Men’s Basketball Notes, January 4, 2010
Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 3, 2010.
BREVARD - The Brevard College Tornados men's basketball team went 2-1 on the week, falling to No. 10 Southern Indiana on Tuesday, 106-61, defeating Oakland City University, 74-63, on Wednesday and winning their second SAC contest of the season on Saturday against Mars Hill, 91-77 … Preseason First Team All-SAC selection Jonathan Whitson averaged 18.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game over the three game stretch and Josh Roper added 21.3 points and 5.3 assists per game as the Tornados improved to 7-3 on the season … Against Southern Indiana, the Tornados held the game within 10 points with 10:17 remaining in the opening half before the Screaming Eagles closed out the half with a 25-10 run to go into the locker room with the 55-30 lead … Shane Galloway scored 11 for the Tornados in the game, connecting on a pair of three-pointers … Five Tornados achieved double figures in scoring against Oakland City led by Roper's 23 points, his fourth straight game of 20+ points … Whitson filled the stat line against the Mighty Oaks with 15 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and seven steals in 34 minutes play … Galloway with 12 points, Darin Dellinger and Drew Schauss with 10 apiece, contributed to the win as the Tornados connected on 58.1 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half in pulling away from Oakland City … Five Tornados scored double figures against Mars Hill on Saturday as Brevard shot 51.7 percent from the floor for the game, led by Whitson with 26 points and 12 rebounds, his third double-double of the week … Roper added 19 points and five assists, while Jacques Dovonou and Sam Carlisle scored 15 and 14 respectively … Dellinger hit six straight free throws in the final minutes of the game to seal the Brevard victory … Brevard is in nonconference action this week on Monday as they travel to Montreat, before returning home to face SAC opponent Lenoir-Rhyne in Boshamer Gymnasium on Wednesday … The Tornados wrap up the week on the road against SAC opponent Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 2-0 on the week with a pair of home wins, grabbing a non-conference win, 76-57 over Lees-McRae on Wednesday, and closing the week with an 85-54 win over visiting Newberry on Saturday afternoon … Senior forward Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) tallied a game-high 23 points and freshman forward Collin Crane (Knoxville, Tenn.) netted a career-high 13 points to lead the Carson-Newman men's basketball team to a 76-57 victory over Lees-McRae on Wednesday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse … Maxtion, who combined to score 52 points in his last two outings, was 10-of-12 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Eagles … Junior guard Erwin Staten (Huntsville, Ala.) chipped in nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc in his first action of the season after missing the first nine games with a fractured foot. Junior center Brandon Evans (Salem, Va.) was a force in the paint with seven points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots … C-N shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) for the game, including 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from 3-point range. Lees-McRae connected on just 32.8 percent (20-of-61) of its shots … The Eagles held a 43-38 lead at the break after sophomore guard Michael Nicolo (Englewood, Tenn.) beat the buzzer with a layup … C-N stepped up its defensive pressure in the second half, holding the Bobcats to 19 points. The Eagles went on an 18-7 run to build a 61-45 lead on a layup by Maxtion with 7:15 left in the contest … The Eagles never allowed Lees-McRae to trim their lead below 12 points and led by as many as 20 points late in the half … C-N held the Bobcats to just 20 percent (5-of-25) shooting during the final 20 minutes … The Carson-Newman men's basketball team shot a season-high 60.8 percent from the floor to pull away from Newberry for an 85-54 victory on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Holt Fieldhouse … With the win, the Eagles improve to 6-5 on the season and 1-1 in the conference … The Eagles, who have shot 50 percent or better in their last three contests, were 31-of-51 from the floor, including a 14-of-22 effort in the second half … C-N played the entire contest in a matchup zone defense and held its second-straight opponent to 32.8 percent (20-of-61) shooting, including just 25 percent (8-of-32) from 3-point range … Clayton said his squad's effort on the defensive end has been key in winning the last two games by a combined 50 points … Sophomore forward Quinche Dowdell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) tossed in 15 points to lead five Eagles in double figures. Guards Cameron Sharp (Knoxville, Tenn.) and J.J. Wesley (Mobile, Ala.) netted 14 points apiece, center Brandon Evans (Salem, Va.) added 13 and forward Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) chipped in 10 points in the win..Sharp also dished out six assists and grabbed five boards. Wesley pulled down seven rebounds, and Evans