Men’s Basketball Notes, December 14, 2009
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending December 13, 2009.
BREVARD - The Tornados won their only contest of the week, defeating Lees-McRae at home in Boshamer Gymasium on Monday night, 71-61 as Brevard improves to 5-1 on the season ... Josh Roper led the Tornados with 22 points and nine rebounds, going 8 of 13 from the field and connecting on three shots from behind the arc with 15 points coming in the first half as Brevard built a 34-24 lead ... Jonathan Whitson had 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Josh Jordan added 10 points and four rebounds as the Tornados are on a five game winning streak since dropping their season opener against Belmont Abbey ... Donald Hudson provided a spark off the bench in the first half with a steal and layup in his first minute in the game, while Roper provided the fireworks at the end of the half, stripping the Bobcats point guard and going in for a dunk as time expired ... Brevard built a 16 point lead in the second half as they cruised to the win over Lees-McRae ... Brevard is back in Boshamer Gymnasium on Thursday as they look to avenge their season opening loss to Belmont Abbey as the Crusaders defeated the Tornados 83-81 in overtime back on November 17th.
CARSON-NEWMAN - Carson-Newman dropped a 100-87 decision to King College on Saturday in its only game of the week to fall to 4-5 on the season … The Eagles lost despite shooting a season-best 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the floor … The Tornado torched the nets for a season-high 16 three-pointers, including 12 in the first half … Three Eagles turned in career highs in points in the loss … Senior forward Darron Maxtion paced C-N with 29 points and nine rebounds … Maxtion was 11-of-15 from the floor and 7-for-8 at the charity stripe … Freshman guard Trey Caruthers and sophomore forward Quinche Dowdell added 19 and 13 points, respectively, for the Eagles … King built a 19-8 lead to open the contest by knocking down seven 3-pointers in the first six minutes of play … The Tornado pushed their lead to as many as 23 points in the half and went into the locker room with a 62-44 lead … C-N opened the second half on a 10-5 run to trim King's lead down to 11 points, but the Eagles failed to cut the King's lead below double digits the rest of the way … C-N returns to action at home on Dec. 30 against Lees-McRae … Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse.
CATAWBA - The Catawba men were idle last week and return to action on Tuesday at NCAA I UNC Asheville ... The Indians will look for consecutive wins for the first time since winning their opening two games of the season ... Catawba will close its pre-Christmas schedule on Dec. 17 at J.C. Smith.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (2-5, 1-0) lost to Barton for the second time this year when the Bears fell to the Bulldogs by an 87-83 score last Tuesday night (December 8) in Wilson, N.C. … Lenoir-Rhyne, which lost to Barton in double overtime at home by a 103-92 margin on November 24, nearly rallied from an 11-point deficit with under a minute to play … Lenoir-Rhyne junior forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) led the Bears with 15 points and nine rebounds while freshman guard Alex Watkins (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior guard Marcus Hodges (Wake Forest, N.C.) added 13 and 11 points, respectively … Barton, which improved to 5-1 on the year, was led by L.J. Dunn's 19 points while Gerald Boston added a double-double (11 points and 12 assists) … Blackmon continues to lead the team in scoring (21.4 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg) … L-R travels to Savannah, Ga., to play in the Hampton Inn & Suites Fall Finals Classic on Friday (December 18) and Saturday (December 19) against St. Augustine's (3:00 p.m.) and Armstrong Atlantic State (8:00 p.m.) … Lenoir-Rhyne trails in both all-time series with St. Augustine's (2-0) and Armstrong Atlantic State (10-4).
