Weekly Men’s Basketball Notes, December 15, 2008

Mn's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending December 14, 2008.

BREVARD - The Brevard Men's basketball team takes two weeks off before heading up to Marietta, Ohio to take part in the Marietta College Tournament on December 29-30.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles lost their only game of the week, falling 117-109 in double overtime at Anderson on Saturday…C-N rallied after trailing much of the day, including by 11 in the second half, to tie the game at 86-86 at the end of regulation…C-N was unable to overcome junior posts Bobby Guyton and Joey Cameron, both who finished with 13 points, fouling out down the stretch…The Eagles survived a pair of missed free throws by Nick Trull, who finished with 30 points, with 1.8 second left in regulation to force overtime…Six Eagles reached double figures, led by Andrew Johnson's 18 points…Junior Darron Maxtion added 17, while Jordan Dixon and Kevin Hare each added 12 for C-N…As a team, C-N shot 53 percent (39-of-73) from the floor, but was only 6-of-18 from behind the arc…Five Eagles are averaging double figures, led by Cameron's 16 points per game…He also leads the Eagles with seven boards per game…Carson-Newman plays at King College 7 p.m. tonight, before traveling to the University of Alabama-Huntsville on Wednesday night for an 8 p.m. tip.

CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians felt defeat for the first time this season, dropping an 84-67 decision at NCAA I UNC Asheville on Saturday ... Catawba shot just 33 percent and hit on a mere 5-of-25 from three-point range ... Leading scorer Antonio Houston went just 1-of-13 and Dominick Reid shot 3-of-15 for the game ... The Indians fell behind 10-2 in the opening minutes and trailed 33-26 at the break ... Catawba scored the opening basket of the second half to close within five, but UNCA scored six straight to build a 13-point edge ... The Catawba Indians never got closer than eight the rest of the way ... Donzell Williams equaled a career-high with 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and collected five steals ... Rob Fields tallied 12 points and dished out five assists ... Reid rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points ... The Indians were ranked 10th in the latest NABC poll, the highest ranking in school history ... Catawba will host JC Smith on Wednesday in its last game before the Christmas break ... The Catawba Indians will return for the for the pre-New Year's Moretz Classic at Lenoir-Rhyne.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (4-3) snapped a three-game losing streak when it defeated Queens University in its home opener last Monday night by an 83-64 score at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … L-R, which raced to a 25-6 lead to start the game, was led by senior guard Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) with 20 points while sophomore forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) added 18 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double en route to the win … L-R limited Queens to just 32 percent shooting (19-of-60) for the game and held a 51-30 advantage on the boards … Senior guard Josh Rudder's (Graham, N.C.) career 1,160 points is 27th on the Bears' all-time list … His 365 assists and 164 steals rank seventh and fourth on the Bears' career rankings as well … McDowell has scored in double figures in 14 straight games dating back to last season … Lenoir-Rhyne next competes in the 2008 AASU/Chatham Orthopaedics Holiday Classic against St. Augustine's (Friday at 3 p.m.) and Armstrong Atlantic State (Saturday at 8 p.m.) in Savannah, Ga. … L-R trails the all-time series with both St. Augustine's (1-0) and AASU (9-4).

LINCOLN MEMORIAL -The first time Ohio Valley University and Lincoln Memorial University met this season in men's basketball, the Railsplitters came away with an impressive 72-60 road victory in Vienna, West Virginia. On Tuesday night, the Fighting Scots earned some pay-back as they came into the Tex Turner Arena and knocked off the Railsplitters in overtime 76-74 … Following the opening minutes of the first half, the Railsplitters took a lead that extended to as many as 11 points by the midway point of the second half. In fact, it wasn't until only 1:38 remained in regulation that LMU relinquished that lead to the Fighting Scots … Facing a five point deficit with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, LMU freshman guard Brandon Armstrong hit a long range three pointer to pull the Railsplitters within two. Following a Carlos Sanford steal on the inbound, Armstrong scored again when he grabbed an offensive rebound off an LMU miss to tie the game at 68 with only five seconds remaining … Eventually, the clock expired and the game went into overtime … In the overtime period the two teams traded the lead until Fighting Scots managed to get the ball in the paint and score with three seconds on the clock. Although LMU got a shot away at the buzzer, the effort was off the mark and the Railsplitters dropped their third consecutive game 76-74 … Railsplitter forward D'Mario Curry finished with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead LMU in both categories, while teammate Brandon Armstrong was the only other Railsplitters to make double figures scoring 18 ... The Railsplitter men's basketball team fell to 4-5 on Saturday afternoon when it traveled to Wise, Virginia and lost to the Highland Cavaliers of the University of Virginia College at Wise 80-63 in non-conference play … The Railsplitters were forced to play without leading scorer D'Mario Curry who was out on the lineup with illness, while also playing without guard Dominic Parker who was out with a minor ankle injury and guard Carlos Sanford who will be out of the lineup until after Tuesday … LMU was led in scoring by Brandon Armstrong with 17 points and four rebounds. Saturday's loss drops the Railsplitters to 4-5 on the year while the Highland Cavaliers improve to 1-8 overall … On Tuesday, the Railsplitters will play host to WVIAC opponent West Virginia Wesleyan College at 7:00 p.m. in the Turner Arena.

