Men’s Basketball Notes, February 8, 2010
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 8, 2010.
BREVARD - The Tornados went 2-0 on the week in taking sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic Conference, with victories on Wednesday at Lenoir-Rhyne and Saturday at home against Lincoln Memorial ... With the wins, Brevard improves to 16-6 and 8-3 in the South Atlantic Conference ... On Wednesday, Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to the 20-9 lead, but the Tornados came back, using a 9-4 run capped by a Shane Galloway three-pointer and a 9-0 run to end the first half as Darin Dellinger connected from behind the arc as Brevard went into the halftime break with the 27-25 lead ... Brevard used an 8-0 run in the second hald at the 17:49 mark as Sam Carlisle's layup off Dellinger's assist put the Tornados up 35-27 ... The assist by Dellinger broke the tie between him and fellow teammate Cody Siniard for most in Brevard College men's basketball history as the senior finished the game with 209 in his career ... D.J. Blackmon brought the Bears back with a three-pointer to tie the game up at 49, but another run by the Tornados gave them the commanding 60-52 lead with 1:04 on the clock and free throws by Roper and Carlisle ended the game in favor of Brevard 65-60 ... Jonathan Whitson led the Tornados with 16 points, while Whitmire, Roper and Carlisle each finished with double figures as well ... On Saturday in a battle for first place in the South Atlantic Conference, Brandon Armstrong for Lincoln Memorial opened up the game with a pair of three-pointers, but the Tornados battled back, going up 19-18 on Drew Schauss' put back ... The Tornados would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game as the basket opened up a 15-2 run as the Tornados went into the locker room with the 36-25 advantage ... Whitson would score 22 points and Roper would add 12 of his own as the Tornados increased their lead to 28 at 86-58 with 1:40 to play on their way to the 88-70 win ... The Tornados take a short breather before heading back in the SAC play by hosting Wingate on Saturday.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles dropped two games on the week to fall to 9-12 overall and 4-6 in South Atlantic Conference play … Carson-Newman senior Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and finished with 20 points, but the Eagles were unable to overcome a balanced King attack in a 80-70 loss on Wednesday night in Bristol, Tenn … C-N grabbed its largest lead of the game at late in the first half on a jumper by Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.), moving in front 28-24, but King would answer with a 9-3 run to take a 33-31 lead … The two teams would trade points until the 13-minute mark of the second half, when King would break open a 54-52 game with a 13-1 run to build a 67-53 lead, their largest of the game … The Eagles would cut the lead back to three at 69-66 with three minutes to play, behind three layups by Maxtion and five points from Dixon during the 13-2 spurt … The Tornados would answer with a jumper from Mark Dockery and a pair of Elisha Murray free throws to push lead back out to seven and put the game out of reach … Sophomore Cameron Sharpe (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 18 points for the Eagles. He made 6-of-10 shots from the floor. Senior Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) finished with 15 points … The Eagles shot 46.6 percent from the floor, but forced only nine turnovers…King made 22-of-27 free throws in the game, including 17-of-18 in the second half … The Carson-Newman men's basketball team dropped an 87-79 decision to Mars Hill on Saturday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Holt Fieldhouse … With the loss, the Eagles fall to 9-12 on the season and 4-6 in the conference … Junior guard Erwin Staten (Huntsville, Ala.) tossed in a career-high 21 points to lead C-N in the defeat, while guard Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) netted 15 points … Senior forwards Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) and Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) added 11 points apiece in the loss … The Eagles shot 46 percent (29-of-63) for the game, including a 5-of-10 effort from behind the arc. Mars Hill scored at a 44.6 percent (25-of-56) clip and was 7-of-17 from 3-point range … The Lions also knocked down 30-of-40 attempts from the free-throw line … C-N held a one-point lead at the half, as Okoth drained a jumper with less than a minute left to give the Eagles a 41-40 advantage … The teams went back and forth to open the second half before the Lions broke a 51-51 tie with a 13-2 run capped off by two Polite free throws with 7:21 remaining … But the Eagles refused to go quietly as they fought back to pull to within 72-70 on a 3-point play by Staten with 1:55 left … However, the Lions put the game away by going 14-of-14 from the free-throw line down the stretch … Carson-Newman travels to Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday night before hosting Tusculum on Saturday … The Eagles host Tusculum, Brevard (Feb. 17), and Lincoln Memorial (Feb. 20) in their final three home games of the year.