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Railsplitters took the court for the first time in a week when they traveled to Concord University Saturday … CU kept it close until late in the second half when LMU took the lead and then sealed the win from the free throw line as LMU won 89-71 … Justin Allen led the Railsplitters with 22 points as he went 9 of 11 from the field … Stuart Miller added in 16 points … Cameron Carden scored 12 points … Desmond Johnson and D'Mario Curry had 11 points each … Johnson also led all players on the boards with 8 rebounds … LMU improves to 7-1 on the year and will host King on Tuesday before closing out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule Thursday night at West Virginia Wesleyan.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill split their two games last week. MHC is now 4-4 on the season after week four of play … In the first game of the week, Limestone defeated Mars Hill 88-82, Wednesday night at the Timken Center … The Lions' Stoney Polite scored a game-high 29 points. Danny Sanders posted 22 points … In the second contest of the week, Mars Hill's bench outscored Warren Wilson's 51-2 in the game as the Lions defeated the Owls 100-67 on Saturday inside Stanford Arena … Mars Hill led by as much as 17 in the first half, 42-25, when Jarred Pickering nailed an eight-foot jumper. The Lions took a 44-31 advantage into halftime … Danny Sanders and Pickering each scored 10 points in the first half … A Dion Malachi fastbreak layup with 18:06 remaining in the game gave Mars Hill a 21-point lead, 52-31. The Lions got their first 30-point plus lead, 75-43, at the 11:44 mark off a three by Stoney Polite … Mars Hill never led by fewer than 30 points the rest of the way and grabbed its largest margin of the game of 41 points, 96-55, with 3:26 left off a tip-in by Cody King. A breakaway dunk by Julian Mack with 35 seconds left in the game highlighted the evening and ended the scoring for the Lions … Sanders finished with 21 points. Polite had 15 points. Pickering tied a career-high with 12 points. Mack scored a season-high 11 points … Mars Hill hit the triple-digit mark on the scoreboard for the first time this season as 13 Lion players scored in the game … The Lions scored 34 points off 32 Owl turnovers and converted 18 fast break points … Mars Hill drilled 11 three pointers (11-28) in the game compared to only one (1-17) for Warren Wilson … The Lions will host Limestone on Friday inside Stanford Arena at 7 p.m. MHC will look to avenge the loss to the Saints last week.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team lost to Lander on Saturday, 87-55, to fall to 3-5 overall after losing the third straight game … Danny Huffor was the only Newberry player in double digits with 17 points and 4 steals, while Stephane Bakinde grabbed 10 rebounds … The first half set the tone for the game and put the Bearcats far ahead at the break ... Lander jumped out to a small lead early that was narrowed to 10-6 with 15:14 to play on a Bakinde bucket ... Unfortunately for the scarlet and gray, it would be eight and a half minutes before Newberry scored again on a jumper by Devante Cutler, with Lander going on a 19-0 run and leading 29-8 with 6:44 left in the half … The points did not come any easier in the rest of the half, as Newberry managed only 16 points in the period and trailed by 29 points at the break ... Lander shot 47.1 percent (16-of-34) in the first half compared to only 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from the guests … In contrast, the second half was much more evenly played … Newberry only turned the ball over seven times in the half and shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the period including 11 points from Huffor ... The Bearcats pulled away to lead by as many as 40 points in the game, but Newberry cut the margin down to 30 before eventually falling by the 87-55 score line … Newberry has a busy week before taking off for Christmas, as the Lander game started a run of four games in a 7-day span … NC hosts Georgia College on Tuesday afternoon before traveling to Southern Wesleyan on Thursday … Newberry fell to both of those teams in the first week of the season … On Saturday, Newberry hosts Paine.