Weekly Men’s Basketball Notes, January 5, 2009

Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 4, 2009.

BREVARD - The Brevard College Tornados went 2-1 in their first week back from Christmas break to run their record to 6-3 (1-1 SAC)... Monday and Tuesday the Tornados participated in the 38th Annual Marietta Shrine Tournament in Marietta, Ohio... On Monday Brevard defeated the Wasps of Emory & Henry, 89-73... Brevard trailed 39-34 at the break but used a 22-2 second half run to come away with the victory. Jonathan Whitson (Clyde, N.C.) and Darin Dellinger (Stanley, N.C.) led the Tornados with 18 points apiece... Brevard shot 58.2 percent from the floor, a season-high, and the 55 points scored in the second half was also the best from Brevard this year... Tuesday the Tornados fell to the host Marietta Pioneers, 76-72... Whitson again led Brevard with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Dellinger added 14... both players were named to the All-Tournament Team... Saturday Brevard finished a busy week with a 90-80 win over Mars Hill, the first official SAC victory in program history... Whitson led all players with 28 points and 12 rebounds and Dellinger added 12... Nathan Whitmire (Rosman, N.C.) scored a season-high 11 points and Andrew Freeman (Asheville, N.C.) scored ten... Brevard's 90 points was a season-high, as was the team's 31 made free throws... Brevard shot 58 percent from the floor against Mars Hill... The Tornados have another busy week ahead of them, as they face Montreat on Monday, Lenoir-Rhyne on the road Wednesday and Lincoln Memorial Saturday.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 0-2 on the week and are now 4-9 overall and 1-1 in South Atlantic Conference play…C-N opened the post-holiday half of its schedule with a 104-95 loss at North Georgia College and State University on Wednesday afternoon in Dalhonega, Ga…The Eagles dropped their fourth consecutive game despite a 24-point, 12-rebound effort from junior forward Joey Cameron (Tuskegee, Ala.)…Cameron finished 9-of-16 from the floor…Sophomore Adam Plavich (Dalton, Ga.)added 6-of-9 from three point range to finish with a career-high 18 points…Cameron Sharpe (Knoxville, Tenn.)chipped in 13 as the Eagles hurt themselves in the loss, going 13-of-25 at the free throw line…A short-handed C-N team dropped its first SAC game of the season Saturday afternoon at Newberry, 89-73…Juniopr Bobby Guyton (Jessup, Ga.) led the Eagles with 16 points and seven boards…Plavich chipped in 14 points, finishing 4-of-6 from three-point range…The Eagles shot well from the floor, 24-of-51 (47.1 percent), but couldn't overcome19 turnovers and 10 blocked shots by Newberry…C-N was also outrebounded 43-29…Cameron leads the high-scoring Eagles with a 15.7 point per game average through 13 games…He also averages 7.3 rebounds…Guyton is averaging 11.2 points per game through five games…The Eagles are averaging, as a team, 93.3 points per game, to lead the South Atlantic Conference…C-N returns to action on Saturday night in Holt Fieldhouse, when it hosts Mars Hill…Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

CATAWBA - The 14th-ranked Indian men returned from the Christmas break and split a pair of games at Lenoir-Rhyne's Moretz Sports Classic ... Catawba fell 97-95 to No. 7 Augusta State then rolled past Belmont Abbey 94-76 ... In a back and forth game vs. ASU, which saw 15 ties and 14 lead changes, Catawba lost on Daniel Dixon's jumper with a second left ... The Indians shot 58.7 percent for the game and 64.5 percent in the second half ... Catawba also committed just seven turnovers, but were out-rebounded 41-26 ... Antonio Houston scored 22 points with Cliff Burns adding 19 points ... Donald Rutherford (14) and Rob Fields (13) each reached double figures off the bench ... Against Belmont Abbey, Catawba built a 25-point first half lead and weathered a 14-0 run by the Crusaders early in the second half before pulling away ... Fields scored 20 points to pace the Indians, hitting on 7-of-11 shots ... Burns and Isaac Rose each had 13 with Houston tossing in 12 ... The Indians set a school record by being perfect on 15 free throw tries ... It topped the previous mark of 8-for-8 back in 1983 ... Four players are averaging double figures for the Tribe with Houston leading the way with an 18.9 clip ... Fields is putting up 16 a game with Burns and Dominick Reid adding just over 11 ... Reid is handing out just over five assists a contest with Houston posting a team-leading 24 steals while pulling down 5.3 rebounds a contest ... Donald Rutherford comes off the bench to lead the Indians in rebounding at 5.4 a game ... Burns has blocked 28 shots in a dozen games ... Catawba has scored over 90 points in five of the last six games and have failed to score at least 80 points only twice ... Catawba returns to league play on Wednesday as it travels to Wingate ... The Indians play at home for the first time in the New Year on Saturday afternoon when they host Tusculum.