Men’s Basketball Notes, January 3, 2011
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 2, 2011:
ANDERSON - The Trojans have been idle since visiting UNC Pembroke on Dec. 18, but following their 17-day break for the holidays, Anderson opens a three-game conference homestand by hosting Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday.
BREVARD - The Brevard College men's basketball team went 1-0 on the week, winning over Tusculum, 77-72 in conference action … Ryson Felder clinched a back-and-forth affair between the Brevard Tornados and the Tusculum Pioneers on Thursday evening with a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds left on the clock as the Tornados escaped Pioneer Arena with the 77-72 victory … Vincent Dombrowski tied a Brevard school record with seven three-pointers in the contest on his way to scoring a game-high 26 points as the Tornados won their first contest after the holiday break … Dombrowski was 8-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-11 from behind the arc in leading the Tornados shot 44.0 percent (22-50) from the floor and 48.0 percent (12-25) from behind the arc in their fourth consecutive win after starting the season 0-2 … The Tornados held the 31-28 rebounding advantage with Drew Schauss pulling down a game-high eight rebounds … Josh Roper and Gaither Hendrix were also among the Tornados scoring leaders in the contest as Roper finished the game with 18 points, while Hendrix scored 14 … Brevard continues in conference play this week, hosting a pair of SAC opponents as Carson-Newman comes to Boshamer Gymnasium on Wednesday, while Mars Hill makes the trip to Brevard on Saturday afternoon.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles did not play last week ... The Eagles return to action from their three-week break on Wednesday in a South Atlantic Conference matchup at Brevard ... Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ... C-N dropped an 80-78 decision to Bluefield College on Dec. 15 in its last game before the winter break ... The Eagles enter Wednesday's contest at 3-7 overall and 0-2 in SAC play.
CATAWBA - The Indians fell in its final non-conference game of the season to Limestone as they returned from the holiday break ... Catawba fell 76-66 to the Saints, who avenged an earlier triple-overtime loss to the Tribe ... Catawba cut a 16-point first half deficit to five by the half and got as close as two points with ten minutes to play ... Back-to-back three-pointers by Limestone ignited a run by the Saints in the final five minutes the put the game away ... Catawba shot just 30 percent in the second half and only 34 percent for the game ... Limestone also enjoyed a 43-40 edge on the boards ... Dominick Reid led Catawba with 24 points ... The senior point guard continues to the lead the Indians in scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.0), assists (4.2) and steals (1.6) ... Cameron Lovelace tallied 12 points at Limestone and stands second on the team to Reid in three-pointers for the season with 16 ... Catawba hosts Wingate as it returns to league play on Wednesday ... The Indians will travel to Anderson on Saturday.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (2-8) lost both its contests at the second annual Bearcat Holiday Classic last Wednesday (December 29) and Thursday (December 30) … Georgia Southwestern defeated Lenoir-Rhyne by a 63-60 score thanks to 10 Hurricane three-pointers … Freshman guard Allan Jones (Clemmons, N.C.) led the Bears with 17 points while junior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) added 15 points despite the loss … Junior guard Kevin Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) added 12 points, five assists and three treys for the Bears, who had a chance to force overtime but a three-point attempt rimmed out as time expired … Lenoir-Rhyne cut a 14-point, first-half deficit to three late in the game but Lander was able to hold on behind David Pruett's game-high 28 points and six treys … Davis and Jones led the Bears with 17 and 15 points, respectively … Lenoir-Rhyne returns to the court to take on Anderson on the road Wednesday at 8 p.m., before facing Carson-Newman at home on Saturday beginning at 6 p.m., in a pair of South Atlantic Conference contests … L-R leads the all-time series with both Anderson (1-0) and Carson-Newman (28-17).
