Men’s Basketball Notes, February 2, 2010
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 1, 2010.
BREVARD - The Brevard College men's basketball team went 1-1 on the week, defeating Newberry College on the road this past Wednesday, 61-60, while falling to Mars Hill at home on Monday night, 93-86 ... With the split, the Tornados sit in a four-way tie for first place in the South Atlantic Conference regular season standings ... Jonathan Whitson blocked Ray Robinson's layup with 14 seconds left in the game and the Brevard senior forward corralled the rebound, allowing the Tornados to run out the clock as Brevard left Eleazer Arena on Wednesday night with the 61-60 win ... Whitson led the Tornados with 20 points in the contest as the senior from Clyde, N.C. went eight of 15 from the floor and pulled down eight rebounds in the game ... Josh Roper added 14 points and four steals in 35 minutes of play and Nathan Whitmire added 11 points and eight rebounds as the Tornados held the 38-26 rebound advantage in the contest ... Sam Carlisle added eight points and six rebounds off the bench for Coach Jones in the game ... Jumpers by Darin Dellinger and Whitson late in the game gave the Tornados a 61-57 lead, before Newberry's Aaron Edwards connected on a three-pointer in front of the scarlet and gray bench to cut the lead back to one ... A turnover by Carlisle gave Newberry one more chance, but Whitson was able to get a piece of Robinson's attempt to seal the game ... Roper led all scorers with 37 points and hit seven three-pointers in the game against Mars Hill, but Danny Sanders led four Lions in double figures with 26 points of his own as Mars Hill topped the Tornados in Boshamer Gymnasium on Monday night, 93-86 ... Roper was 13-of-24 from the floor in the contest and 7-of-14 from distance in leading the Brevard offense and contributed on the defensive end with a pair of blocked shots and three steals ... Whitson added his sixth double-double of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots as the Tornados redirected eight Mars Hill field goal attempts in the game ... Dellinger added six assists on the offensive end for Brevard, moving him within two of Cody Siniard's career record of 208, while Carlisle added 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in the game ... Roper scored 25 points in the second half, including 11 in the last two and a half minutes in an attempt to bring the Tornados back from a 10-point halftime deficit, but the Lions shot 81.1 percent (30-37) from the free throw line in sealing the win ... The Tornados are in action this week on Wednesday at Lenoir-Rhyne and return home on Saturday to host Lincoln Memorial.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles turned in a 1-1 week to move to 9-10 on the season and 4-5 in South Atlantic Conference play ... C-N dropped a Wednesday night affair at home to Catawba, 85-75, before bouncing back to beat Newberry, 55-53, in Newberry, S.C. on Monday evening ... The Carson-Newman men's basketball couldn't overcome a season-best shooting performance by Catawba as the Eagles fell to the Indians, 85-75, on Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Holt Fieldhouse ... Catawba shot 62.5 percent (35-of-56) from the floor, including 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from 3-point range ... The Eagles scored at a 49.2 percent (30-of-61) clip but they struggled at the free-throw line, where they were just 8-of-22 ... Forwards Quinche Dowdell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) netted 15 points apiece to lead C-N, while seniors Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) and Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) tossed in 12 and 10 points, respectively ... Sophomore guard Cameron Sharp (Knoxville, Tenn.) added eight points, five assists and three steals ... The Eagles had a solid start to the contest as the built an early 20-12 lead, but Catawba stormed back to take the lead for good with a 12-2 run ... The Indians held a 48-37 advantage heading into the locker room and they put the game out of reach by pushing their lead to 56-39 early in the second half ... The Eagles were unable to cut Catawba's lead below nine points the rest of the way ... The Carson-Newman men's basketball team turned in a stellar effort on both ends of the floor as it defeated Newberry, 55-53, on Monday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Eleazer Arena ... With the win, the Eagles improve to 9-10 on the season and 4-5 in the conference, while Newberry falls to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the SAC ... C-N shot 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the floor and had one of its best defensive performances of the season as it held the scarlet and gray to 35.7 percent shooting (20-of-56) ... Seniors Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) and Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) tossed in 14 points apiece to lead C-N, while Cameron Sharp (Knoxville, Tenn.) netted 11 points and Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) added eight points and nine rebounds. Maxtion also pulled down nine rebounds ... The