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (6-6, 1-1) got back to .500 on the season with a 77-60 victory over Tusculum College on Saturday in a South Atlantic Conference game in Greeneville, Tenn. … L-R was led by senior guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.), who tallied a team-high 25 points including 21 in the second half, as Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Tusculum for the seventh straight time … The Bears also avoided starting 0-2 in league play for the first time since the 2001-02 season … Junior center Julius Powell (Newton, N.C.) added 13 points in just 16 minutes of action and Lenoir-Rhyne used an 18-1 run late in the second half to build its lead to as many as 22 points … L-R also split its two games in the 2008 Moretz Sports Classic at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium, defeating Belmont Abbey (66-63) on Monday (December 29) before falling to No. 7 Augusta State (82-74) on Tuesday (December 30) … Against the Crusaders, senior guard Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) finished with a game-high 21 points while junior guard Marcus Hodges (Wake Forest, N.C.) added 14 points and blocked the potential, game-tying three-pointer with one second left … Despite another 21 points against Augusta State and building an 18-point, second-half lead (53-35), Lenoir-Rhyne could not hold off the Jaguars … Augusta State, the 2007-08 NCAA Division II National Runners-Up, strung together a 33-7 run and held L-R without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes en route to the win … The Jaguars' Daniel Dixon played a key role, scoring all 20 of his points after halftime including six three-pointers … Rudder now has 1,213 career points, good for 24th place on L-R's all-time list … Rudder also ranks fifth in assists (382) and third in steals (171) on the Bears' career lists … McDowell, who ranks first on the team in scoring (18.9 ppg), has 19 straight games scoring in double figures dating back to last year … Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to face Brevard (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) and Newberry (Saturday at 8 p.m.) for a pair of SAC contests this week … L-R leads the all-time series with both squads: 3-1 against Brevard and 63-17 versus Newberry.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Georgia Southwestern completed a season sweep of LMU as the Railsplitters fell to the Hurricanes 81-67 on Tuesday … Southwestern led by as many as 17 early on and took a 38-24 lead into the break. The Hurricanes defense held LMU to 32 percent shooting in the first half. LMU (5-6) cut the lead to six midway through the second half, but GSW answered with a 16-8 run to push the margin back to 14 points … The Railsplitters put together one final rally, scoring seven unanswered points, to close the gap to seven with just under five minutes remaining. However, a 9-0 Hurricane run put the game out of reach and GSW improved to 4-4 on the season … Leading the way for the Railsplitters was D'Mario Curry with 17 points. Stuart Miller had 14 points and Wadner Joseph (Miami, FL) scored 11 points … After going out to a five point lead with 17:15 to go in the first half of play, the Railsplitters trailed by 16 points with only 6:28 remaining in the first half before regaining the lead in the second half to come away with a 59-58 win over Wingate to improve to 1-1 in South Atlantic Conference play. Aside from the fact that the Railsplitters seized their first league win with a complete team effort, defense proved to be the key factor in LMU's first conference win of the year … The Railsplitters held the Bulldogs of Wingate University to only