CATAWBA - The Catawba men picked up a pair of league wins last week, claiming a 75-73 victory at Wingate and topping Tusculum 78-65 ... The wins upped Catawba Coach Jim Baker to 300 in his career, although he still needs two more in the eyes of the NCAA, which does not count two wins against non-sanctioned Canadian teams ... Against Wingate Donald Rutherford equaled career-highs with 30 points and 13 rebounds and also provided the winning points on a tip-in with seven seconds left ... The senior hit on 13-of-18 shots and reached 30 points for the second straight game ... In those two contests he hit on 27-of-35 shots ... The Indians overcame an early 10-point deficit at Wingate, using a 28-8 run to go up by double digits themselves right before the half ... A Houston three-pointer had Catawba ahead by five inside four minutes, but the Bulldogs rallied to tie the score with 36 seconds left ... Rutherford tipped in a miss from Lee Martin and Wingate missed a shot to tie at the buzzer ... Houston had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Rob Fields also added 13 points ... Houston tallied 25 in the win over Tusculum and became the league's No. 2 all-time scorer ... The total left him two shy of 2,000 for a career ... The senior hit 6-of-10 from the floor and converted 12-of-13 at the line ... He had seven straight Catawba points to give the Tribe a 60-53 lead with just over eight minutes to play ... The Indians never led in the first half, but got three consecutive three-pointers by Dominick Reid early in the second half to spark Catawba ... His last put the Indians up 45-39 ... Catawba went 25-of-30 at the line in the win and shot 54 percent in the second half ... The Indians also committed just seven turnovers and helped cause 18 by Tusculum ... Fields added 16 points and Justin Huntley scored 10 and hit two key second-half three-pointers ... Houston leads Catawba with a 16.4 average and is adding 5.2 rebounds ... he is shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range ... Fields and Rutherford are scoring at a 15.6 clip ... Rutherford is pulling down 6.8 boards a game ... The Indians have won nine of 11 games and are looking to win four straight for the first time this season ... Catawba will travel to Newberry on Wednesday ... Newberry won the first meeting in double overtime and have topped Catawba in four of the last five meetings ... Catawba will host Mars Hill on Saturday ... the Indians on the initial meeting this season at Mars Hill and have won 12 straight against the Lions.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (4-17, 2-9) split its two games last week and snapped a nine-game losing streak in the process … Lenoir-Rhyne fell to first-place Brevard by a 65-60 score on Wednesday before defeating Newberry, 65-63, on Saturday afternoon … Both games took place at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … Four players scored in double figures for the Tornados, led by Jonathan Whitson's 16 points, as Brevard completed the season sweep of L-R … The Bears were led by junior forward D.J. Blackmon's (Albemarle, N.C.) 21 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore guard Jon Hathcock (Concord, N.C.) added a career-high 17 points and five treys despite the setback … L-R defeated Newberry thanks to a career-high 16 points from freshman guard Spenser Sydney (Lincolnton, N.C.) and 12 points and seven rebounds from freshman forward Matt Kunz (Kernersville, N.C.) … Lenoir-Rhyne used an 11-0 run midway through the second half and was able to hold off a very late Scarlet and Gray rally to take the win … Blackmon added 15 points and seven rebounds in the win … Blackmon, who leads the team in scoring (19.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg), has scored in double figures in every contest so far this year and 22 dating back to last season … Blackmon is also 21 points away from becoming the 50th player in school history to cross the 1,000-point mark in his career … Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Carson-Newman in a South Atlantic Conference contest on Wednesday at 8 p.m., before traveling to Harrogate, Tenn., to face Lincoln Memorial on Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. … The Eagles won the first meeting between the two schools by a 66-61 score on January 23, 2010, in Jefferson City, Tenn., but Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 27-15 … Lincoln Memorial won earlier this year, 69-63, over L-R on January 16, 2010, but the Bears maintain the all-time series advantage, 7-3.