Men’s Basketball Notes, January 24, 2011
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 23, 2011
ANDERSON - For the second consecutive week, the Trojans earned split decisions on the week, edging Tusculum, 55-51, in the mid-week contest and falling 75-71 to visiting Carson-Newman Saturday night … After the Pioneers rallied within two points late in the game, senior forward Trey Britton answered with an acrobatic jumper with 25.4 seconds remaining to set the final margin … The opening half featured eight lead changes and three ties as neither team was able to build more than a four point lead in the opening frame, with AU holding a 23-22 edge going into the locker room … Carson-Newman blistered the nets at a 56.6 percent clip on Saturday to slip past the Trojans, as AU suffered just its second home loss of the season … The Trojans endured a nine-minute second-half scoring drought and were unable to capitalize on a late game-tying scoring opportunity … Britton led a balanced offensive attack for the Trojans, averaging a team-best 12.5 points in the two games … The Trojans will look bounce back on Wednesday when they close out their brief two-game homestand by playing host to Wingate.
BREVARD - The Tornados went 0-2 on the road this week in conference play, falling to Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday and Wingate on Saturday ... Brevard drops to 7-5 on the season, 5-3 in SAC competition ... On Wednesday, Brandon Armstrong scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and Darryl Garrett also added 20 points as host Lincoln Memorial overcame five three-pointers by Gaither Hendrix as the Tornados fell in Tex Turner Arena … Hendrix led Brevard on the night, tying a season-high with 24 points, hitting a game-high five three-pointers and added six assists as Brevard shot 44 percent (11-25) from behind the arc in the contest ... Josh Roper added 14 of his 18 points in the second half, while Josh Jordan scored 16 points and pulled down five rebounds in the loss ... On Saturday, Odell Turner led the Bulldogs with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Ethan Kincaid added a 10-point, 10-rebound performance as Wingate overcame 14 points by Vincent Dombrowski as the Tornados fell in Cuddy Arena, 65-49 ... Dombrowski led Brevard with his 14 point performance as the Tornados struggled from the field in the game, connecting on a season-low 27 percent (17-63) from the floor in the contest … Hendrix added 13 points and Roper scored 11, while Jordan pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds ... The Tornados look to get back on track this week, taking on Winston-Salem State on Monday in Winston-Salem, N.C., before heading home to host conference opponent Newberry on Wednesday, and Anderson on Saturday.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 2-0 on the week, collecting a pair of road wins at Mars Hill and Anderson ... The Eagles have won four straight contests and five consecutive road games ... With the wins, C-N improves to 8-8 on the season and 5-3 in SAC play ... The Eagles opened the week with a thrilling 73-71 victory at Mars Hill, as junior guard Bradley Tumer knocked down a jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining to lift C-N to the win ... The Eagles led by as many as 16 points in the second half before the Lions stormed back with a 20-5 run that trimmed C-N's lead to 61-60 with 5:55 remaining ... Mars Hill tied the game at 64-64 at the 4:07 mark ... The teams then battled back and forth, playing to three more ties before Tumer sank the game-winning jumper to send the Eagles home with the victory ... The win marked the first time since 2008 that C-N has won three straight SAC contests as well as three straight road victories ... The Eagles torched the nets at a 51.8 percent clip (29-of-56), including a 10-of-21 effort from 3-point range ... Mars Hill shot just 35.8 percent (24-of-67), including 1-of-18 from behind the arc ... However, the Lions outrebounded C-N 43-36, including 22 offensive rebounds ... Mars Hill also took advantage of 23 C-N turnovers by scoring 25 points ... Junior forward John Holleman and junior guard Antonio Sullivan paced the Eagles with 16 points apiece ... Holleman also had eight rebounds and four blocked shots ... Sullivan reached double figures for an eighth straight game ... Kevin Leatherwood added 11 points, including a 3-for-3 night from 3-point range, while Ishmael Sanders pitched in 10 points ... Tumer finished the night with six points and tied a career-high with nine assists ... The Eagles wrapped up the week by rallying from an 11-point second-half deficit to knock off Anderson University, 75-71, on Saturday afternoon ... The Eagles trailed 68-57 with 9:22 remaining but they closed out the contest on an 18-3 run behind eight points from Tumer to come away with their fourth straight SAC victory and fifth straight win on the road ... The Eagles shot 56.6 percent (30-of-53) for the game, including 8-of-22 from behind the arc ... Anderson shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the floor and was 9-of-30 from 3-point range ... C-N held a slight edge over the Trojans in rebounding, 33-30 ... Tumer finished the day with 10 points and five assists for the Eagles, while Sullivan and Sanders netted 16 points apiece ... Sanders was 5-of-8 from 3-point range ... Holleman and Leatherwood added nine points each ... The Eagles return to action at home on Wednesday against No. 10 Lincoln Memorial ... Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse.