MARS HILL - The Lions played only one game last week. They defeated Limstone 69-67 to improve to 6-1 on the season. Jamarl Glen (District Heights, Md.) hit a shot in the lane with three seconds left in regulation to lift Mars Hill over Limestone College (69-67) Monday night in Stanford Arena. Limestone came out of the gates on fire hitting their first four shots plus a free throw to take a 12-0 lead with 18:00 on the clock after Stewart Clark converted an old fashioned 3-point play. The Lions settled down and went on a 15-2 run to take a one-point advantage (15-14) with 10:13 left in the first frame after Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) tipped in his own miss. Poor first half shooting by MHC enabled the Saints to out score the Lions 25-10 to send Limestone into the locker room at the intermission enjoying a 39-25 advantage. MHC hit only 25% (8-32) of their shots from the floor in the first half. Limestone's biggest lead of 15 points (42-27) came at the 18:43 mark of the second stanza after Clark hit a hot from behind the arc. The Lions defense allowed them to make a 25-9 run and take only their second lead of the contest with 10:05 on the clock when P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) hit a layup. The lead would change hands twice before MHC obtained the advantage for good with 7:18 left in the game after Tony Blake (Canton, N.C.) hit a 3-pointer. A 3-pointer by Sanders gave the Lions their largest lead (66-60) of the game with 4:27 on the clock but the Saints would not die. They went on a 7-1 run to tie the contest at 67-all with 31 ticks left after Stewart made his third shot from behind the arc. Coach Nash called a timeout to draw up the final play and with three seconds left in the contest Glen was able to convert a tough shot in the lane for the game winning basket. Gore led MHC with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. Sanders had 14 points, a career high nine steals and seven rebounds. Glen added 10 points and four boards. The Lions hit 50% (16-32) of their field goals in the second half. Limestone edged the Lions in rebounds, 35-34. MHC scored 45 points off Limestone miscues and converted 18 points off the break. Stewart led the Saints with 18 points and eight assists while Tyron Evans scored 16 points and pulled down five boards. Michael Barrett added 17 points and six rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers for Limestone. Mars Hill will take some time off for final exams before competing in the Columbus State Classic on December 18-19.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team dropped a 82-63 decision to North Georgia in its only game this week…Newberry (6-2) drops its second straight contest after winning six straight to start the season… Brett Goodwell led the scarlet and gray with 27 points and six rebounds… Grant Domsic added 12 points, while Jesse Wheeler and Vytautas Valiulis each dished out six assists… Newberry took a 4-2 lead early in the contest on a Goodwell dunk and a Wheeler jumper.. A pair of Moynihan free throws tied the game up before Goodwell's second basket put Newberry back ahead… But a Lyons layup tied it up, and a three-point play from Moynihan put the Saints up for good… A 9-0 run put North Georgia up 13-6, but Newberry brought it back within four on three more Goodwell points… The two sides continue to trade possessions, but North Georgia three-pointers countered Newberry two-pointers and turnovers… The Saints then went on a 19-3 surge that spanned five minutes and put North Georgia up, 43-19, with four and a half minutes left in the half… However, Newberry tightened the screws defensively and went into the break trailing 45-25 after limiting the Saints to only one more bucket in the period… The 20-point halftime deficit did not deter the scarlet and gray from playing intense basketball in the second half… NGCSU scored the first six points of the half and pushed the lead to as many as 26... But Newberry continued to battle and used superior post play to continue to chip away at the lead... The Saints led 67-46 with 9:55 to play, but Newberry went on an 13-4 run that brought the hosts to within 12 points at 71-59 with 5:37 to play… But that momentum was cut short by the Saints, who held the ball until late in the shot clock and made tough shots to stretch the lead back to 19 with four minutes left… From there, the two sides traded points to get to the 82-63 final… Newberry came out of the locker room refocused on the task at hand, and outscored NGCSU 38-37 in the second half… After connecting on only 9-of-29 shots (31.0%) in the first half, Newberry went 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) in the second half for a total of 41.6% from the floor... The Saints connected on 30-of-57 (52.6 percent) of their attempt and missed only two free throws... Newberry will look to return to the winning track on Tuesday, as the scarlet and gray host Limestone College for a 6 p.m. tipoff in the second half of a doubleheader with the women's team… The final game before the Christmas break comes on Thursday night at 7 p.m., when the scarlet and gray host Lander.