Men’s Basketball Notes, February 7, 2011
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 6, 2011
ANDERSON - Anderson earned split decisions on the week, collecting a 69-61 road win at Lenoir-Rhyne then lost, 82-75, to Mars Hill at home on Saturday … The Trojans won their third in a row en route to earning a season-sweep past the Bears, with junior center Taylor Shugart posting a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. Junior Tyrell McDowell added 12 points for the Trojans, with Trey Britton tallying 10 points and pulling down six rebounds. Senior guard Kevis Cornwell handed out a game-high six assists on the night … AU shot a season-low from beyond the arc in the setback to Mars Hill, while the Lions scored 25 points off turnovers on Saturday … Shugart narrowly missed his third double-double of the season by pulling down a game-high nine rebounds, while Britton added 15 points. Brandon Young and Denzail Jones each netted 10 points for the Trojans … Anderson opens a two-game conference road swing at Newberry on Wednesday, with tip-off versus the Wolves scheduled for 8 p.m. at Eleazer Arena.
BREVARD - The Brevard College men's basketball team went 1-2 on the week, defeating Erskine College on Monday in overtime, 54-50, while falling to Carson-Newman on Wednesday, 81-72, and Tusculum on Saturday, 67-63 ... On Monday, Josh Jordan recorded his second double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and pulling down 14 rebounds as the Tornados survived an overtime thriller for the second straight season in Belk Arena, defeating the Erskine Flying Fleet, 54-50 ... Jordan scored the first three points of the overtime period, staking Brevard to a lead they would not relinquish as the Tornados snapped a five game losing streak on Monday night ... Gaither Hendrix and Drew Schauss added nine points apiece for Brevard as the Tornados overcame a nine-point first half deficit to record their first victory since January 15th ... Wednesday saw Schauss score 13 points in the first half and Jordan recorded his second straight double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down a career-high 18 rebounds, but Kevin Leatherwood paced the Eagles with 22 points as Carson-Newman completed the season sweep of the Tornados on Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse, 81-72 ... Three Tornados scored 16 points in the contest as Schauss, Hendrix and Jordan all achieved that mark for Brevard as the Tornados shot 37.0 percent (27-73) from the floor in the contest ... Jordan contributed six steals as the BC defense forced 18 turnovers in the game and Josh Roper added a pair of blocked shots ... Roper achieved a career milestone on Saturday, scoring his 1,000th point, and Tommy Klempin scored a game-high 19 points and added six rebounds as the Tornados were unable to complete the season sweep over the visiting Tusculum Pioneers, falling in Boshamer Gymnasium, 67-63 ... Roper became the fifth player in modern program history to break the 1,000 point plateau, hitting a pair of free throws with 17:04 to play in the second half in joining this prestigious group ... Vincent Dombrowski added 14 points, hitting a pair of three's late in the game and Schauss added 10 points as the Tornados shot 46.5 percent (20-43) from the floor in the game ... The Tornados are back in action on Wednesday as they host Catawba College in conference play, before taking to the road to face Mars Hill College on Saturday.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 1-1 on the week as they defeated Brevard on Wednesday before closing out the week with a loss at Wingate … With the split, the Eagles are 9-11 overall and 6-6 in SAC play ... Freshman Kevin Leatherwood scored a career high 22 points, including the first bucket on a decisive 10-0 run in the second half, as the Eagles beat visiting Brevard College, 81-72, Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse … The freshman guard's layup with 9:53 left to play gave the Eagles a 54-53 lead and sparked the game's deciding run as the Eagles reeled off ten-straight points to build a 62-53 lead … Leatherwood put the Eagles on the board first on his way to a game-high 22 points, while Ishmael Sanders scored 18 points off the bench for Carson-Newman, hitting three three-pointers in the game … John Holleman added a 14 point, 11 rebound double-double, as well as contributing six assists … The Tornados gave it one last effort late, cutting the score down to within five points with 39 seconds left in the contest, but Sanders put the game away from the free throw line, going three of four from the charity stripe in the final 35 seconds … The Eagles dropped a 71-46 decision to Wingate University on Saturday at Cuddy Arena …The Bulldogs used a decisive 22-3 second-half run to pull away for the win …C-N struggled offensively as it shot just 29 percent (15-of-51) from the floor, including 4-of-21 from behind the arc … Wingate shot 43 percent (27-of-63) on the day and held a decisive 45-30 advantage on the boards … Junior Kevin Hare scored a career-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Eagles, while Sanders added 10 points … Senior Brandon Evans pitched in nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks … The Eagles return to the hardwood on Wednesday at rival Tusculum College … Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Greeneville, Tenn.
