Men’s Basketball Notes, February 28, 2011
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 27, 2011:
ANDERSON - Anderson wrapped up the season by winning its final four contests, including two hard-fought road games in the final week … The Trojans claimed the second seed in their first South Atlantic Conference Tournament appearance after defeating Wingate, 87-81 and Carson-Newman, 69-62 … Junior guard Nick Trull became just the sixth player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, as his free throw with 18 seconds left moved him into fifth-place all-time on the school's scoring list with 1,001 career points … Senior guard Kevis Cornwell led AU on the week by averaging 17.5 points, while Trull averaged 16 points in the two contests.
BREVARD - Brevard College went 1-2 on the week, defeating Young Harris in non-conference action on Monday, while falling to Newbery and Wingate ... On Monday against the Mountain Lions, eight players scored for Brevard led by Josh Roper's 22 points and Drew Schauss recorded his second double-double of the season as the Tornados held off Young Harris in Boshamer Gymnasium, 88-69 ... Roper added seven assists and six rebounds as Brevard closed out the season sweep over Young Harris at home ... Gaither Hendrix added 21 points, hitting five three-pointers in the contest, while Vincent Dombrowski contributed 13 points off the bench. Schauss scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Tornados on the boards as Brevard out-rebounded the visitors 43-32 on the evening ... Wednesday night saw 11 Newberry players scoring in the game, overcoming a 21 point performance by Roper as Brevard fell on the road in Eleazer Arena, 81-72 ... Roper was seven of 23 from the floor in the contest as Brevard saw their four game winning streak end after shooting 37.5 percent (24-64) from the floor ... Hendrix added 19 points and three assists, while Josh Jordan added 11 points and six rebounds as Brevard fell to Newberry for the second time in the 2010-2011 season ... In Saturday's Senior Day game for the Tornados, Roper tied a school record with seven three-pointers and Jordan recorded his sixth double-double of the season ... However, Jaime Vaughn led five Wingate players in double figures with 24 points as the Bulldogs spoiled the party, 87-77 ... Roper set BC records in field goals attempted and three-pointers attempted in going 10-of-29 from the floor and seven-of-17 from behind the arc in scoring a game-high 31 points in his last game on the Boshamer Gymnasium floor ... Jordan added 10 points and 11 rebounds, with two blocked shots, while Hendrix and Dombrowski were also in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. The Tornados shot 34.7 percent from the floor in falling to Wingate for the second time this season ... Brevard opens up the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament on Wednesday, as they travel to third-seed Wingate University.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 0-2 on the week to close out the regular season ... The Eagles head into the postseason at 11-15 overall and 8-10 in the conference ... C-N received the No. 8 seed to the 2011 Food Lion SAC Tournament and will travel to top-seeded and 13th-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday for the first round ... Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ... No. 13 Lincoln Memorial held off a late rally by the Eagles to pull out an 83-78 victory on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena ... The Eagles trailed by 13 points with less than four minutes remaining and were able to pull to within five with 12 seconds left, but that would be as close as C-N would get ... The Eagles shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the floor and knocked down 10 3-pointers, while Lincoln Memorial scored at a 45.9 percent clip (28-of-61) ... However, the Railsplitters held a decisive 38-25 advantage on the glass and made 21-of-26 attempts from the free-throw line ... Junior Antonio Sullivan fired in 20 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead the Eagles, while freshman Ishmael Sanders added 18 points and junior Kevin Hare finished with 15 points ... Junior point guard Bradley Tumer chipped in nine points and seven assists ... C-N dropped a 69-62 decision to Anderson on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse in the final regular season game for both squads ... C-N struggled on the offensive end as it shot just 37.3 percent (22-of-59) for the game, including 29 percent in the first half ... The Trojans scored at a 46..4 percent clip (27-of-58) ... Anderson also held a 35-25 advantage on the glass and outscored the Eagles 38-20 in the paint ... Sullivan paced the Eagles with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, while John Holleman added 12 points and six rebounds ... Tumer finished with six points and 10 assists.