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (5-5) went 2-1 during its three-game home-stand last week… Tusculum opened with victories against St. Catharine (61-44) and Lees-McRae (72-50) … The Pioneers' only setback was a 79-68 decision against fourth-ranked Augusta State … In the St. Catharine game, Jimmy Boone paced four players in double figures with 16 points … Boone shot 4-of-5 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-point territory and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line … Wes Taylor added 13 points, while Josh Bennett and Kyle Moore finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively … TC shot a sizzling 29-of-35 from the foul line (82.9 percent), while the Pioneer defense limited the Patriots (10-3) to shoot only 31 percent from the field, including 3-of-20 from three-point territory … TC limited St. Catharine to only 44 points, including 14 in the first half … The Patriots' offensive output was 36 points below its seasonal average and the second fewest points allowed by the Pioneers during the Coach Jim Boone era (2005-present) … In the Lees-McRae game, Moore had the best offensive performance by a SAC player this season so far, pouring in 41 points (one shy of a career-high) … Moore's 41 markers are the sixth most in league history and tied seventh most ever by a Pioneer … He shot 14-of-20 from the floor, including a career-best nine three-pointers (3rd most in TC history) … He also pulled down six rebounds and shot 4-of-5 from the free throw line … Boone added 10 points and a career-best six assists, while Taylor posted six points, eight rebounds and four assists … TC shot 53.1 percent in the game, including 12 three-pointers (12-23 from 3-point land - 52.2 percent) … In the Augusta State game, Tusculum out-shot (55 percent-52.5 percent) and out-rebounded (25-21) the Jaguars, but ASU converted 15 TC turnovers into 24 points … Taylor led the Pioneers with career-highs with 19 points and five assists … He also led TC with nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots … He becomes the first player since the 2005-06 season to lead the Pioneers in all four categories … Boone added a season-best 19 points, while Rob Troutman and Moore added 15 and 11 points, respectively … Augusta State (No. 4 in NCAA II) is the highest ranked team to ever visit Pioneer Arena … Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 621 consecutive games … Tusculum's five losses this season have come against teams with a combined 28-7 record … Moore has scored 1,341 points in his career at Tusculum, which are the ninth-most in school history … He has scored 20 more points an amazing 30 times in his TC career and 30 more points seven times … Tusculum will be idle this week … TC will hit the hardwood on Dec. 21 as they travel to Louisville, Ky. to face Bellarmine ... Bellarmine advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 last season.
WINGATE - Wingate returned to the court after a week break for final exams Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs dropped a 76-64 decision to the Pacers of USC Aiken in Cuddy Arena Saturday afternoon. Wingate is 5-3 overall on the year ... Freshman guard Paidrick Matilus led the Bulldogs with 19 points. Senior guard Larry Staley added 14 points, hitting all five shots from the floor and all four free throws on the day. Sophomore guard Jaime Vaughn contributed 10 points for the Bulldogs ... The Pacers used a 6-0 run to take a 25-18 lead at the 7:52 mark of the first half. A Matilus three pointer cut the deficit to 25-23 with 6:35 remaining. USC Aiken answered with a 5-0 run to make the score 30-23 with four minutes left in the half ... Back-to-back baskets gave the Pacers a 39-30 lead with 13 seconds remaining in the half. Vaughn answered with a jumper to cut the lead to seven going into halftime ... A 7-0 flurry eight minutes into the second half gave USC Aiken a 57-42 advantage. Two consecutive jumpers from Staley trimmed the Pacer margin to 61-52 at the nine-minute mark. USC Aiken took its largest lead of the game at 72-55 with 3:25 remaining ... The Pacers shot 49.1 percent from the field (28-of-57) on the afternoon, while knocking down eight-of-15 shots from three-point range (53.3 percent). Wingate shot 38.2 percent from the floor (21-of-55), while hitting six-of-19 from beyond the arc (31.6 percent). The Pacers held a 34-32 edge in rebounding, while converting 19 Wingate turnovers into 27 points. The USC Aiken bench scored 50 points, compared to 24 from the Bulldog reserves ... Wingate entertains two Conference Carolinas opponents this week: Coker College on Monday (7 p.m.) and Mount Olive College on Wednesday (6 p.m.). Both contests are NCAA Division II Southeast Region games for the Bulldogs ... The Bulldogs have five players averaging at least nine points per game, led by Matilus and his 13.1 points per game. Matilus has converted 14-of-32 three-point field goal attempts, good for a 43.8 percentage. Odell Turner and Quan Alexander, the Myers Park High School freshman post duo, are both finding early success inside. Turner and Alexander are averaging 12.4 points/5.0 rebounds and 9.1 points/5.5 rebounds per game, respectively ... Staley has come off the bench to be the third leading scorer for the Bulldogs, as the Butler High graduate is averaging 10.8 points per game. He is shooting 63.3 percent from the floor and 82.1 percent from the free throw line. Vaughn matches Staley with 10.8 points per game, while Alexander is knocking on the double-figure door with 9.1 points per contest.