first half saw five ties and nine lead changes, as the teams entered the locker room tied at 24...Newberry regained the lead to start the second half, as Stephane Bakinde (Yaounde, Cameroon) knocked down a jumper on the opening possession to give the scarlet and grey a 26-24 lead, but C-N guard Erwin Staten (Huntsville, Ala.) answered with a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 27-26 advantage...C-N held the lead for the next 13 minutes before Newberry fought back to tie the game at 49 with 5:19 remaining...Newberry then took a 51-49 lead on a Robinson tip-in, but the Eagles outscored the scarlet and grey 6-2 to close out the game and seal the win...The Eagles return to the court on Wednesday in their last non-conference contest of the season as they travel to Bristol, Tenn., to face King College. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
CATAWBA - The Catawba men won its only game of the week, defeating Carson-Newman last Wednesday 85-75 ... Donald Rutherford notched a career-high 30 points in the win, hitting on 14-of-17 shots ... He had 20 points in the opening half as the Indians built a 48-37 lead ... Catawba trailed at one point in the opening half at 20-12, but was able to tie the game at 30-all then used a 15-2 spurt to take control ... The Indians led by 22 points with six minutes left ... Catawba shot 62.5 percent for the game and 61.5 percent from behind the arc ... The Indians were 18-of-27 (66.7 percent) in the first half ... Rob Fields followed Rutherford with 20 points (15 in the 1st half), hitting 7-of-11 shot and 4-of-5 from long range ... Antonio Houston added 15 points ... He needs 21 points to become the league's No. 2 all-time scorer ... He is within 40 points of reaching 2,000 for a career ... The senior is averaging 16.1 points per contest to lead a trio of double-figure scorers ... Fields is added 15.7 a game and 22 points over the last four outings ... Rutherford is scoring at a 15.3 clip and pulling down a team-leading 6.6 rebounds a game ... The Indians jump back into action on Wednesday to open the second half of their league schedule at Wingate ... Catawba will return home on Saturday to host Tusculum.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (3-16, 1-8) fell to Wingate (70-60) and Tusculum (61-56) last Wednesday and Monday, respectively, in a pair of league contests on the road … The Bulldogs' Jaime Vaughn finished with 22 points and six three-pointers (five in the second half) to lead Wingate to the win … Lenoir-Rhyne junior forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, both game-highs, but was the lone Bear to score in double figures in the losing effort … Tusculum's Kyle Moore finished with 31 points including nine three-pointers (seven before halftime) in helping Tusculum sweep the season series from Lenoir-Rhyne … Blackmon added 16 points while sophomore guard Jon Hathcock (Concord, N.C.) and sophomore forward Jeff Thomas (Durham, N.C.) also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively … Tusculum also shot 100 percent (13-of-13) from the free throw line in winning its fourth straight contest … L-R has not lost eight straight since 11 in a row to start the 1998-99 campaign … Blackmon, who leads the team in scoring (20.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg) this year, has 20 straight games in double figures dating back to the 2008-09 campaign … Blackmon (943) is also closing in on 1,000 points for his career … Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to take on a pair of South Atlantic Conference foes - Brevard (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) and Newberry (Saturday at 8 p.m.) - this week … L-R leads the all-time series with both Brevard (5-2) and Newberry (65-18) … However, the Tornados (77-68) and Newberry (74-69) prevailed in the earlier contests this year between the two schools.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - King College saw an eight-game winning streak snapped Wednesday as Lincoln Memorial University won 77-58 … LMU improves to 14-5 on the season. King has a 12-4 record after the game and the last two losses have been against the Railsplitters … D'Mario Curry (Detroit, MI) was one of five Railsplitters in double-digits as he scored 18. He also had 10 rebounds … Desmond Johnson (Lynch, KY) had a double-double of his own with 10 points and 10 rebounds … Stuart Miller (Harrogate, TN) and Brandon O'Brien (Stone Mountain, GA) scored 14 apiece and Brandon Armstrong (Decatur, GA) added 10 … LMU scored the first five points of the game and King tied the contest at 13 apiece six minutes into the action … The game was tied at 15 and the visitors built a 23-15 lead in less than two minutes … King got within one, 24-23, with 7:43 left in the half … Eventually King trailed at halftime 37-30 … The closest King could cut into the margin in the second half was six, 53-47, at the midpoint of the half … From there the lead would be as many as 20 in the final moments … King went 22-for-62 (35.5 percent) from the field with eight 3-pointers … On the other side, the Railsplitters were 27-for-50 (54 percent) and made 10 three pointers … The Tornado only