CATAWBA - Catawba's men split a pair of games last week ... The Indians snapped a five-game losing streak and picked up their first win following the holiday break on Wednesday with an 83-81 overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne ... Catawba fell at Newberry 98-81 on Saturday ... Dominick Reid scored 25 points, including 19 after the half, in the win at L-R ... The senior hit on four three-pointers and went 9-of-11 at the line ... He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds ... Freshman Keon Moore added 21 points ... Reid brought Catawba back in overtime with a jumper then two free throws for an 82-81 lead with 28 seconds to play ... Against Newberry, freshman Kejuan Mayo set a school record with eight blocked shots in the loss ... As a team, the Indians tied the school mark of 13 blocks ... Moore led the Indians with 23 points and eight rebounds ... Reid added another 22 points and dished out four assists ... Catawba committed 36 turnovers in the loss, one more than Newberry ... The Indians were beaten badly on the boards, 57-39 ... Reid returned from missing two games with a concussion and is still leading the team in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (4.7) ... Catawba continues to struggle shooting, making just over 40 percent from the field ... The Indians are also a -6.2 in rebounding margin ... Catawba will host Mars Hill on Wednesday before traveling to Carson-Newman on Saturday for its games this week.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (2-14, 1-7) lost all three South Atlantic Conference home games last week and pushed its losing streak to eight games … On Monday, Carson-Newman defeated Lenoir-Rhyne by a 60-58 score before Catawba (83-81 in overtime) and Lincoln Memorial (55-34) prevailed over L-R on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively … The Eagle were led by Antonio Sullivan, who finished with a team-high 18 points and hit five treys in the victory as Carson-Newman won at Lenoir-Rhyne for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign … Freshman forward Allan Jones (Clemmons, N.C.) matched his career-high with 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds and freshman guard Bryce Hawkins (Charlotte, N.C.) added a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) for the Bears despite the loss … Catawba's Dominick Reid led all scorers with 25 points and scored nine of the Indians' 10 points in overtime en route to the win … Keon Moore added 21 points for the Indians, who saw their five-game losing streak snapped … Jones (18 points and 12 points) and junior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) added 17 points to lead the Bears in the losing effort … Meanwhile, junior guard Jon Hathcock (Concord, N.C.) scored 15 points and hit the game-tying three-pointer to force overtime tied at 73 … On Saturday, Lincoln Memorial held L-R to its lowest point total in 30 seasons (a 34-32 loss to High Point during the 1980-81 season) … D'Mario Curry led all scorers with 14 points for the Railsplitters, who remained undefeated on the season … Hawkins led L-R with eight points while Jones saw his double-double streak snapped a four as he finished with just seven points … Lenoir-Rhyne also shot just 29 percent (11-for-38) for the contest as well … Lenoir-Rhyne faces Tusculum in Greeneville, Tenn., on Wednesday beginning at 8 p.m., before returning home to face Mars Hill Saturday at 6 p.m. … L-R leads the all-time series with both Tusculum (14-11) and Mars Hill (46-27) … The Lions won the earlier meeting with the Bears, 86-74, in Mars Hill, N.C., on December 4.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The 10th-ranked Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 96-82 win over Brevard Wednesday evening … After eight minutes of play, LMU had established a 20-8 lead, eventually pulling out to 40-15 with five minutes left in the half … However, Brevard College finished the half on a 12-5 run, cutting the LMU lead to 8 at the intermission … After BC cut it to six early in the second half, the Railsplitters would answer with a run, eventually holding on for the 96-82 win … LMU was led in scoring by the strong guard-play of Brandon Armstrong and Darryl Garrett, who each poured in 20 points … Desmond Johnson added 15 points for LMU, while D'Mario Curry rolled in 14 points, all coming in the first half of play … Johnson also led the Railsplitters with 15 rebounds … On Saturday, tenth-ranked LMU picked up their 16th straight win and improved to 8-0 in the South Atlantic Conference when they defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 55-34 … The Railsplitters literally scored out of the gate when Desmond Johnson hit the jumper with 19:32 to go in the half … LMU led by double digits for most of the half before L-R was able to cut it to six, 22-16, at the intermission … In the second half, LMU quickly pulled out to a double-digit lead and never looked back as they went on to win 55-34 … LMU was led by D'Mario Curry's 14 points. Curry was 4-5 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line. Johnson and Vincent Bailey chipped in ten points apiece. Johnson also led LMU on the boards with eight rebounds … Despite the point total being well below their season average, LMU did shoot 43.5 percent for the game and held the Bears to 28.9 percent from the field … LMU's defense also shut down the Bears as the 34 points scored is their lowest point total since the 1980-81 season … The Railsplitters also out-rebounded L-R 33-22 … LMU will next make the journey across Clinch Mountain to face arch-nemesis Carson-Newman Wednesday at 8 p.m. … The LMU vs. C-N series is one of the oldest continuously played rivalries in the nation, dating back to the 1920s … The two have faced off every year since 1929 … Those wishing to catch all the action online can find links to live stats, a live blog, radio and other multimedia at LMURailsplitters.com.