CATAWBA - The Catawba men dropped a pair of league games last week, falling at Wingate 79-64 then 83-75 to No. 6 Lincoln Memorial ... The Indians saw both opponents shoot over 55 percent, while the Catawba Indians shot just under 40 percent ... Freshman Keon Moore posted a double-double in the loss at Wingate with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds ... He added 11 rebounds against LMU ... Dominick Reid scored double figures in each game with 16 points vs. the Bulldogs and 14 in the loss to Lincoln Memorial ... Justin Huntley led the way against the Railsplitters with 19 points ... Catawba got out early against the undefeated Railsplitters, leading by 16 late in the first half ... LMU was able to rally then pull away in the final minutes ... Reid has moved into 30th place on Catawba's all-time scoring list with 1,235 points ... His 174 three-pointers stands fifth on the career list ... The senior is averaging a team-high 16.2 points a contest, while grabbing 5.4 rebounds ... Moore is pouring in nearly 18 points in league outings and hauling in 6.5 boards ... The Indians travel to Brevard on Wednesday and host Anderson on Saturday afternoon for action this week.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (2-18, 1-11) saw its losing streak increase to 12 with a pair of South Atlantic Conference setbacks last week … Lenoir-Rhyne lost to Anderson (69-61) at home Wednesday before falling to Newberry by a 73-62 score on the road Saturday … Junior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was one of three players to score in double figures for the Bears, finishing with a team-high 18 points, despite the loss … Anderson was led by Taylor Shugart with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting … L-R fell to Newberry despite a game-high 18 points from Thomas and a 17-point, seven-rebound performance from freshman forward Allan Jones (Clemmons, N.C.) … Newberry hit seven three-pointers compared to the L-R's one as the Wolves avenged an earlier loss to the Bears … Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Wingate on Wednesday at 8 p.m., before playing in Jefferson City, Tenn., against Carson-Newman on Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. … The Bears lost to both the Bulldogs (66-58) and the Eagles (60-58) in the earlier meetings in January.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The sixth-ranked Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team used a late first-half surge to pull away from Tusculum College for the 64-47 win … In the opening minutes of play, the Pioneers jumped out to an 8-2 lead as LMU struggled to with the Pioneers' tempo and zone defense … After taking their first lead when a three-pointer made the score 10-8, LMU outscored Tusculum 26-18 down the stretch to take a 36-24 lead into halftime … The second half continued in much the same fashion as LMU started to pull away … The Railsplitters tied their largest lead at 24 (61-37) with 6:44 left in the game, but Tusculum chipped away at the lead late as LMU on for the 64-47 victory … The Railsplitters were led by Cam Carden, who finished with 26 points on the evening, as he went 7-8 from the three-point arc and 3-4 from the free throw line … Vincent Bailey provided a strong performance in the post, notching 10 points. Brandon Armstrong also contributed 10 points … After being named the NABC Coach of the Month earlier in the week, Saturday saw LMU Head Coach Josh Schertz lead the Railsplitters through one of the toughest afternoons of his coaching career … Playing with a shortened bench due to illness, the sixth-ranked Railsplitters chopped their way back from a 16 point deficit to pick up the 83-75 South Atlantic Conference victory at Catawba on Saturday afternoon … The Railsplitters improve to 20-0 overall and 12-0 in the SAC with the win … LMU entered the game with several players feeling under the weather and some, including leading scorer and rebounder D'Mario Curry, not making the trip … The Railsplitters held a five point lead for the first eight minutes of the game. Catawba then exploded on a 26-5 run to take a 37-21 lead with 4:59 left in the half … LMU went on a 12-4 run of their own to close out the half cut the Catawba lead to 41-33 at the intermission … LMU continued their offensive spurt in the second half, going 16-8 over the first seven minutes to tie the game at 49-49 … The Railsplitters took the lead for good with 7:54 remaining and slowly pulled away to pick up the 83-75 win … Desmond Johnson posted his eight double-double of the season as he led the Railsplitters with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Tony Martin and Brandon Armstrong each chipped in 12 points … LMU went 57.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc for the game. They outrebounded Catawba 37-32 … With the win the Railsplitters tie their highest win total of the Josh Schertz era and post their first back-to-back 20 win seasons since 1987-89 … LMU will travel to Mars Hill for a SAC contest Wednesday at 8 p.m.