went to the free throw line eight times and made six of the attempts … The battle of the boards was won by the Railsplitters 41-23 … The Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team avenged their early season conference loss to Wingate University on Monday evening by knocking off the Bulldogs 84-69 in Harrogate to improve to 16-4 overall and 6-3 in conference play … Starting forwards D'Mario Curry and Desmond Johnson each found themselves in foul trouble and were forced to sit on the bench in the early minutes of the first half … LMU Head Coach Josh Schertz went to his bench and inserted sophomore forward Brandon O'Brien and freshman forward Dustin Craig and the two combined to help the Railsplitters take a 45-29 lead into the locker room at the half … As expected, the Bulldogs picked up their defensive intensity in the second half but the LMU inside/outside game proved relentless … With the help of the LMU bench that contributed 38 of the Railsplitters' 84 points, LMU was able to open up a 23-point lead at one point in the final twenty minutes before eventually coming away with a 15-point margin of victory … Brandon O'Brien led LMU off the bench with 17 points, while senior guard Stuart Miller knocked down 6-11 shots from the field and was 1-1 at the free throw line for 16 points … Miller also handed out five assists while collecting one steal and never coming off the floor in 40 minutes … Junior forward D'Mario Curry had a quiet night offensively but still managed to give the Railsplitters 11 points and led LMU on the glass with seven rebounds … The Railsplitters will take their 16-4 overall record and 6-3 conference mark into Wednesday night's home match-up with Tusculum College … The last time LMU and Tusculum met was on January 6 in Greenville when the Railsplitters came away with a 67-52 over the Pioneers … Tip-off for Wednesday's game is set for 8 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 1-1 last week and moved into a tie for first place in the South Atlantic Conference. Monday against Brevard, Danny Sanders led four Lions in double figures with 26 points as Mars Hill topped the Brevard Tornados, 93-86. The win put Mars Hill in a four-way tie for first place in the South Atlantic Conference ... Mars Hill (11-8, 6-3 SAC) was led by Sanders as the senior went 9-of-17 from the floor to go with four blocked shots and three steals. The South Atlantic Conference's leading scorer was paced by teammate Stoney Polite who added 24 points, while Robin McElroy, 12, and Julian Mack, 11, each reached double figures ... The Lions lost at Tusculum 80-70 on Wednesday ... In a battle between the top two scorers in the league between Tusculum's Kyle Moore and Mars Hill's Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) , Moore finished 9-of-17 from the floor, including 8-of-14 from three-point territory and 31 points ... Sanders led the Lions with 19 points and four assists ... Mars Hill's Dion Malachi (Shelby, N.C.) posted a dozen markers, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss ... Tusculum went on a 7-0 run in a span of 53 seconds, including two free throws each by Moore and Josh Bennett, along with a three-pointer by Jimmy Boone as TC led 19-12 at the 12:02 mark ... The Lions responded with a 10-2 spurt over the next two minutes to regain the lead at 22-21 with 7:35 left before halftime ... Sanders and Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) each had a three-pointer, while Brittion Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) capped the run with his jumper ... In the later part of the opening half, Tusculum led 31-27 with 2:13 on the clock ... Malachi and Dallas Johnson (Auburndale, FL) connected on back-to-back jumpers to tie the game at 31-31, but Taylor gave TC the lead at 33-31 heading into the locker room with his two free throws with 2.9 seconds left ... In the second half with the score tied at 38-38, Tusculum posted a 16-2 run over four minutes to take its largest lead of the contest at 54-40 with 10:51 left in the game ... Moore converted on a rare four-point play and added another three on the ensuing possession to put the Pioneers up by 14 ... Last year in Greeneville, Mars Hill rallied from a 12-point second half deficit, to post a 75-72 victory over the Pioneers ... The Lions cut into the deficit with nine unanswered points as TC now led 54-49 following a pair of free throws on an intentional foul ... But unlike last year, the Pioneers turned away the rally as TC went on a 17-9 spurt to go up 71-58 to all but seal the win ... Tusculum broke the 80-point barrier for the second time this season, while limiting the top scoring offense in the conference to nearly 20 points under its seasonal average (89.8 ppg) ... MHC will host Newberry On Wednesday (8 p.m.). The Lions will close out the week at Carson-Newman on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team lost two games last week by a combined 3 points... The scarlet and gray are now 7-13 overall and 2-7 in SAC play... On Wednesday, Newberry took league leaders Brevard to the wire before falling, 81-80... Ryan Barnes scored 20 points in the game, including 19 points in the first