CATAWBA - Catawba entered the last week with its tournament future in doubt, but wound up in a tie for fourth place in the league with a pair of wins ... In a must-win game at Mars Hill, the Indians claimed an 88-79 victory then outlasted Newberry 88-85 in overtime in the final home game of the season ... Senior Dominick Reid carried the Indians to the two wins ... Playing the entire game against Mars Hill, Reid scored a career-best 32 points, dished out nine assists with no turnovers and grabbed six rebounds ... 22 of those points came in the second half ... He followed up with 25 points in the win over Newberry, hitting a clutch three-pointer with a minute to go to give the Indians an 87-82 edge ... At Mars Hill, the Indians twice built 10-point leads in the final two minutes, but each time saw the Lions get close ... The Lions pulled within 82-79 with 22 seconds left before Reid iced the game with a pair of free throws ... Stuart Thomson scored eight of his 12 points in the final 1:07 ... Keon Moore tallied a game-high 26 points in the win over Newberry ... The Wolves scored the final eight points of regulation to force the extra time, but Catawba prevailed when Lee Martin blocked a three-point attempt with four seconds remaining ... Martin finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and four steals ... Catawba is seeded seventh and will travel to Anderson for a first-round tournament game ... The Indians were the No. 7-seed in 2004 when the became the lowest seed to win the tourney championship.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (4-22, 3-15) ended the year by splitting its final two games of the regular season … L-R defeated Tusculum by a 56-54 score on Senior Night Wednesday before falling to No. 13 Lincoln Memorial, 65-47, on the road Saturday in Harrogate, Tenn. … Junior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and freshman guard Bryce Hawkins (Charlotte, N.C.) each scored 20 points to lead the Bears to the win over the Pioneers … Thomas went five-for-five from three-point land while Hawkins matched his career high as L-R avenged an earlier loss to Tusculum … The Railsplitters' Desmond Johnson tallied a double-double (18 points and 12 rebounds) while D'Mario Curry added 15 points as the 2010-11 SAC Regular Season Champions enter the tournament on a high note with back-to-back victories … Lenoir-Rhyne was led by sophomore guard Alex Watkins (Charlotte, N.C.) with a team-high 15 points while Thomas and junior guard Kevin Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) added 11 points each as the Bears finished the regular season with its worst record since going 4-22 during the 1998-99 campaign … L-R also failed to qualify for the league tournament for the second straight year … Lenoir-Rhyne does return its top nine scorers for next season.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - 13th ranked LMU closed out the regular season with a pair of SAC victories at home … On Wednesday they defeated the Eagles of Carson-Newman, 83-78 … LMU came out of the gates quickly, establishing a 9-3 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the half … Aside from two ties in the remainder of the half, the Railsplitters never trailed the rest of the game … At the half, LMU led 39-36 … At the 12:24 mark, Lincoln Memorial established their first double-digit lead in the game, as they took a 57-46 lead … Carson-Newman was able to cut into that advantage at various times, however, they were never able to pull any closer than four points down the stretch as LMU went on to win the game, 83-78 … The Railsplitters were led by the duel performances of D'Mario Curry and Brandon Armstrong, who each poured in 17 points on the evening … Curry became LMU's all-time leader in blocks as he notched his 191st career block, passing All-American Keith Beck's (1981-85) record of 190 … Desmond Johnson and Cam Carden were also impressive, as they scored 14 and 13 points respectively. Johnson also led all-players in rebounding, as he finished with 11 boards on the night … LMU hosted Lenoir-Rhyne in the regular season finale Saturday evening, winning 65-47 before a crowd of over 2,100 … With the win, the Railsplitters move to 24-2 overall and 16-2 in South Atlantic Conference play … L-R used a slow-down offense to try to control the tempo and, for a while, were able to do so … With a little under ten minutes remaining in the half, the Railsplitters held a 15-11 lead over the Bears … LMU was able to get the transition game going late in the first half and surged ahead to a 36-22 lead at the half … LMU pulled out to a 50-28 lead with 10:18 remaining in the game and withstood a late L-R run to win 65-47 … The Railsplitters were led by Desmond Johnson's double-double, as he finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds … D'Mario Curry finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, Cam Carden added 13 points and Brandon Armstrong put in 10 points … LMU will now look forward to the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday as LMU hosts Carson-Newman in a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill ends the 2010-11 campaign 10-16 overall and 7-11 in the South Atlantic Conference … MHC split their final two games of the season. They lost to Catawba 88-79 on Wednesday and then defeated Tusculum on Senior Day, 75-67 … Dion Malachi ends his career leading the SAC in blocks. He is currently 11th in the SAC in scoring (14.5), sixth in SAC in rebounding (7.2), fourth in the SAC in field goal percentage (.608) and first in SAC in blocked shots (2.9). Dion is eleventh in the nation in blocks … Sammy Emile is second in the league in scoring averaging 18.8 points per contest.