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 2-0 last week to take their season record to 8-12 on the season and 5-7 in the SAC … Dion Malachi leads the SAC in blocks. He is third in the league in field goal percentage and fifth in rebounding. Dion ranks ninth in the SAC in scoring … Donterious Hughes is second in the conference in scoring while Sammy Emile is third in that category. Last week Emile averaged a double-double in scoring (22) and rebounding (14) … He had a 30 point, 14 rebound performance in the Lions win over Newberry Wednesday night … MHC will host league-leading Lincoln Memorial Wednesday night. The Lions will provide a live video and 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 host 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 Newberry Wolves saw a four-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, but bounced back with a win Saturday and now stand at 10-10 overall with a 5-7 SAC mark … On Wednesday, Newberry came back from a double digit deficit but eventually fell to Mars Hill, 86-79 … Newberry went just 2-of-8 (25 percent) from the free throw line in the second half, while the homestanding Lions made 21-of-24 free throw opportunities in the final period … Chris Reynolds led the Wolves with 15 points and three steals, while Danny Huffor scored 12 and Jawuan Lockhart scored 11 … On Saturday, Newberry bounced back to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne, 73-62 … The Wolves shot 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the floor and pulled away in the last five minutes of the game … Ray Robinson had 16 points to lead Newberry, while Brunes Charles scored 12 … Newberry hosts Anderson on Wednesday night and then travels to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday night.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (10-12, 7-5 SAC) went 1-1 last week … Tusculum lost at sixth-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, but rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat host Brevard, 67-63 on Saturday … In the win at Brevard, junior center Tommy Klempin 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, while the Pioneers went 10-of-10 at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to improve its SAC road record to an impressive 5-1 … Senior forward Rob Troutman added 15 points, while redshirt freshman Ryan Slusher and sophomore Dionte Grey added nine and eight points, respectively … Tusculum shot 28-of-35 from the foul line (80 percent) … In the LMU game, Troutman accounted for 17 points, including five 3-pointers, all coming in the first half … Sophomore Brett Williams finished with 16 points and four rebounds, while junior Justin Steigerwald led the Pioneers with five rebounds, five assists, four steals to go along with his three markers … Tusculum has made a 3-point field goal in 661 consecutive games, dating back to 1987 … Troutman needs one more point to eclipse the 900-point plateau … Troutman is shooting 42.4 percent from beyond the arc during his career, which is the fifth highest average in school history … He needs three more treys for the 100th of his career … Tusculum hosts Carson-Newman (Wed.) and Wingate this week for a pair of home contests … Tusculum is 28-16 at home over the last three seasons, but only 5-8 this year … TC is 5-1 this season against the teams remaining on its regular season schedule.
WINGATE - Wingate University sophomore forward Odell Turner averaged 23.5 points per game and shot a sizzling 75 percent (21-of-28) from the floor as the Bulldogs won two games last week. The 2010 SAC Freshman of the Year had 47 points, 17 rebounds, seven blocks, five steals and four assists as the home-standing Bulldogs improved to 13-7 overall (7-5 SAC) by defeating Catawba 79-64 and Carson-Newman 71-46 … In the Carson-Newman victory, Turner recorded his fifth double-double of the season with team-high totals of 22 points and 13 rebounds. He has eight career double-doubles. Bulldog junior guard Jaime Vaughn supported Turner's Saturday efforts with 15 points and four assists. The All-SAC performer hit six-of-11 field goals and three-of-seven three-point field goals … The Bulldogs outrebounded the Eagles 45-30. Eleven of Wingate's 12 players had at least two rebounds and eleven of the 12 Bulldogs in uniform found the scoring column. Bulldog sophomore guard Eddie Lewis had six rebounds to go with his five points … Wingate converted 15 Carson-Newman turnovers into 22 points. The Bulldogs had 17 second-chance points to nine for the Eagles. Wingate had seven blocked shots, with Turner swatting four and Parker rejecting two. Turner led the Bulldogs in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots (four) and steals (three) on Saturday … Turner had 25 points, four rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals as the Bulldogs earned a 79-64 SAC victory over Catawba College Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldog bench outscored the Catawba Indian reserves 29-7 to help Wingate sweep the season series. Wingate shot 56.6 percent from the field (30-of-53) Wednesday … Turner hit 11-of-15 field goal attempts and three-of-three from the charity stripe en route to his highest point output in SAC play. Thanks to Turner and his inside mates, Wingate outscored Catawba 40-26 in the paint. Bulldog sophomore guard Paidrick Matilus had 11 points on four-of-six shooting, while junior guard Chase Smith contributed 10 points … In addition to his 23.5 points per game, Turner corralled 8.5 rebounds per game last week. On the season, Turner is averaging team-high totals of 14.1 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game. He tops the Wingate charts in field goal percentage (50.3) and steals (26) … Wingate sophomore point guard Ethan Kincaid leads the SAC with his 1.82 assist-to-turnover ratio. On the season, Kincaid has a team-best 82 assists and only 45 turnovers. Turner is fourth in the SAC in rebounding and 13th on the league scoring charts … In the team listings, the Bulldogs lead the SAC in three-point field goal percentage. Wingate has hit 38.3 percent of its triples this season. Ten different Bulldogs have hit a three-point field goal this season. Vaughn leads the way with 39 trifectas. The All-SAC performer is second in the SAC with his 44.8 percent shooting from downtown (39-of-87).