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - For the first time since the 2004-05 season, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team swept Tusculum College both home and away in regular season Wednesday evening when they came back late in the second half to defeat the Pioneers 65-62 in Harrogate … The Railsplitters got off to a strong start in the early minutes of the game on the 3-point shooting of senior guard Stuart Miller (Harrogate, TN) … The inside/outside game of sophomore guard Brandon Armstrong and the post play of reserve Brandon O'Brien also proved to be major contributing factors in LMU's early run … Miller provided the offensive threat from the perimeter by knocking down two first half 3-pointers while sinking four shots at the free throw line … Armstrong had a 3-pointer of his own in the early minutes and hit four shots at the charity stripe while sophomore forward Brandon O'Brien may have filled the biggest gap in the first half when he entered the game off the bench and gave the Railplitters a lift in the paint by scoring eight points … LMU opened up a 17-point lead on their early first half run before the Pioneers finally got the offense rolling behind the play of senior guard Kyle Moore … Moore pumped in 15 first half points while getting help from several teammates to erase the Railsplitter lead before the half to take a three point lead into the locker room at 38-35 … The game was close throughout the early minutes of the second stanza before LMU freshman guard Wally Jones (Greensboro, NC) came back into the lineup to hit a big 3-point shot and a drive to the bucket that gave the Railsplitters the lead for good … From that point, a series of breaks that went the Railsplitters' way and several big plays allowed the LMU men to hold off the Pioneers to come away with their second win of the year over the Tusculum men's basketball program … The Railsplitters were led by Stuart Miller's 15 points while junior forward D'Mario Curry (Detroit, MI) turned in his eleventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 13 rebounds … Despite getting into foul trouble early in the game, sophomore forward Desmond Johnson (Lynch, KY) proved to be a big factor in the second half by knocking down all 10 of his points in the final 20 minutes of play … A 17-2 run by Brevard proved to be too much for the Railsplitters to overcome as the host Tornados defeated Lincoln Memorial University 88-70 in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday evening … The teams traded the lead back and forth early … LMU held a 18-17 lead at the 9:29 mark in the first half when a lay-up by BC's Drew Schauss put the Tornados ahead for good as they would storm out to a 36-25 lead at the half … The second half saw the Railsplitters pull to within 11 points on a couple of occasions but each time BC would have answer back and hold out for the 88-70 win … LMU (17-5, 7-4 SAC) was led by Desmond Johnson and Josh Stanley with 12 points apiece. Scott Erland came off the bench to score 11 points. Johnson led the Railsplitters on the boards with eight … The Railsplitters will travel to Mars Hill for an important SAC contest Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. They will return to the friendly confines of the Tex Turner Arena on Feb. 13 for an 8 p.m. meeting with Lenoir-Rhyne.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 1-1 last week. The Lions lost to Newberry in double-overtime (103-100) and then won at Carson-Newman (87-79). MHC is now 12-9 overall and 7-4 in the SAC. That record places MHC third in the league … In the first game of the week, Newberry overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to upset Mars Hill 103-100 in double overtime on Wednesday inside Stanford Arena … The first half was a back and forth affair. Austin Patton (Asheville, N.C.) had two three pointers in the first four minutes of the game to give Mars Hill an early 8-6 lead … Newberry held its largest lead of the period 12 minutes in off two free throws by Ray Robinson (Jacksonville, Fla.). The score was 24-20 at that point … At the 3:23 mark, Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) nailed a short jumper to give the Lions their largest lead of the half 39-32 … Patton hit a three with 11 seconds remaining, and Mars Hill carried a 46-40 advantage into halftime … The Lions shot 6-11 from distance in the first period, while Newberry was 0-3 … At the 16:53 point of the second half, Patton hit a shot to give Mars Hill its first double-digit lead of the game, 53-42. Two minutes later, a Coleman Young (Spartanburg, S.C.) three cut the deficit for Newberry to six points at 55-49 … Newberry took a three-point lead, 65-62, at the midway point, but Mars Hill regained the advantage with an 11-0 run off a layup by Julian Mack (Morganton, N.C.) … The spurt was finished off by two free throws by Patton. Newberry answered with an 11-0 run … Aaron Edwards (Duluth, Ga.) drained a trey with 3:31 left in the second half to give his team a 76-73 lead … With the game tied at 80 and with 20 seconds left, Robinson was tied up by Sanders to turn the ball over to the Lions. On the next possession with six seconds left in regulation, Sanders was unable to get the ball to Dion Malachi (Shelby, N.C.) under the basket, and the game went to overtime … Edwards opened overtime with a three for Newberry, but Mars Hill tied the game up with three consecutive made free throws … Robinson hit a layup to give Newberry an 85-83 lead, but Malachi finished off an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:00 