over C-N as Isaac Rose scored 22 of his career-high 27 points in the opening half ... The Catawba Indians hit on 16 of their first 20 shots ... Carson-Newman rallied from the big deficit to take a 100-99 lead with 1:29 left, but a three-point play by Antonio Houston gave Catawba the lead back ... With the game tied, Houston made a steal with six seconds to play and Rob Fields hit a free throw with 0.3 seconds remaining to give Catawba the win ... Houston followed Rose with 21 points, while Norman Monroe added 17 points and seven rebounds ... Rose also had seven boards and hit on 11-of-15 shots ... The Indians held a 52-39 edge on the boards which helped offset 23 turnovers ... Catawba led by 21 at the half against Brevard and never let the Tornados closer than eight in the second half ... Fields equaled a career-high with 19 points, hitting on 6-of-8 shots, while Houston added 14 points and Rose 12 ... The points bring Houston to within one of reaching 1,000 for his career which would make him just the third at Catawba to reach the milestone before his junior season ... Dominick Reid pulled down 10 rebounds to equal his career high ... The Catawba Indians will host Tusculum in the opening round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament on Wednesday ... It marks the third time in the last five years that the two teams will square off in the opening round of the tourney ... The Pioneers ended Catawba's season with an upset win in the 2005-06 season and won both meetings against the Indians this season..

LENOIR-RHYNE - The No. 11 Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team (21-5, 12-2) dropped its last two games of the year to share the 2007-08 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship with Wingate … The Bears fell to the Bulldogs in a league showdown Wednesday at home by an 80-72 score before losing to the Lions of Mars Hill, 80-68, on Saturday in Mars Hill, N.C. … Wingate put together a 28-2 run over both halves to hand Lenoir-Rhyne only its second league regular season loss at home in the past 30 games … The Bulldogs were led by Sean Barnette (31 points, 16 rebounds and five assists) and Bryan Grier (21 points and eight blocked shots) as they were able to overcome a 31-16 first-half deficit to take the win … Senior forwards Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) and Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior forward Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) each scored 12 points apiece but Wingate was able to win with a 72-percent field goal shooting percentage (18-of-25) in the second half … Lenoir-Rhyne couldn't clinch the league title outright on Saturday in its defeat to Mars Hill … Stoney Polite led all scorers with 24 points as Mars Hill snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Bears … Bratton tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bears but L-R was undone by 23 turnovers … Lenoir-Rhyne won the SAC Title for the seventh time in school history, all under 22-year mentor John Lentz, and for the fourth time in the past six years … L-R also lost consecutive games for the first time this year … Rudder (1,025) became the 48th player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career on Wednesday … Bratton (1,358) and Kindred (1,219) already surpassed the mark this year … Kindred is also second on Lenoir-Rhyne's all-time shot blocking list with 189 … The Bears are ranked third in this week's NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Poll … L-R continues to lead the league in scoring defense (67.5 ppg), scoring margin (+10.6), free throw percentage (.732), field goal percentage (.491) … Lenoir-Rhyne will be the No. 1 seed in this week's 2008 Food Lion SAC Tournament … L-R will host Lincoln Memorial, the eighth seed, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. … Lenoir-Rhyne is the top seed in the tournament for the second time in three years … The Bears defeated the Railsplitters last year by a 101-90 score in the first round last year as well and swept the season series in 2007-08 … 77-51 on January 19 at home and 89-63 on the road on February 16 … L-R leads the all-time series with Lincoln Memorial, 6-1.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The LMU men's team closed out the regular season with a 73-65 loss at Newberry. Four of the five LMU starters scored in double figures, led by Terry Delaney with 15 points. Ryan Whitaker had 14, Wadner Joseph scored 12 and Beau Brown added in 11 points. LMU ends the regular season with a record of 8-19 and 1-13 in SAC play.