finished with six rebounds and two blocks … The Eagles opened the contest on fire and built a 30-12 lead by the 8:48 mark of the first half … A dunk by Evans with 15 seconds left gave C-N its biggest lead of the half at 44-20, but Coleman Young (Spartanburg, S.C.) drilled a 3-pointer with two seconds left to trim the Eagles lead to 44-23 heading into the locker room … C-N continued to pulled even further away from Newberry to open the second half, as Maxtion made a layup on C-N's opening possession to spark a 17-8 run that gave the Eagles a 61-31 lead with 13:18 remaining … The Eagles never let their lead fall below 27 points and they led by as many as 35 points late in the contest … Maxtion has started every game for the Eagles and is third on the team at 12.3 points per game … Wesley leads the team with 14.7 ppg, while Dixon is averaging 12.8 … C-N returns to action on Tuesday at North Carolina A&T. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C.
CATAWBA - The Catawba men returned from the Christmas break and snapped its two-game losing streak with a pair of wins ... The Indians won 66-63 at Chowan on Dec. 30 then topped Queens 100-86 on Saturday ... The Queens game marked the Catawba Indians' first game at Goodman Gym since the weekend before Thanksgiving ... Against Chowan, Catawba built 16-point lead early in the second half, but needed three late free throws to grab the win after a Hawks rally tied the score at 63-all with 48 seconds left ... Rob Fields canned one free throw with 37 seconds left and Donald Rutherford came up with a steal with 10 seconds to go that led to two Cameron Lovelace freebies with six ticks on the clock ... Antonio Houston scored 21 points as he hit on 7-of-11 shots and went 5-of-7 from behind the arc ... Freshman Stephen Coles posted his first double-double collecting career highs with both 10 points and 10 rebounds ... Catawba doubled up Queens over the last ten minutes of the first half to roll to a 52-38 lead at the break ... The Indians never trailed after a Houston three-pointer erased a 2-0 deficit in the opening minutes ... The Royals had rallied from a nine-point hole to tie things at 22-all before the Catawba Indians closed things with a 32-16 run, shooting 56 percent in the opening half ... Rutherford scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half for the Indians ... Catawba kept the hammer down to start the final 20 minutes and led 72-47 with just under 12 minutes left ... The Indians pushed the lead to 29 at 91-62 with 7:21 left before pulling its top line ... Rutherford would add nine rebounds to his 20 points, while Houston collected 20 points and seven boards ... Catawba shot nearly 50 percent for the game and held a 42-37 edge on the boards ... The Indians were a plus-eight in turnover margin as well ... Houston is leading Catawba in scoring (16.3) and is second in rebounding (5.3) ... He has moved within 151 points of reaching 2,000 for his career ... Fields is adding 15.3 a contest and Rutherford 14.1 points and seven rebounds ... Catawba jumps back into league play on Wednesday as it hosts Wingate ... The Indians travel to Tusculum on Saturday.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University men's basketball team (3-9, 1-1) lost for only the fourth time in its last 40 South Atlantic Conference home games when it fell to Tusculum by a 74-47 score last Saturday at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … Tusculum preseason All-American Kyle Moore and Wes Taylor combined for 43 points and held L-R to just 31 percent shooting (18-of-59) for the game in beating the Bears for the second straight year on the road … Moore led all scorers with 22 points while Taylor tallied a double-double (21 points and 11 rebounds) for Tusculum, who also held L-R to just one three-point field goal in 19 attempts (five percent) … Junior forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) was the lone player to score in double figures for the Bears with 15 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds … Lenoir-Rhyne split its games in the New Year's Classic last week in Greenwood, S.C. … L-R lost to Georgia Southwestern by a 59-56 score on Monday (December 28) before defeating Lander on Tuesday (December 29), 70-63, which snapped a four-game losing streak … Blackmon led the Bears with 18 points but the Bears couldn't rally from a 20-point second half deficit in the setback … L-R cut the margin to one point (57-56) with 1:03 remaining in the game and a three-point shot that would have tied the contest rimmed out as time expired … Senior guard Marcus Hodges (Wake Forest, N.C.) finished with a game-high 22 points and hit three straight three-pointers in a pivotal second-half rally to lift Lenoir-Rhyne to the win over Lander … Blackmon, who leads the team in points (19.8 ppg) and rebounds (7.0 rpg) this year, has scored in double digits in every contest this season … L-R plays at Brevard (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) and at Newberry (Saturday at 4 p.m.) this week in a pair of South Atlantic Conference games … Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series with both Brevard (5-1) and Newberry (65-17).