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The 17th-ranked Railsplitters have been off since Dec. 14 … They will host Lees-McRae Monday at 7 p.m. and travel to Tusculum Wednesday and Newberry on Saturday.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 0-1 last week to take their season record to 4-6 on the season and 1-1 in the SAC … On December 30, Mars Hill lost to No. 13, USC Aiken at the Convocation Center. Donterious Hughes and Sammy Emile scored 20 points apiece to lead the Lions offensively. Hughes was a perfect 10-10 from the foul line … Steven Gatkuoth added his career high as a Lion with 17 points. He also tallied eight rebounds and a pair of blocks … Marshall Adams rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lions with 12 points … Mars Hill will play at SAC rival Newberry College on January 5. The Lions will provide a live audio webcast of the game. The Coca-Cola Tip-Off Show will begin at 7 p.m. MHC will then play at SAC foe Brevard College on Saturday at 4 p.m. The radio webcast will begin at 1:30 p.m. prior to the start of the women's contest.
NEWBERRY - The Wolves have been off since a 76-71 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne on December 18. The Wolves return to action with a pair of home conference games this week. Newberry takes on Mars Hill on Wednesday, then hosts 17th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University on Saturday.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (4-8, 1-1 SAC) dropped its only contest over the holiday break with a 77-72 loss to Brevard College in South Atlantic Conference action … Brevard rained a dozen three-pointers, while holding off a furious late rally by Tusculum … Junior center Tommy Klempin erupted for 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the Pioneers … Klempin shot 5-of-9 from the floor and didn't miss a shot in the final period as he went 4-for-4 and 8-of-8 from the free throw line … Junior guard Justin Steigerwald tallied a dozen points, seven assists and two blocked shots, while senior forward Rob Troutman finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists in the loss … Sophomore forward JD Miller added nine points off the bench, while freshman Ryan Slusher and junior Kevin Vest posted eight and seven points, respectively … BC led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but the Pioneers pecked away at the deficit and trailed by three late in the contest, but would get no closer than that … TC, who leads the SAC in free throw shooting, added to their tally firing 84.2 percent (16-of-19), including 12-of-13 in the final period … Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 651 consecutive games, dating back to 1987 … Troutman has made a three-pointer in his last 15 games and 19 of his last 20 … Steigerwald has recorded an assists in his last 29 starts … Steigerwald has his string of consecutive free throws made end at 22, missing is second free throw attempt of the night … He's still shooting 81 percent this season … The Pioneers have upped their team shooting percentage to 76.7 percent at the charity stripe … In Tusculum's wins this season, the Pioneers are averaging 29 free throw attempts per game, while shooting 76.9 percent … In TC's losses, the Pioneers are averaging only 14 trips to the stripe and shooting 76.4 percent … Through its first 12 games, Tusculum has played a very tough schedule, facing teams with a combined 80-49 record (.620) … Three of Tusculum's previous opponents are nationally ranked, including No. 5 Augusta State (10-0), No. 7 Hillsdale (11-0) and No. 15 Saint Catharine (9-2) … TC's losses have come against programs with a combined 60-22 worksheet (.732) … TC will host nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, before traveling to Wingate on Saturday.
WINGATE - The Bulldogs notched their third consecutive victory in their lone game last week, collecting an 81-65 victory at Belmont Abbey on Thursday … Sophomore forward Quan Alexander had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wingate attack. Freshman forward Robert Carpenter added 14 points, while junior guard Jaime Vaughn chipped in with 13 points and six steals. Sophomore forward Odell Turner contributed 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks … Belmont Abbey led 17-11 with 11:52 left in the opening half, but a 28-4 Wingate run over the next seven minutes essentially put the game away … In the run, Wingate hit six three-pointers, including five in consecutive possessions, to take a 39-21 lead with 4:45 left. Carpenter drilled three from beyond the arc in the flurry, while Vaughn knocked down triples on consecutive possessions to cap the spurt … The Bulldogs took a 49-30 lead into the break … In the final 20 minutes, the Crusaders outscored the Bulldogs 35-32 but could not trim the lead to any fewer than 13 points, and Wingate's lead never grew any higher than 20 … The Bulldogs are now 6-4 overall, and 1-1 in the SAC. Wingate is 3-1 on the road this season, with its lone loss coming in the season opener … The Bulldogs have four players averaging at least 10 points per game, led by Turner with 12.4 points per contest … The 'Dogs return to league play this week, traveling to Catawba Wednesday for an 8 p.m. start. Wingate returns home on Saturday, playing in Cuddy Arena for the first time since December 4, hosting Tusculum College at 4 p.m.