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill split their games last week. MHC is now 12-15 overall and 5-9 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, Mars Hill lost to the visiting Pioneers of Tusculum College 85-59 Wednesday night in Stanford Arena … Jordan Lear (Zanesville, OH) hit a 3-pointer with 17:45 left in the first half to give TC a 5-4 lead and the Pioneers would never trail again. TC hit 59.3 percent (16-27) of their first half field goal attempts to take a 44-23 lead into the locker room at halftime … MHC could only connect on 33.3 percent (10-30) of their shots from the floor. TC hit six shots from behind the arc in the first frame … TC opened the second half on a 17-6 run to take a 32-point (61-29) advantage with 13:31 left in regulation after Lavonti Jeter (Alexandria, VA) hit a shot in the lane. MHC was not be able to generate a comeback … The Pioneers shooting in the second half was just as hot as the first as they converted on 57.1 percent (16-28) of their field goals. For the game, TC hit 32-55 (58.2 percent) of their field goal attempts … The Pioneers out rebounded the Lions 40-32 … Lear led all scorers with 20 points, He hit four 3-pointers and pulled down seven rebounds. Jeter posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Jimmy Boone (Greeneville, TN) added 12 points while Ryan Troutman (Mt. Washington, KY) and Kyle Moore (Gainesville, FL) added 10 points apiece … P. J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, SC) led MHC with nine points and 11 rebounds … In the second game of the week, Mars Hill College upset No. 11 Lenoir-Rhyne College, 80-68 Saturday afternoon in Stanford Arena. Stoney Polite (Morganton, NC) led MHC with 24 points hitting four 3-pointers … Jamarl Glen (District Heights, MD) added 16 points and four rebounds while Jabreel Moton (Cincinnati, OH) scored 15 points and pulled down the same number of boards. P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, SC) rounded out the double-digit scorers for MHC with 12. Akeene Coakley led the Lions with eight rebounds … Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, NC) led L-R with a double-double scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Josh Rudder (Graham, NC) added 16 points while Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, NC) scored 12 … Polite hit a foul shot with 8:01 left in the first half to give the Lions a 18-17 lead they would never relinquish. MHC went on to take a 39-33 lead into the locker room at halftime … MHC scored five unanswered points to start the second half and enjoy an 11-point advantage (44-33) with 17:17 on the clock after Polite hit a shot from behind the arc … L-R stormed back going on a 22-13 run to trim the Lions lead to just two points (57-55) with 8:36 left in regulation after Bratton hit a couple of free throws … The Lions answered the call with a 17-7 run of their own over the next six minutes to lead by 12 (74-62) with 2:48 left in the contest. L-R would only be able to trim the deficit to 10 points down the stretch as MHC defeated the Bears 80-68 on Senior Day … Prior to the game, the Lions recognized Moton and Ollin Dunford (Cullowhee, NC), the two senior players on the squad. The duo played their final game in Stanford Arena today … MHC scored 36 points in the paint and 26 points off 23 Bear miscues. L-R received 33 points off their bench and out rebounded the Lions, 34-26. MHC shot a blistering 57.7 percent (15-26) from the floor in the second half. MHC hit 51.8 percent (29-56) of their field goals in the game … MHC will face Carson-Newman College n the first round of the Food Lion SAC Tournament in Jefferson City on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team split a pair of games in the final week of the regular season to finish with a 12-15 overall record and a 5-9 record in league play… The Indians finished in a tie for sixth place in the SAC and will participate in the 2008 Food Lion SAC Tournament as the seventh seed… Newberry plays at second-seeded Wingate at 8 p.m. Wednesday in first round action… On Wednesday, the Indians became the first South Atlantic Conference team to fall to the provisional member Brevard Tornados as BC was victorious, 74-68… Ty Overmyer shot 6-of-6 from the floor and led the team with 14 points off the bench… Clemente Martin recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 boards and Stephane Bakinde scored 11 points… The Indians' defense allowed the Tornados to shoot 54.2 percent from the floor and Newberry only connected on 39.7 percent of their shots en route to the unexpected loss… Newberry rebounded with a 73-65 Senior Day win over Lincoln Memorial on Saturday… Martin was the only Indian in double figures, as he scored 18 points… Cory Etheridge scored nine points and Keith Marshall scored seven points in the final game in Eleazer Arena for the duo… Bakinde was just short of a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds….