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team rolled over the Rams of Temple Baptist College 117-58 December 28 to improve to 10-1 overall … The Railsplitters placed six players in double figures and were led by a dominating effort from junior forward D'Mario Curry who turned in a double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds in only 20 minutes on the floor … Curry hit 10-16 shots and 5-7 free throws … Sophomore forward Desmond Johnson came off the bench to hit 8-11 shots for 17 points … Brandon O'Brien chipped in another 14 points inside the paint, and forward Tony Martin added in 11 points … Sophomore guard Justin Allen put in 11 points, seven of which were scored at the free throw line… Carlos Sanford came off the bench to score 11…. The last time an LMU men's basketball team was off to a 10-1 start was during the 1927-28 season when W.T Poole's Railsplitters finished 12-1 … LMU opened up the 2010 portion of the schedule as they traveled to Wingate for a Jan. 2 meeting with the Bulldogs … A 10-0 run midway through the first half propelled the Bulldogs past LMU 86-71 Saturday afternoon … After trading baskets early, Wingate went on a 10-0 run to move the score to 14-4 … The Railsplitters then cut the lead back to six on several occasions before the Bulldogs posted another run to take the 47-27 lead into the locker room at the half … The second half saw the Railsplitters battle back to within eleven points on more than one occasion but Wingate held on for the 86-71 win … Senior guard Stuart Miller had 16 points, including three-of-seven attempts from three-point land … Sophomore forward Desmond Johnson had 16 points and eight rebounds … Sophomore guard Carlos Sanford contributed 13 points off the bench … Junior forward D'Mario Curry (Detroit, MI) had nine rebounds, nine points and four blocked shots … The Railsplitters shot 31 percent in the first half (nine-of-29) … For the game, LMU shot 38.1 percent from the floor (24-of-63) … On the boards, LMU outrebounded Wingate 40-35 … The two teams combined to block 15 shots (LMU eight, Wingate seven). The Railsplitters fall to 10-2 overall and 1-1 in the SAC … Next up for LMU is a visit to intrastate rival Tusculum College on Wednesday … This will be the 154th meeting between the two schools … LMU holds a 111-42 lead in the series … The teams are 4-4 since the 2004-05 season..