four baskets from the field in the second half and to only 18 total points in the final 20 minutes before coming away with the 59-58 win … Wadner Joseph carried the offensive attack for the Railsplitters from inside the paint. The senior from Miami, Florida scored a game-high 18 points and pulled seven rebounds, while sophomore forward D'Mario Curry contributed 16 points and seven rebounds … Railsplitter freshman Justin Allen was the only other LMU player in double figures and finished the night with 10 points on 4-6 shooting fromt the field and 1-1 from the free throw line before fouling out after 20 minutes on the floor … Wingate was led in scoring by forward Tommy Coles while came off the bench to score 11 of his 13 points in the first half. Guard DeMario Mattox added another 12 points, while Kenny Villines scored 10 inside the paint … Now 6-6 on the year and 1-1 in South Atlantic Conference play, the Railsplitters will now prepare for Wednesday night's league battle with in-state conference opponent Tusculum College in the Tex Turner Arena. The Railsplitters and the Pioneers will tip-off at 8:00 p.m.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 1-1 last week. They defeated Queens 84-74 and then fell at Brevard, 80-90. The Lions are 9-2 overall and 0-1 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, the Lions defeated visiting Queens University of Charlotte, 87-74 in Stanford Arena to extend their winning streak to eight games. Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) once again led the Lions scoring a game high 22 points while pulling down eight rebounds and recording four steals … Jamarl Glen (District Heights, Md.) followed with 15 points. Tony Blake (Canton, N.C.) had a solid night scoring 10 points and dishing out four assists … Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) hit a 3-pointer with 14:38 left in the first period to give MHC a 15-13 advantage and the Lions never looked back. Mars Hill led by as many as 10 points (23-13) in the first half after Sanders scored off an offensive rebound with 11:44 left in the first stanza. MHC took a 39-32 lead into the locker room at the intermission … Queens came out in the second half and out scored the Lions 10-4 to trim the deficit to just a single point (43-42) with 15:41 left in the game after Patrick Fox hit a shot from behind the arc … The Lions answered scoring nine unanswered points capped off by a pair of foul shots from Glen to lead 52-42 with 12:52 left in the contest. Queens cut the lead back to seven points with 11:54 on the clock but the Lions again answered going on a 26-10 run over the next eight minutes to take their largest lead of 23 points (80-57) after Blake hit a jumper … MHC scored 60 of their 87 points in the paint and scored 20 off the break. The Lions won the rebound battle, 45-42 … Mars Hill hit 46.7 percent (35-75) of their field goal attempts … In the second contest of the week, led by 28 points and 12 rebounds from Jonathan Whitson, Brevard College defeated Mars Hill 90-80 at Boshamer Gymnasium. The loss snapped an eight game winning streak for MHC … After the teams traded baskets for much of the first half, with neither team leading by more than three points, the Tornados launched the game's first run on an Andrew Freeman (Asheville, N.C.) three-pointer at the 10:44 mark to give Brevard a 21-16 lead … The basket sparked a 17-7 run that ended with a Cody Siniard (Brevard, N.C.) basket with 5:17 left in the half to stretch Brevard's lead to a dozen, 35-23. Whitson (Clyde, N.C.) hit six of Brevard's final eight field goals in the final five minutes of the half to give Brevard a 51-35 intermission lead … The junior forward finished the opening half with 21 points … Brevard stretched the lead to 53-35 on a Darin Dellinger (Stanley, N.C.) lay-up 1:50 into the half and again led by 18 on a basket from Sam Carlisle (Raleigh, N.C.) to make the game 57-39 with 17:06 to play … But the veteran Lions did not roll over for the Tornados. Mars Hill responded to their biggest gap with a 10-0 run of their own, finished off by an Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) jumper with 14:11 to play … After Brevard pushed the lead back to a dozen on a Carlisle basket at the half's midway point, the Lions used a full-court press to take off on a 7-0 run, capped by a Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) fast break score to make the game 65-60 Tornados with 8:38 to play … The Tornados scored the game's next four points, highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play from Freeman to move the score to 69-60 with 7:07 to play, but Mars Hill scored seven of the game's next nine points to cut the lead to 71-67 with 4:50 on the clock after P.J. Gore's (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) lay-in … The game turned in Brevard's favor for good on an intentional foul against Mars Hill's Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) on the game's very next possession. Freeman knocked down the two technical shots and Nathan Whitmire (Rosman, N.C.) was fouled and hit two freebies of his own to pump Brevard's lead to 75-67 with 4:10 to play .. Brevard never again led by less than seven, as Whitmire, Dellinger, Chilton, Whitson and Shane Galloway (Rosman, N.C.) combined to hit 13 of Brevard's final 18 free throws in the game's waning stages, to win 90-80 … Mars Hill was led by Sanders, who scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds and Gore who added 18 points and six boards.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team became the first South Atlantic Conference team to pick up its 10th win of the season this week with wins at home over St. Andrews Presbyterian in overtime and Carson-Newman… Newberry is now 10-2 overall and 1-1 in SAC play… The team closed out a seven-game homestand with a record of 5-2, winning the final four games in that stretch… Point guard Vytautas Valiulis was the catalyst in Tuesday's 76-74 overtime victory over St. Andrews Presbyterian… The senior scored a season high 16 points and had 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in the game without turning the ball over once… Sophomore Grant Domsic scored 14 off the bench, including a crucial jumper in the lane in OT, while Brett Goodwell scored 11 points, including the game-winning tip-in with just over a minute to play… Jesse Wheeler scored 11 and Clemente Martin scored 10… Both teams had issues scoring early, as shots struggled to fall on both sides of the court... But Newberry was slightly more successful in the early stages, taking a 7-2 lead with 14:32 left in the first half... SAPC slowly chipped away at the lead, and pulled out in front for the first time at the 9:45 mark, when a three-pointer from Kurt Fenderbosch gave the Knights a 17-16 lead... The two sides traded buckets back and forth until the final four minutes of the half, when SAPC went on a 7-0 run that helped allow the Knights to take a 36-31 advantage to the locker room… But the scarlet and gray quickly erased the deficit as they came out on a 6-0 run, capped by a Wheeler trifecta that gave NC a 37-36 lead with 17:31 to play… The Knights pulled back out to a five-point lead before Newberry went on a big run… Newberry outscored its guests, 21-8, over a six minute span to pull out to a 64-53 lead with 6:55 left on a Wheeler layup... That would be Newberry's largest lead of the game, as SAPC answered with a run of its own, outscoring Newberry 13-2 in the next five minutes to tie the game at 66-all with 1:37 to play in regulation… With the game tied at 70-70, Valiulis drew a foul with two seconds on the clock, but was unable to sink either free throw, sending the game to the extra frame... SAPC's Zack Garst scored the first four points of the overtime, but a dunk from Kendrick Johnson, a Domsic jumper in the paint and Goodwell's tip-in with 1:07 to play gave Newberry its ninth victory of the season… The Knights held advantages in shooting percentage (47.5% to 44.4%) and rebounding (43 to 32), but Newberry forced 23 SAPC turnovers, while coughing the ball up a season-low eight times to help earn the win… Newberry nabbed 15 steals to the Knights' one… The scarlet and gray picked up their first SAC win of the season on Saturday with an 89-73 win over Carson-Newman… Martin led the Newberry charge with 24 points and 6 rebounds, while Wheeler scored 15 points, grabbed 7 boards and blocked four shots… Goodwell had 13 points and 6 rebounds, Valiulis had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists… Domsic scored 12 off the bench and Johnson blocked 5 shots to move into a tie for 4th all-time in the South Atlantic Conference in that category… Newberry jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the opening minutes thanks to six C-N turnovers before an Adam Plavich three-pointer got the guests on the board… That trifecta started a 9-2 Carson-Newman run that was capped when Bobby Guyton's three-point play gave the Eagles a 9-8 lead…Wheeler answered with a layup, and the scarlet and gray would not trail again in the contest... The hosts pushed their first half lead to as many as 16 points, when Wheeler's three-pointer with 9:23 left in the half ended an 8-0 run that gave NC a 38-22 lead... Newberry failed to connect on a field goal attempt in the final five minutes of the half, but still took a 52-38 lead into the locker room thanks in part to 17 points off of turnovers in the half… Carson-Newman cut the lead to single digits five minutes into the second half, as a pair of free throws from Joey Cameron narrowed the deficit to 56-47 with 15:17 to play... But solid Newberry defense over the next ten minutes sealed the victory, leading by as many as 22 in the second period… The Eagles averaged 69.6 shots taken per game entering the contest, but 19 turnovers and Newberry defense saw C-N take only 51 shots in the game… Newberry shot well throughout the game to help extend leads, as the scarlet and gray connected on 32-of-66 shots (48.5%) in the game… Newberry also used a distinct advantage on the boards to keep the ball out of the hands of the Eagles, as the scarlet and gray outrebounded their opponents, 43-29, including a 16-7 edge on the offensive boards… Newberry hits the road this week for the first time since Thanksgiving week with games at Mars Hill on Wednesday night and Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday night.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (8-4, 1-1 SAC) went 1-1 during the last reporting period… Tusculum posted a 64-51 road victory at Mount Olive on Dec. 30, followed by a 77-60 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne as TC resumed South Atlantic Conference play… In the road win over Mount Olive, junior Jimmy Boone poured in a career-high 24 points, including a personal-best six 3-pointers… Junior Kyle Moore added 19 points as junior Josh Bennett and senior Ryan Troutman posted game-bests with 13 rebounds and nine assists, respectively… The Pioneers jumped out to an early 4-0 on a pair of baskets by Moore in the opening minute and a half of the contest, before Mount Olive responded with an 11-3 spurt to take an 11-7 lead with 14:05 remaining in the first period… Tusculum answered with a 16-4 run over the next 10 minutes to open a 23-15 lead, and closed out the half with a 7-6 margin to head into the locker room with a 30-21 advantage… Mount Olive cut the lead to three at 30-27 after scoring the first six points of the second half, before Boone scored eight consecutive points to open a 40-29 lead for the Pioneers with 12:51 remaining on the clock… The Trojans would close the gap to 44-39 over the next five minutes, but Tusculum sealed the win down the stretch by knocking down 11 straight free throws in the final six minutes to clinch the double-digit win… In the Lenoir-Rhyne game, the Bears used an 18-1 run in the second half to take a 68-47 lead with 4:26 remaining in the game en route to a 77-60 win over the Pioneers… During the run, the Bears went 6-for-6 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line… Moore led all scorers with 26 points shooting 9-for-16 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers… Bennett added a dozen points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, while Troutman finished with 10 points and six assists in the loss… Both teams shot well from the field… Tusculum connected on a 59.5 percent clip from the floor, including 10-of-16 in the second half (62.5 percent)… The Bears fired 58.1 percent for the game, including 13-for-21 in the final period (61.9 percent)… Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 593 consecutive games, dating back to 1986… Troutman has recorded an assist in every game he has played in as a Pioneer (40 in a row)… Moore has made a three-point field goal in 17 straight games… Troutman has made 20 straight free throws and 37 of his last 40 (92.5 percent)… Boone has made 18 of his last 29 three-point field goal attempts in his last five games (62.1 percent)… Tusculum will be on the road for a pair of league games this week against Lincoln Memorial and nationally-ranked Catawba.