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (7-2) posted a perfect 2-0 record last week with victories over Lees-McRae (53-51) and Concord (63-55) to extend their winning streak to four in a row… In their last three games, the Tusculum defense has limited the opposition to only 51.3 points per game… In Tusculum's home win over Lees-McRae, the Pioneers rallied from a 13-point deficit as junior Josh Bennett canned a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining for the two-point win… Tusculum (6-2) got 18 points from junior Jimmy Boone off the bench, including 16 markers in the second half… Boone shot 7-for-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point territory… Tusculum's Kyle Moore missed a three-point shot with five seconds left, but Bennett came up with the huge rebound, his sixth offensive board of the night and 10th overall in the game… He made both free throws and following a LMC timeout, rookie Taylor Hobbs intercepted the inbounds pass to seal the win… It was a defensive stalemate in the first half as neither team shot above 31 percent as the Bobcats (0-9) led 21-20 at the intermission (LMC 31 percent, TC 26.9 percent)… In the second period, Lees-McRae came out on fire, going on a 12-0 run in the first 5:12 to take a 33-20 advantage. LMC shot 5-for-7 during the run, capped off by a four-point play with 14:48 remaining in the contest. During the spurt, TC missed its first four shots, while committing four turnovers… Boone stopped the bleeding for Tusculum with his three-point play 23 seconds later to bring Tusculum back within 10 (33-23), but the Bobcats answered with a three-pointer to move the visitors back up by 13… With LMC leading by 11 (40-29) with 8:41 left, Tusculum went on a 15-4 run to tie the game at 44-44 on a Moore three-pointer four minutes later. The Bobcats regained the lead with four straight points with 3:41 left on the clock… Tusculum scored seven straight points down the stretch, including a bucket and trey by Boone and two free throws by Bennett as TC led by 51-48 with under a minute to play… Tusculum was limited to 34 percent in the game, but was sizzling at the free throw line going 13-for-15, including six in a row down the critical stretch… The Pioneers won the board battled by a 36-31 margin, including 13-9 on the offensive glass… Moore, the South Atlantic Conference's leading scorer, was held to nine markers on the night, 12 points under his season average… He did lead the team with four assists in his 32 minutes of action… Senior Ryan Troutman tallied 16 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals, while Bennett added six points to go along with his game-high 10 boards… In Tusculum's 63-55 road win at Concord, Boone poured in 19 points and Ryan Troutman was a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe… Boone shot 6-of-9 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from three-point territory... Troutman dished out a game-high nine assists and hauled down six rebounds, while connecting on all of his 11 attempted shots to post 13 points… Moore added 11 points and three assists, while Bennett posted a game-high eight rebounds and three blocks… Tusculum jumped out of the gate with 12 points in the first nine and a half minutes to take a 12-6 lead… The Pioneers weathered a 7-3 run by the Mountain Lions to hold a 15-13 advantage with 6:14 remaining in the period, before Boone connected on a three-pointer to extend the lead to 18-13 at the 5:04 mark. Tusculum closed out the half with a 14-10 spurt to take a 32-23 advantage into the locker room… The Pioneers held the lead for the remainder of the game, opening the second half with a 10-6 run in the first six minutes to hold a 40-29 advantage with 14:03 to go... Concord poured in 11 points over the next four and a half minutes to cut the lead to 48-40… The Pioneers connected on 12 of their 14 free throws down the stretch as Tusculum completed the season sweep over Concord for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign… Tusculum shot 42 percent in the game, including 8-of-21 from behind the arc, while Concord connected on 38 percent of its shots… The Pioneers connected on 17 of their 20 free throws in the game (85 percent), and won the battle on the glass 37-27, including 29-19 on the defensive boards… Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 590 consecutive games… Moore has made a three-point field goal in 14 straight games, dating back to last season… Troutman has recorded an assists in every game he has played in at Tusculum (37 in a row)… The Pioneers will close out the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule this Wednesday when they host nationally-ranked and undefeated Bellarmine at Pioneer Arena… It will be the third overall meeting between TC and the Knights… BU leads the series 2-0 including last year's 81-75 season opening win in Greeneville… Bellarmine (6-0) is currently ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division II and is coming off a 77-59 win over NAIA top-ranked Cumberland (Ky.)... Since becoming a NCAA II member (1998), Tusculum is 2-16 against nationally-ranked teams… The Pioneers will be looking for their first win over a ranked opponent since a 73-72 victory over then No. 25 Lenoir-Rhyne in the 2003-04 campaign.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team did not play last week. The Bulldogs (5-3 overall) spent the week taking care of academic business during final exams week at Wingate ... The Bulldogs will play two tough opponents on the road this week. Wingate will venture to Fayetteville State University Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. contest. On Friday night, the Bulldogs hit the road to face Barton College at 7:30 p.m. in Wilson ... Wingate has won five games in a row. The first game in the five-game streak was a 91-83 victory over Barton Monday, Nov. 24 in Cuddy Arena. In the earlier Barton contest, Bulldog redshirt sophomore forward/guard Ben Davis tallied a career-high 24 points. Davis hit 10-of-12 field goals as Wingate shot 66.7 percent for the game (30-of-45) ... Bulldog redshirt junior forward/guard David Johnson leads the SAC in free throw percentage, hitting 88.0 percent of his charity tosses. Wingate senior guard/forward DeMario Mattox is third in the league in steals per game. Mattox has a team-best 3.00 thefts per contest. Bulldog freshman guard Chase Smith is third in the SAC in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 46.7 percent of his triples this season ... Defense is the name of the game for the Bulldogs, as Wingate is second in the SAC with 11.13 steals per game. In three of Wingate's five victories, the Bulldog opponent has shot below 40 percent from the field.