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum men's basketball team posted an 85-59 road win over Mars Hill in the regular season finale for the Pioneers… Tusculum (13-14, 6-8 SAC) is riding a four-game winning streak and has won five of its last six… Senior forward Jordan Lear recorded 20 points and didn't miss a shot… Lear went 8-for-8 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from three point territory… Lear hit a 3-pointer with 17:45 left in the first half to give TC a 5-4 lead and the Pioneers would never trail again… TC hit 59.3 percent (16-27) of their first half field goal attempts to take a 44-23 lead into the locker room at the intermission… MHC could only connect on 33.3 percent (10-30) of their shots from the floor. TC hit six shots from behind the arc in the first frame… TC opened the second half on a 17-6 run to take a 32-point (61-29) advantage with 13:31 left in regulation after Lavonti Jeter hit a shot in the lane… MHC was unable to generate a comeback… The Pioneers shooting in the second half was just as hot as the first as they converted on 57.1 percent (16-28) of their field goals… For the game, TC hit 32-of-55 (58.2 percent) from the floor, while the Pioneers out-rebounded the Lions 40-32… Jeter posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards while Jimmy Boone added 12 points… Ryan Troutman and Kyle Moore added 10 points apiece… Tusculum will be the No. 5 seed in this week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament… The Pioneers will travel to No. 4 seed Catawba on Wednesday… It will be the fourth time Tusculum and Catawba have met in the SAC Tournament… TC has won two of the previous three postseason meetings… The lower seeded team has won all three of the previous encounters… Tusculum has made a 3-pointer in 580 straight games… Lear moved into sixth all-time on the Tusculum scoring list with 1,531 points… Lear has scored in 82 straight games… Since the 2001-02 season, Tusculum is 51-9 when scoring 80 or more points, including 5-1 this year.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's team went 2-0 on the week, picking up two big league wins. On Wednesday night, the Bulldogs avenged an earlier South Atlantic Conference loss with an 80-72 victory at Lenoir-Rhyne College. On Saturday afternoon, Wingate outdistanced Carson-Newman College 99-89 … Bulldog senior forward/guard Sean Barnette (Rock Hill, S.C.) and junior forward Kenny Villines (Fayetteville, N.C.) both posted double-doubles as Wingate defeated the Carson-Newman Eagles 99-89 Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena … With the victory, Wingate improves to 22-5 overall and 12-2 in the SAC. The Bulldogs share the 2007-08 regular season championship with Lenoir-Rhyne College. The number two seed Bulldogs host number seven seed Newberry College Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in the first round of the 2008 Food Lion SAC tournament. Wingate is the two-time defending tournament champions. The 2008 Food Lion SAC tournament Final Four will be held in Hickory March 8-9 … In his final regular season home appearance, Barnette tallied 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the victorious Bulldogs. The 2007 All-American has 31 career double-doubles, including 14 this season. He has scored in double figures in 66 consecutive games. Barnette's mom (Carrie) celebrated her birthday Saturday as well … Villines records his second career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds off the Bulldog bench. The Fayetteville Seventy-First High School product hit five-of-six from the floor. In addition, Villines added one assist and two blocked shots in his 23 minutes. All total, five Bulldogs hit double-figure points Saturday … Wingate rallied from a 15-point first half deficit to take an 80-72 SAC victory over number 11 Lenoir-Rhyne College Wednesday night at Shuford Gymnasium on the L-R campus. The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears saw a 14-game winning streak end Wednesday night … The Bulldogs gave head coach Parker Laketa his 150th career victory Wednesday night. In eight Wingate seasons, the Kansas State University graduate has compiled a 151-89 overall record. The Bulldogs have won 25 or more games in three of Laketa's seven previous seasons … Barnette led the Bulldogs with 31 points and 16 rebounds. The 2007 SAC Player of the Year added five assists. Bulldog senior forward/center Bryan Grier contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and eight blocked shots. Grier is the all-time blocked shots leader in NCAA Division II history with 450 ... Bulldog junior guard/forward DeMario Mattox had 12 points, eight assists and four steals. Wingate hit 81 percent (17-for-21) from the free throw line, with Barnette nailing nine-of-10 charity tosses. In addition, the Bulldogs outscored the Bears 50-32 in the paint … Wingate trailed 31-16 at the 7:23 mark of the first half. The Bulldogs outscored the Bears 15-4 for the remainder of the half. Barnette had six of Wingate's 15 points during the pivotal flurry … In the second half, Wingate shot a sizzling 72 percent (18-of-25) from the floor to complete the comeback. A dunk by Mattox gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the contest at 39-37 with 17:03 remaining. The visitors would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way … Wingate quickly pushed the advantage to 49-37 (finishing a 12-0 run) on a Barnette dunk at the 14:24 plateau. Lenoir-Rhyne did not fold the tents, cutting the Wingate lead to three on three separate occasions down the stretch. The Bulldogs nudged the lead back to 70-60 on a Grier dunk with 1:03 to play in the contest … The Bears responded with three three-point field goals in the final minute, including a four-point play by Josh Rudder to cut the lead to 70-64 with 50 ticks left on the clock. Wingate hit eight-of-eight free throws in the final 48 seconds to keep the Bears at arm's length. The 2007 SAC Male Athlete of the Year, Barnette hit six-of-six freebies in the last 48 seconds … Wingate's hot-shooting in the second half pushed the visitor's final field goal percentage to 48.4 for the contest (31-of-64). The Bulldogs converted only 33.3 percent in the opening 20 minutes (13-of-39). Lenoir-Rhyne shot only 37.5 percent in the decisive second half (15-of-40). For the game, the Bears made 40.3 percent of their field goal attempts (31-of-77) … Lenoir-Rhyne's bench outscored the Wingate reserves 27-5. The Bear substitutes hit 48 percent of their field goal tries (12-of-25), while the L-R starters managed only 36.5 percent from the floor (19-of-52). The Bulldog defense was a factor, as Grier pushed recorded eight rejections Wednesday night. The Vance High graduate is fourth in the NCAA Division II this season in blocks per game.