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team lost a hard-fought 59-58 South Atlantic Conference decision to host Lincoln Memorial University Saturday night in Tex Turner Arena ... Entering this week's action, Wingate is 5-8 overall and 1-1 in the SAC. Eight of the nine teams in the league have one conference loss. Only Catawba College (9-3 overall, 1-0 in the SAC) has not lost a league game at this juncture. The Bulldogs host number 14 Catawba for an 8 p.m. SAC encounter Wednesday ... Wingate is 4-0 at home this season. The Bulldog seniors are 41-5 overall in the friendly confines of Cuddy Arena during their four-year careers. Last year, Wingate shot 60.3 percent from the field as they defeated Catawba 106-75 on Wednesday, Feb. 6 in Cuddy Arena. Senior forward Kenny Villines had 10 points and eight rebounds in the victory ... Wingate senior forward Tommy Coles tied his career-high, hitting 13 points for the visitors Saturday. Senior guard DeMario Mattox had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Villines contributed 10 markers ... The Bulldogs led 34-18 when freshman guard Chase Smith hit a three-point field goal at the 6:28 plateau of the first half. Wingate led 40-27 at intermission, as Smith converted two free throws with no time on the clock after an LMU technical foul ... Wingate hit 13-of-26 field goals in the first half (50 percent). In addition, the Bulldogs converted 13-of-15 free throws (86.7 percent) in the opening frame. Coles led all scorers with 11 first-half points ... The visiting Bulldogs hit only four-of-33 field goals after the break (12.1 percent). Lincoln Memorial managed 40 percent shooting after intermission, making 10-of-25 field goal attempts. The Railsplitters made three three-point field goals in the second half, after going zero-for-six from long range in the first frame ... A Villines jumper put Wingate up 44-35 with 14:21 remaining in the contest. Lincoln Memorial answered with a 14-0 run to take a 49-44 lead with 7:27 to play. Wingate responded with an 8-0 run of its own, taking a 52-49 lead on two free throws by Coles with 5:56 left on the clock. Both teams had trouble hitting field goals down the stretch, as the Railsplitters and the Bulldogs combined for only four hoops in the final five minutes ... A lay-up by Mattox put Wingate up 54-52 at the 3:56 mark. A three-pointer and an inside hoop gave the host Railsplitters a 57-54 advantage with 2:23 to go. Bulldog redshirt sophomore forward Ben Davis hit a jumper with 1:58 remaining to trim the Wingate deficit to 57-56. Mattox gave Wingate the lead by canning two free throws with 23 seconds left ... LMU's Wadner Joseph hit the game-winning free throws with nine seconds to play. Wingate missed a three-point field goal as time expired, giving the Railsplitters the home-court victory ... Wingate outrebounded Lincoln Memorial 45-42, thanks in large part to Mattox's career-high 13 boards. Both teams blocked seven shots. Bulldog redshirt junior forward David Johnson (Durham, N.C.) led the visitors with three blocks, while Villines posted two ... The host Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball team topped Wingate University in the final game of the 2008 AASU/Spring Hill Suites Midtown New Year's Classic at Alumni Arena Tuesday. Bulldog freshman guard Jamie Vaughn led the visitors with 13 points. Coles added 11 points off the bench ... Mattox posted a near triple-double with 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, but the Bulldogs dropped a tough 85-78 decision to Georgia College & State University Monday night in the 2008 AASU/Spring Hill Suites Midtown New Year's Classic. The annual event is hosted by Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah ... Wingate jumped out to a quick 17-4 lead, but GC&SU erased the advantage with a 20-6 run of its own en route to the victory. The Peach Belt Conference's top-scoring team hit 12 three-pointers in the contest and recorded 14 steals against the Bulldogs Monday ... Davis topped the Bulldog charts with 15 points. Mattox was the only other Wingate player to post double-figure points. The Bulldogs have six players averaging between 7.8 points per game and 10.1 points per game. Davis leads the way with his 10.1 points per game.