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 0-2 last week to take their season record to 5-11 on the season and 2-6 in the SAC … Dion Malachi leads the SAC in blocks. He is second in the league in field goal percentage (.622) and third in rebounding. Dion ranks 10th in the SAC in scoring … Sammy Emile is second in the conference in scoring … In the first game of the week, Dion Malachi tallied a double-double with a game-high 24 points and season-high 13 rebounds, but Carson-Newman left Stanford Arena with a 73-71 victory … Sammy Emile added 16 points for Mars Hill. Tarron Stewart had nine points … Mars Hill tied the game four times in the final 4:07, but Bradley Turner hit the game-winner for Carson-Newman from the top of the key with two seconds left on the clock … The Eagles hit 10-21 from three-point range, while the Lions were only 1-18 … Mars Hill outrebounded Carson-Newman 43-36, including 22-11 on the offensive boards … The Lions were 22-30 from the free throw line. The Eagles were 5-13 from the charity stripe … In the second game of the week, Mars Hill lost on the road at Tusculum College, 86-79 … Donterious Hughes tallied 19 points, while Julian Mack added 16 markers, including 12-of-12 shooting from the free throw stripe … Dion Malachi added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss … Tusculum finished the game shooting 61.1 percent from the floor, including 15-of-23 in the opening period as the Pioneers led 45-25 at halftime … In that first half, Mars Hill shot 22.6 percent, going 0-for-8 from three-point territory … Tusculum finished the game shooting 38-of-48 from the free throw line (79.2 percent), including 24-of-30 in the second half (80 percent) … Mars Hill fired 28-of-36 (77.8 percent) from the charity stripe, including 17-of-20 (85 percent) in the final period … The Lions won the rebound battle by a 36-33 margin, including 23-7 on the offensive glass … MHC also converted 29 points off Tusculum turnovers, including 26 in the final period … Mars Hill will play at SAC rival Catawba College on January 26. The Lions will provide a live audio webcast of the game. The Coca-Cola Tip-Off Show will begin at 5:30 p.m. prior to the start of the women's game. MHC will then play at SAC foe Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday at 6 p.m. The radio webcast will begin at 3:30 p.m. prior to the start of the women's contest.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry Wolves split last week's games to move to 7-9 overall and 2-6 in SAC play … Head coach Dave Davis picked up his 350th career coaching victory in Saturday's win … On Wednesday, a late comeback fell short in an 89-78 loss to Wingate … Newberry trailed by 12 with less than four minutes to play and cut the deficit to three points with just over a minute to play before the Bulldogs scored the final eight points of the game … Tony Davis scored 19 points with eight rebounds and four blocks for the Wolves … Antoni Magdos scored 11 and Brandon Riley netted 10 … On Saturday, the Wolves ran away from Catawba in the second half to give Davis his 350th win with a 98-81 victory … Davis also coached the game in his bare feet as part of the "Barefoot for Bare Feet" movement of Samaritan's Feet … He now has a career record of 350-209 … Newberry tied its own SAC record for steals in a game with 26 … The Wolves established that record just one week ago in a loss at Carson-Newman … Tony Davis had a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double with three blocks and three steals … Shamel Akins netted 16 for the Wolves, while Danny Huffor had 11 points and six steals … The Wolves currently rank second in the nation in steals per game and have three games this season with 20 or more thefts … Six players in Saturday's game had at least three steals … The Wolves play their next three games on the road, starting with games this week at Brevard on Wednesday and at Tusculum on Saturday.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (8-10, 5-3 SAC) posted a 1-1 record last week … Tusculum lost 55-51 in a defensive battle with Anderson, but rebounded with an 86-79 win over Mars Hill … In the Anderson game, senior Rob Troutman led all scorers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers … Sophomore Dionte Grey added 10 points, while junior Tommy Klempin finished with 10 markers … Tusculum shot under 40 percent from the floor for the first time in three games as it finished at 38.1 percent … In the Mars Hill game, the Pioneers got 21 points from Troutman and a season-best 19 from junior Kevin Vest … Vest went 12-for-12 from the free throw line, including 10-of-10 in the second half … Sophomore Brett Williams also recorded a season-high 14 points, while Klempin accounted for 13 points in the victory … Tusculum is 27-15 at Pioneer Arena over the last three seasons … TC has made a three-point field goal in 657 consecutive games… Seven of Tusculum's eight wins have been decided by seven points or less … Of games decided by 10 points or less this year, the Pioneers are 7-4 … Junior Steigerwald has recorded an assist in his last 35 starts … Since 2008-09, Tusculum has posted the best league record in the South Atlantic Conference 25-15 (tied with LMU's 25-15 mark over the same three-year span) … Tusculum is in the middle of a four-game home-stand … TC will host Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry this week at Pioneer Arena.
WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team won two contests last week to improve to 10-6 overall and 5-3 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bulldogs are tied for second place in the league standings entering a crucial week with league road games at Anderson (Wednesday) and number 10 Lincoln Memorial (Saturday) … On Saturday, Wingate scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire in a 65-49 victory over the Tornados of Brevard College in Cuddy Arena. Sophomore point guard Ethan Kincaid had 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Wingate attack. Sophomore forward Odell Turner added 10 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman forward Jeffrey Parker had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks … Back-to-back lay-ups from Kincaid gave the Bulldogs an 11-2 lead seven minutes into the contest. Wingate produced a 12-3 run to close the half. Vaughn started the ending flurry with a triple, while freshman guard Robert Carpenter capped it with a lay-up 41 seconds before intermission, giving the Bulldogs a 32-18 halftime lead … A 6-0 run gave Wingate a 44-24 advantage nine minutes into the second half. Sophomore forward Quan Alexander started it with a dunk and a lay-up, while Kincaid capped it with a jumper in the paint … Brevard responded with a 10-0 run to make the score 44-34 Wingate at the 7:54 mark. The 'Dogs scored nine of the next 11 points, stretching the lead back to 17 on a triple from sophomore guard Eddie Lewis with 5:33 remaining. The Tornados would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way … Wingate shot 45 percent from the field on the day, while hitting five-of-15 from three-point range (33.3 percent). Brevard shot only 27 percent from the field, while hitting five-of-21 from beyond the arc (23.8 percent). The Bulldogs held a 52-32 advantage in rebounding, while outscoring Brevard 36-12 in the paint. Brevard senior guard Josh Roper (the league's leading scorer) hit only four-of-19 field goals Saturday … Bulldog junior guard Jaime Vaughn scored a career-high 36 points as the Bulldogs defeated Newberry College 89-78 Wednesday night in Eleazer Arena on the Newberry campus. The 36-point total is the second-highest scoring output in the South Atlantic Conference this season … Alexander had 14 points, including an eight-for-eight performance at the charity stripe. Turner and junior guard Chase Smith had 13 points each. Parker recorded a career-high shattering seven blocks (all in the first half) … In the first half, Newberry led 34-21 at the 8:47 mark. Wingate finished the opening stanza on a 25-5 run to take a 46-39 lead at intermission. Six different Bulldogs scored in the flurry. Vaughn had 24 points at halftime, including 14 in the crucial run. Parker had each of his seven blocks during this crucial stretch … A Smith triple put Wingate up 54-43 with 17:35 to play. Smith hit three-of-three from downtown Wednesday. Two free throws by Vaughn at the 13:58 mark gave Wingate a 58-46 lead. A Turner inside hoop made the score 79-67 Wingate with 6:12 remaining. The 12-point margins were Wingate's largest of the contest … Predictably, Newberry did not fold the tents. Two free throws from Vaughn gave Wingate its final 12-point lead at 81-69 with 3:47 to go. The hosts tallied nine unanswered points to cut the deficit to 81-78 with 72 seconds left … The Bulldogs responded, as Alexander drained a 15-footer with 37 seconds to play. Alexander collected a steal on the other end. The Wolves were called for a foul and a technical foul on the same play, sending the Myers Park High School product to the line for four free throws. Alexander calmly made all four to give the visitors a nine-point bulge with 25 seconds on the clock. Vaughn hit two charity tosses six seconds later for the final margin. Wingate hit 35-of-39 free throws Wednesday for an 89.7 percent conversion rate … The Bulldogs outrebounded the Wolves 41-31. Three Wingate players had five boards each, including Lewis. In addition to his career-best rebounding total, Lewis had three points, three assists and three steals in a career-high 29 minutes played … Vaughn will tell his grandkids about Wednesday's game, as the All-SAC performer hit nine-of-17 field goals, four-of-seven trifectas and 14-of-15 free throws in only 25 minutes. For good measure, Vaughn contributed four rebounds and three assists to the Bulldog victory. Only Lincoln Memorial University senior forward D'Mario Curry (41 points versus Catawba Dec. 14) has scored more points this season.