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry men split the games of the final week of the regular season, but came out on top of a historic tiebreaker and will host SAC postseason play for just the second time in school history … The Wolves end the regular season with a 13-13 overall mark and an 8-10 SAC record … Newberry finished in a five-way tie for fourth place and came out as the fourth seed after the tiebreaking process … The Wolves started the week with an 81-72 senior night win over Brevard on Wednesday … Brandon Riley scored 17 points and Tony Davis recorded another double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds with 7 blocks as well … Ray Robinson scored 10 points and had 9 rebounds … On Saturday, the Wolves missed out on a chance to finish alone in fourth place with an 88-85 overtime loss at Catawba … Davis had his third straight double-double with 17 points and 12 boards, while Jawuan Lockhart had a career-best 16 points with 7 assists and 6 rebounds … Matt Dixon scored 16 points and Brunes Charles scored 12 points with 6 rebounds … The Wolves host fifth-seeded Tusculum at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the SAC Tournament … The two teams split the season series, with each team losing at home
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (11-17, 8-10 SAC) went 0-2 last week, dropping road contests at Lenoir-Rhyne (56-54) and Mars Hill (75-67) ... Tusculum finished in a five-way for fourth place and is the No. 5 seed in this year's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament … Tusculum will travel to fourth-seeded Newberry on Wednesday for a quarterfinal round contest … It will be the second time Tusculum and Newberry have met in the SAC Tournament … The first was in the 2009 semifinal round as the Pioneers defeated Newberry, 79-61 in Hickory, N.C. … TC parlayed that win to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament … TC is 8-10 all-time in the SAC Tournament, including 4-6 in the quarterfinal round … Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 667 consecutive games … Senior forward Rob Troutman has scored 989 points in his Tusculum career, needing 11 more markers to become the 22nd player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau … Troutman has connected on a three-pointer in 15 straight games and 34 of his last 36 outings … Junior Justin Steigerwald has recorded an assist in his last 45 starts … Tusculum hasn't shot below 70 percent from the free throw line in 12 consecutive games … The Pioneers' .779 free throw percentage is on pace to be a new Tusculum single-season record.
WINGATE - The Bulldogs ended the season on a good note, picking up an important 87-77 South Atlantic Conference men's basketball road victory at Brevard College Saturday afternoon. Wingate junior guard Jaime Vaughn recorded his first career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to an 87-77Vaughn led five Bulldogs in double figures ... With the victory, Wingate improved to 17-9 overall and 12-6 in the SAC. The Bulldogs won seven of their last eight league games to secure a tie for second place in the SAC standings (with Anderson University). Wingate earns the number three seed for the upcoming Food Lion SAC tournament. The Bulldogs will host number six seed Brevard (13-13 overall, 8-10 SAC) Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in Cuddy Arena ... Bulldog sophomore forward Odell Turner had 14 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Chase Smith added 13 points. Sophomore guard Paidrick Matilus and freshman guard Robert Carpenter contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the Wingate bench. Carpenter hit three-of-three field goals from downtown (and four-of-four total) Saturday ... Wingate hit seven-of-12 three-point field goals in the first half (58.3 percent) en route to a 41-26 halftime lead. The Bulldogs hit 53.1 percent from the floor (17-of-32) in the opening frame. Wingate sophomore point guard Ethan Kincaid had a huge game with nine assists, seven rebounds and five points in 33 minutes played. The Bulldogs shot 56.9 percent from the floor (33-of-58) and 57.9 percent from three-point territory (11-of-19) ... Matilus, Carpenter and the Wingate reserves outscored the Brevard bench 29-15. The Bulldogs held a 32-12 advantage in points in the paint. Brevard outrebounded Wingate by a slight 43-37 margin ... Anderson University shot 68 percent in the second half and weathered a valiant comeback to take an 87-81 SAC victory over Wingate Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena. Turner had 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the home-standing Bulldogs ... Turner is listed in the SAC top 15 in scoring (ninth), rebounding (fourth), FG pct. (10th), steals (14th) and blocks (fourth). Wingate completed the regular season 7-1 overall as Turner averaged 19.6 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game during this time span. He shot 59.8 percent (55-of-92) from the floor in the final eight games of the regular season.