left to give the Lions a one-point lead. He then skied for a rejection of a Jeremee Davis (Albany, Ga.) layup attempt on the next possession to keep the advantage in favor of Mars Hill … Davis hit a fastbreak layup with 32 seconds left to give Newberry the edge, but Polite got the lucky bounce on a shot from behind the arc on the next possession with 18.9 seconds remaining to make the score 89-87 in favor of Mars Hill … A tip-in by Robinson with eight seconds remaining tied the game and sent it into a second overtime … A Malachi layup gave the Lions an early 91-89 lead in the second frame. Two Robinson free throws tied the game at 92 and back-to-back fastbreak layups by Edwards gave Newberry a four-point advantage with 55 seconds left … Sanders hit a jumper from the baseline with 42.1 seconds left to cut the deficit to 96-94 … Trailing 99-94 with eight seconds left, Sanders hit a long three and got fouled which followed with a made free throw to make the score 99-98 in favor of Newberry. Leading 101-100 with two seconds left in the game … Edwards made two free throws, and a desperation heave by Sanders from half court bounced off the rim … Malachi led Mars Hill with 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Sanders had 15 points and seven rebounds but was only 4-17 from the field and 2-11 from distance. He also had four steals … Patton registered 13 points. After going 6-11 from three-point range in the first half, the Lions hit only two of their final 15 attempts from that same distance … Although Mars Hill's bench outscored Newberry 49-26 and as a team outrebounded Newberry 50-40, Newberry outscored the Lions on the fast break 16-2 … In the second game of the week, Mars Hill's men's basketball team picked up a big win on the road at Carson-Newman Saturday night at Holt Field house, 87-79 … Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) and Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) paced the Lions with 26 and 23 points, respectively, while Dion Malachi (Shelby, N.C.) tossed in 12 points … The Eagles shot 46 percent (29-of-63) for the game, including a 5-of-10 effort from behind the arc. Mars Hill scored at a 44.6 percent (25-of-56) clip and was 7-of-17 from 3-point range … The Lions also knocked down 30-of-40 attempts from the free-throw line … C-N held a one-point lead at the half, as Okoth drained a jumper with less than a minute left to give the Eagles a 41-40 advantage … The teams went back and forth to open the second half before the Lions broke a 51-51 tie with a 13-2 run capped off by two Polite free throws with 7:21 remaining. But the Eagles refused to go quietly as they fought back to pull to within 72-70 on a 3-point play by Staten with 1:55 left. However, the Lions put the game away by going 14-of-14 from the free-throw line down the stretch … This week MHC will host Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday before playing at Catawba on Saturday.
NEWBERRY - Newberry split its two road games last week, winning in double overtime at a conference leader and dropping a two-points decision … Newberry is now 8-14 overall and 3-8 in South Atlantic Conference play … On Wednesday, Newberry beat Mars Hill in double overtime, 103-100 … Aaron Edwards scored 30 points and was a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line … Ray Robinson tied his career high with 25 points, while Stephane Bakinde had 14 points and 8 rebounds and Danny Huffor scored 14 points and had 6 rebounds and 3 steals … Newberry shot 49.3 percent (35-of-71) from the field in the game and 72.5 percent (29-of-40) from the free throw line in the game … It was Newberry's second straight road win, with both victories coming in double overtime … On Saturday, Newberry dropped a 65-63 decision to last-place Lenoir-Rhyne … Edwards once again led Newberry scorers with 14 points, with Bakinde netting 12 and Robinson scoring 10 … Newberry shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) in the game, while Lenoir-Rhyne shot 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the floor ... Both teams turned the ball over 23 times and L-R had a 37-29 edge on the boards … Newberry returns home for its next game on Wednesday night against Catawba … Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Eleazer Arena … Newberry is off on Saturday.