half on 7-of-7 shooting... Stephane Bakinde scored 13 points and Aaron Edwards added 10 points... Newberry held an 8-point lead at halftime, but could not hold on for the victory... Saturday's game against Carson-Newman was postponed until Monday due to inclement weather... Newberry lost to the Eagles, 55-53... Newberry was led by 16 points off of the bench by Danny Huffor and Robinson scored 11 points... Bakinde blocked 6 shots in the loss... Newberry shot the ball twice as many times as Carson-Newman in the opening 20 minutes, but connected on just 9-of-30 (30 percent) shots from the floor, including 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point land... Carson-Newman was 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from the floor in the first half, but turned the ball over 15 times... The teams were tied at 24-all entering the half in a low-scoring game... Despite a poor shooting night that saw Newberry make only 20-of-56 (35.7 percent) of its shots, the game was decided at the free throw line... Carson-Newman was 19-of-28 on its free throw attempts, while Newberry connected on 8-of-10... The scarlet and gray have now lost four conference games at home, with three of those losses coming by margins of two points or less... Newberry will look to get back on the winning track this Wednesday at Mars Hill... Tipoff in Stanford Arena is set for 8 p.m... Newberry then plays at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday at 8 p.m.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (12-8, 6-3 SAC) recorded a pair of South Atlantic Conference wins last week over Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne… Tusculum is riding a four-game winning streak and has moved into a four-way tie for first place in the league standings… Senior guard Kyle Moore paced Tusculum to both victories with consecutive 31-point performances… In TC's 80-70 win over Mars Hill, Moore led all scorers with 31 points, shooting 9-of-17 from the floor, including 8-of-14 from three-point land… He also went 5-of-7 from the free throw line, while dishing out four assists and making a career-best four steals… Sophomore guard Justin Steigerwald added 11 points and eight assists, while seniors Wes Taylor and Josh Bennett finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively off the bench… Tusculum shot 51.1 percent for the game, including 13-of-21 (61.9%) in the second half… The victory against Mars Hill was also the 100th win for TC in Pioneer Arena… Moore followed with another 31-point effort in Tusculum's 61-56 come-from-behind win over Lenoir-Rhyne… The Pioneers trailed by a dozen (28-16) with four minutes remaining in the first half, but Moore connected on three 3-pointers as TC trailed 28-25 at the intermission… 21 of Moore's 31 markers came in the first half, all from long-range… He finished the game with a career-best nine 3-point field goals, which are tied third most in Tusculum and SAC history… Bennett finished with a double-double, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds… Senior guard Jimmy Boone tallied nine points, while junior Rob Troutman added six points, four rebounds and five assists… Steigerwald dished out eight assists and committed only one turnover... Tusculum shot a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line, all coming in the second half… It marks the second time this year TC has gone perfect at the stripe… TC went 13-of-13 against Catawba (Jan. 9, 2010)… Moore is averaging 23.2 points per game this season, which is currently the fourth-best average in SAC history… In his 79-game career at Tusculum, Moore has scored 1,583 points, which are the sixth most in school history and tied for ninth most in SAC history with former Presbyterian standout Bret Jones (1989-93)… Moore is also the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals (264 - 1st in SAC history) and free throws made (397 - 7th in SAC history)… Moore has scored 20 or more points 37 times in his career, including 11 games with 30-plus (5 times this year)… He has made at least five 3-pointers on 10 occasions this season… Moore is 63 off the TC record held by Shane Banks (327, 1996-2000)… Tusculum has limited the opposition to under 60 points on 11 occasions this season, going 9-2 in those outings… TC is also 8-2 when scoring 60 or more points this year… Sophomore center Tommy Klempin has started in 25 games during his Tusculum career… TC is 19-6 in those games, including 7-2 this year… Tusculum head coach Jim Boone has recorded 393 career wins in his career, which is 30th in the NCAA Division II amongst active coaches… 299 of those have come at the Division II level… Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 631 consecutive games… The Pioneers will be on the road for a pair of games this week… TC will travel to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on fellow SAC co-leader Lincoln Memorial this week… The Railsplitters defeated Tusculum 67-52 in last month's meeting… Tusculum is 1-3 this season against teams from the State of Tennessee… The Pioneers will wrap up the three-game week with a trip to Catawba… TC defeated the Catawba Indians 59-50 at Pioneer Arena.
WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team split two SAC contests in the last six days. On Wednesday, Bulldog sophomore guard Jaime Vaughn scored 18 points after intermission to lead Wingate to a 70-60 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University in Cuddy Arena … Vaughn finished the night with a team-high 22 points for Wingate. He converted six-of-10 three-point field goals and added four rebounds and three assists to his statistics ledger. Bulldog freshman center Odell Turner had 16 points and five rebounds, while senior guard Larry Staley contributed 10 points and five rebounds … Turner hit a jumper with 18:17 remaining, breaking a 38-38 tie and giving the Bulldogs the lead for good. Vaughn converted a rare four-point play at the 9:31 plateau to put Wingate up 59-49. The Bears cut the deficit to seven in the waning moments, but they could get no closer … Wingate outrebounded Lenoir-Rhyne 36-31, thanks to a team-best seven boards from freshman forward Quan Alexander. The Bulldogs hit nine triples Wednesday, compared to three for the Bears. Vaughn led the way, making six-of-10 from beyond the arc … The Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team built a 16-point half time lead and stayed in the driver's seat, picking up an 84-69 SAC triumph over visiting Wingate Monday evening in Tex Turner Arena. The host Railsplitters hit 55.6 percent from the floor (30-of-54) … Vaughn surpassed the 20-point plateau for the third straight game, leading all scorers with 23 points. Vaughn also collected five rebounds and three steals. Alexander and Turner had 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Turner topped the Bulldog rebounding charts with six boards … Lincoln Memorial hit 17-of-31 field goals in the opening stanza (54.8 percent), sprinting to a 45-29 lead at intermission. The 'Splitters converted on four-of-seven three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Alexander led all scorers with 12 first-half points … The Bulldogs would get no closer than 12 points in the second half. A Turner jumper cut the Wingate deficit to 45-33 with 18:57 remaining in the contest. LMU responded by scoring nine unanswered points to take a 54-33 advantage. Wingate did not score another field goal until sophomore guard Michael Bilal hit a lay-up with 14:35 left, making the score 56-37 LMU … Lincoln Memorial pushed the margin to 73-50 with 8:13 to go. The 23-point bulge was the Railsplitters' largest lead of the evening. Wingate freshman guard Ethan Kincaid hit a jumper with 4:05 left, cutting the deficit to 80-65. The Bulldogs would get no closer down the stretch … Vaughn hit eight-of-14 field goals, while the rest of the Bulldog team managed only 14-of-38 (36.8 percent). A 2009 SAC All-Freshman team member, Vaughn also knocked down three-of-five three-point field goals Monday … Wingate is 9-2 overall when making 15 or fewer turnovers this year. The Bulldogs lead the SAC in turnover margin. Wingate is the only school in the SAC with five players averaging double figure points. Turner tops the team charts with 12.6 points per game, followed closely by Vaughn with 12.5 points per game. One of the hottest players in the league, Vaughn is averaging 14-plus points per game in league play. He leads the Bulldogs in three-point field goals (37) and three-point field goal percentage (45.7 percent).