MARS HILL - Mars Hill lost both of its games last week. The Lions fell to Belmont Abbey on the road and then lost to Brevard in the SAC opener … The Lions are now 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, Belmont Abbey shot 58 percent from the field to defeat MHC, 94-86 … Mars Hill shot 46 percent as Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) led a quartet of Lions in double figures with 22 points, while Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) added 20. Dion Malachi (Shelby, N.C.) posted 17 points. Brittion Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) chipped in with 11 … The Crusaders never trailed after being down 2-0 and led by as many as 26 points. They built a 17-point lead in the first half at 37-20 with 1:22 remaining and took a 15-point lead, 39-24, into the half … Belmont Abbey opened the second half by exploding on a 17-8 run over the first 7:12 to capture a 27-point lead, 59-32, with 12:48 to go … Mars Hill would go on a run to close to within 14 at the 6:17 mark, but three straight free throws from Phillips and Patus moved the advantage back to 17 … Mars Hill would again rally, cutting the Abbey's lead to eight points behind an 11-4 jaunt that got it to 76-68 with 3:56 left … The Crusaders would respond with a run of their own, pushing the margin back to 14 with 1:23 remaining, and they sank three free throws in the final minute to seal the win … In the second game of the week, the Lions lost their SAC season opener to Brevard College, 91-77 in Stanford Arena Saturday evening … Mars Hill was led by Dion Malachi (Shelby, N.C.) who went 8-12 from the free throw line scoring 18 points while leading the Lions with seven rebounds. Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) added 17 points, connecting on four three-pointers and added three blocked shots as the Lions blocked eight Tornados shot attempts in the game. Almir Krdzalic ( Sioux Falls, S.D.) had 12 points and three steals off the bench for the Lions in the loss … The Tornados opened the game with an 8-3 lead, breaking the full-court pressure as Whitson was able to convert a pair of layup attempts in the first two minutes of the game. Mars Hill came back as Sanders connected from behind the arc and Jarred Pickering (Queensland, Australia) put in the tip-in after a miss by Brittion Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) to put the game at 10-8 with 17:48 remaining in the first half … Brevard would increase their lead to 34-24 with 9:50 on the clock as Roper scored 11 points for the Tornados in just over four minutes using a combination of layups and connecting on a three-pointer as the Tornados opened up the largest lead of the first half. With the score at 38-29 at 6:36 mark, the Lions went on an 11-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Sanders from the top of the key to tie the game at 40-all with 2:57 remaining in the first half … The Lions took their first lead of the opening period less than a minute later as Robin McElroy (Kennesaw, Ga.) converted a layup as Mars Hill went up 42-41. The teams would not put another point on the board for the next two minutes before a pair of free throws by Dovonou with 32 seconds left in the opening period gave the Tornados a 43-42 lead. Carlisle sent the teams to the locker room with a dunk off the pass from Whitson with five seconds left on the clock as the Tornados held a 45-42 lead after the first 20 minutes … The Lions scored the first four points of the second half on free throws as Sanders was able to convert his second attempt at the 17:53 mark to give Mars Hill the 46-45 lead … Brevard responded with a 13-3 run capped by a three-pointer by Roper as the Tornados went up 59-48 with 10:53 on the clock … Mars Hill brought the game back to within six as Krdzalic converted from behind the arc to put the score at 64-58 with 9:04 on the clock. Free throws by Dellinger and a jumper in the paint by Dovonou put the score at 70-58 before Whitson went on 12-11 run against the Lions as the senior forward converted all six field goal attempts in a 4:13 minute stretch as the Tornados held the 80-69 advantage … Dellinger was perfect from the free throw line, converting six straight attempts as the Tornados left Stanford Arena with the 91-77 win … This week MHC will play at SAC foe Newberry College on Wednesday night before hosting Carson-Newman on Saturday..
NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team lost a pair of games in the past week to fall to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in South Atlantic Conference play … On Wednesday, Newberry's two-game winning streak was broken by a 73-53 loss at North Georgia … Aaron Edwards scored a team-high 12 points, while Danny Huffor scored 10 points … Newberry trailed by 10 points at the half, but the scarlet and gray scored 10 straight points to tie the game at 45-all with 11:22 to play … However, Newberry only scored two field goals in the final 10 minutes as the Saints scored the final 14 points of the game … Newberry scored no points and committed seven turnovers in six minutes … On Saturday, Newberry returned to SAC play with an 85-54 road loss to Carson-Newman … Huffor and Ray Robinson led Newberry with 10 points apiece … Overall, Newberry was 20-of-61 (32.8 percent) from the floor and turned the ball over 16 times and was outrebounded by a 37-30 margin in the game … The last time Newberry lost consecutive games by more than 20 points came in January 2005, when the Indians lost to Carson-Newman, 72-49 (23 points), and Catawba, 94-69 (25 points) … Those two games were in the midst of a nine-game losing streak … Earlier in that run during December 2004, Limestone beat Newberry, 77-56 (21 points), and Furman won, 110-58 (52 points), in back-to-back games … Newberry hosts Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne in SAC tilts this week.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (6-6, 1-1 SAC) posted a 1-1 record during the latest reporting period (Dec. 21, 2009)… Tusculum dropped a 71-59 decision at 2009 NCAA II Sweet 16 participant Bellarmine … The Pioneers rebounded with a 74-47 road victory at defending South Atlantic Conference champion Lenoir-Rhyne … Tusculum's 27-point margin of victory is TC's largest win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the 29 recorded meetings with the Bears … It was also the Pioneers seconds straight win at L-R's Shuford Memorial Gymnasium, a first in TC history … Senior guard Kyle Moore led all scorers with 22 points, including 17 in the first half … Moore did his damage at the free throw line, shooting 12-of-16 from the stripe … Senior forward Wes Taylor tallied a double-double with a career-best 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds … Taylor shot 8-for-11 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the foul line in his 28 minutes off the TC bench … Tusculum used a 14-2 run to take a 35-21 lead at halftime … In the second half, the Pioneers put the game away with a 20-9 spurt … Sophomore guard Justin Steigerwald contributed a career-best eight assists in his second career start for Tusculum … Senior guard Jimmy Boone added 11 points, while junior Rob Troutman finished with eight points and five boards in the victory … In the Bellarmine game, Moore led the Pioneers with 18 points … Troutman, a native of Mt. Washington, Ky., had a solid performance in his homecoming to Louisville with 17 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point territory … Taylor and senior Josh Bennett posted 11 points each … Bennett completed his second double-double of the season with 11 rebounds … Bellarmine, who was the second-ranked team in the NABC/NCAA Division II Coaches Poll entering this year, put together a 10-0 run in the final three minutes of the first half to take a 33-22 lead at the intermission … Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 623 consecutive games … Tusculum has limited the opposition to under 60 points on seven occasions this season, going 5-2 in those outings … The Pioneers are also 6-2 when scoring 60 or more points this year … Moore is ninth in school history with 1,381 points in his three seasons at Tusculum … In his 71 career games at TC, Moore is averaging 19.5 points per game … He has scored 20 or more points 31 times and 30 more points seven times … TC head coach Jim Boone has recorded 387 wins in his 24-year career, which are the 30th most in amongst active NCAA II coaches … Tusculum's six losses have come against teams with a combined 45-16 record (.738 winning percentage) … TC just completed a murderous three-game slate against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago (Augusta State, Bellarmine, Lenoir-Rhyne) … Tusculum is back at Pioneer Arena to begin a four-game home-stand … TC will host Lincoln Memorial and Catawba this week ... Tusculum is 97-58 all-time at Pioneer Arena.
WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball team bolted to a 47-27 halftime lead and never looked back, taking an 86-71 South Atlantic Conference triumph over visiting Lincoln Memorial University Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena ... The host Bulldogs shot 58.3 percent (seven-of-12) from three-point land in the decisive first frame ... With the victory, Wingate improves to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the SAC ... The Bulldogs visit Catawba College Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ... Wingate freshman forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) topped the Bulldog charts with 16 points. He filled out his stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and two steals ... Sophomore guard Jaime Vaughn (McDonough, Ga.) had 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds ... Senior guard Larry Staley (Charlotte, N.C.) contributed 11 points and five rebounds ... Wingate hit 32-of-62 field goals on the evening, good enough for a 51.6 percent rate ... The Bulldogs converted 55.9 percent of their first half field goal attempts (19-of-34) ... Wingate hit 10-of-18 three-pointers for 55.6 percent ... The Bulldogs converted 17 LMU turnovers into 28 points ... Wingate had 15 fast-break points, compared to two for Lincoln Memorial.