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (12-10, 6-5 SAC) went 0-2 last week as TC dropped a pair of South Atlantic Conference road outings… In Tusculum's 65-62 loss at Lincoln Memorial, senior guard Kyle Moore led all players with 24 points and seven assists… Senior forward accounted for 16 points off the bench, while sophomore guard Justin Steigerwald matched a career-best with his 10 rebounds… Steigerwald also distributed six assists and added five points in his 40 minutes of action… The Pioneers trailed 31-14 with five minutes in the first half, but TC went on a 24-4 run for the remainder of the period to take a 38-35 lead into the locker room… In Saturday's 78-65 loss at Catawba, Moore posted his third 31-point performance in the last four games… Moore went 9-of-14 from the field, including three 3-pointers and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line… Senior forward Wes Taylor added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Steigerwald added to his SAC-leading assists mark with seven more helpers… Moore has gone 10-for-10 or better at the free throw line on three occasions during his Tusculum career… He continues to climb the scoring charts in both school and SAC record books… In his 81-game career at Tusculum, Moore has scored 1,638 points, which are fifth in school history and 10th in SAC history… Moore is averaging 20.2 points per game for his Tusculum career, which is the third best in SAC history… His 23.5 ppg average this year is second in the league and the fourth-best in SAC history… Moore is the school's all-time leader in career three-point field goals made (270) and free throws made (414)… His 81 three-pointers this season are the seventh most in TC history and tied for 10th in SAC history… He connected on a SAC-best 101 treys last years (2nd in TC history)… Moore has scored 20 or more points 39 times during his Tusculum career, including 12 times with 30 more (7 times this year)… Tusculum has connected on a three-point field goal in 633 consecutive games… Tusculum head coach Jim Boone has recorded 393 career wins, which is 30th most amongst active NCAA Division II coaches… 299 of those victories have come at the NCAA II level… The Pioneers will host Wingate on Wednesday, followed by a road trip to Carson-Newman on Saturday… Wingate leads the all-time series 16-10, but the Pioneers have won three of the last four meetings, including a 70-68 win at Wingate last month… Saturday's contest with Carson-Newman will be the 127th recorded meeting between the two East Tennessee rivals… C-N leads the series 86-40, but Tusculum has won nine of the last 12 meetings, including seven in a row over the Eagles in Jefferson City… The last time TC lost to C-N at Holt Fieldhouse was Jan. 19, 2002… TC had won eight in a row in Jefferson City, until suffering a 76-59 loss to Georgia College at Holt Fieldhouse earlier this season at the Dick Campbell Memorial Classic (Nov. 28, 2009).
WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team lost a heart-breaking 75-73 decision to Catawba College Wednesday night, Feb. 3. The visiting Indians hit the game-winning follow shot with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Wingate is 11-10 overall and 4-6 in the SAC. The Bulldogs have lost three home conference games by a combined five points … Wingate called two time-outs after the Catawba put-back to design the final play. Bulldog freshman forward Odell Turner missed a baseline jumper with two seconds remaining. Classmate Quan Alexander got the rebound, but his successful tip-in came after the final buzzer … Alexander had 18 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs. He hit six-of-eight field goals Wednesday night. Wingate freshman guard Paidrick Matilus added 17 points, six rebounds and three steals. Turner had 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals … Catawba led 72-67 with 3:06 remaining. Turner single-handedly brought the Bulldogs within one. He hit a short jumper and followed with a steal at mid-court. The Indians fouled Turner intentionally, giving the Myers Park High School product two free throws. Turner connected, making the score 72-71 Catawba with 2:30 to play. The Indians made one of two free throws with 1:52 left to give the visitors a two-point edge … Matilus hit a long jumper on an assist from senior guard Larry Staley, tying the score 73-73 with 36 seconds to play. After a miss, Catawba converted the follow shot to sweep the season series with the Bulldogs … Wingate led 20-10 on a steal and jumper by freshman guard Ethan Kincaid with 12:04 left in the opening frame. Catawba finished the first half on a 28-10 run to take a 38-30 lead at intermission … Catawba converted nine-of-20 three-point field goals (45 percent), compared to Wingate's five-of-13 effort from downtown (38.5 percent). The Bulldogs hit 27-of-64 field goals Wednesday (42.2 percent). Catawba edged Wingate 37-36 on the rebounding charts. Wingate recorded 20 fast-break points, compared to nine fast-break points by Catawba … The Bulldogs hit the road for their next two contests. Wingate returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 10, traveling to Tusculum College for an 8 p.m. start. The Bulldogs visit Brevard College Saturday for a 4 p.m. encounter. Wingate returns home Wednesday, Feb. 17, hosting Mars Hill College at 8 p.m. … Wingate is the only school in the SAC with five players averaging double figure points. Turner tops the team charts with 12.7 points per game, followed closely by sophomore guard Jaime Vaughn with 12.0 points per game. Vaughn leads the Bulldogs in three-point field goals (38) and three-point field goal percentage (45.2 percent). Wingate is 9-3 overall when making 15 or fewer turnovers this year. The Bulldogs lead the SAC in turnover margin (+2.95).