Men’s Top Four Seeds Advance In Food Lion SAC Men’s Basketball Tournament
The top four men's seeds advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament, although two of the games involving the top two seeds went to overtime. The men's semifinals will be played Saturday at Catawba Valley Community College.
No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne 111, No. 8 Carson-Newman 109 (OT)
HICKORY, N.C. - The top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University Men's Basketball Team (18-9) pulled out a 111-109 overtime thriller over No. 8-seed Carson-Newman (7-21) Wednesday evening in the first round of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
For the third straight year, L-R will face fourth-seeded Catawba in the semifinals at Catawba Valley Community College Saturday beginning at 6 p.m.
Senior guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) tied a career-high with 30 points while senior guard Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) and sophomore forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) added 24 points each as the Bears pushed their winning streak to eight games.
Carson-Newman, who hit 13 three-pointers in the contest and led 86-76 with six minutes remaining in the second half, was extremely close to pulling off the upset but could not finish the deal.
The Eagles' were led by Bobby Guyton (Jesup, Ga.), who finished with 20 points and was one of six Carson-Newman players to score in double figures, while Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) added 18 points in the losing effort.
Lenoir-Rhyne's late comeback in the second half was fueled by Blackmon, who scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime, while McDowell forced overtime tied at 96 with a lay-up as time was running out.
Carson-Newman led 103-100 in the extra frame but still couldn't pull it out as Rudder and the Bears rallied again. Rudder, who scored nine of Lenoir-Rhyne's 15 points in the overtime, gave L-R the lead for good with a lay-up with 1:47 left for a 106-104 advantage.
Carson-Newman had a chance to win but a three-pointer rimmed out as time expired.
The Eagles lost despite shooting 66 percent (41-of-62) from the field.
Lenoir-Rhyne also advances to the tournament semifinals for the fifth straight year.
LENOIR-RHYNE 111, CARSON-NEWMAN 109
CARSON-NEWMAN (7-21)
Guyton, Bobby 8-9 1-3 20; Maxtion, Darron 8-11 2-5 18;
Okoth, Tray 5-9 7-11 17; Dixon, Jordan 5-7 1-4 13; Plavich, Adam
4-6 0-0 12; Walker, Justin 4-5 1-1 10; Johnson, Andrew 3-5 0-0 7;
Hyatte, Zach 2-2 2-2 6; McMurray, Jesse 2-8 0-0 6. Totals 41-62
14-26 109.
LENOIR-RHYNE (18-9)
Rudder, Josh 8-13 11-12 30; Blackmon, D.J. 10-14 4-4 24; McDowell,
Elliott 10-15 3-5 24; Hodges, Marcus 4-8 6-7 16; Watson, Donte 2-7
0-0 4; Crawford, Ryan 1-2 2-2 4; Shaw, Nathaniel 2-3 0-3 4; Cook,
Jonathan 1-1 0-0 3; Thomas, Jeff 1-1 0-0 2; Haumann, J.P. 0-1 0-0
0; Davis, Ja'Wan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-65 26-33 111.
Carson-Newman................. 46 50 13 - 109
Lenoir-Rhyne.................. 41 55 15 - 111
3-point goals--Carson-Newman 13-24 (Plavich, Adam 4-6; Guyton,
Bobby 3-3; McMurray, Jesse 2-8; Dixon, Jordan 2-4; Walker, Justin
1-1; Johnson, Andrew 1-2), Lenoir-Rhyne 7-14 (Rudder, Josh 3-6;
Hodges, Marcus 2-3; McDowell, Elliott 1-3; Cook, Jonathan 1-1;
Blackmon, D.J. 0-1). Fouled out--Carson-Newman-None,
Lenoir-Rhyne-Watson, Donte. Rebounds--Carson-Newman 29 (Okoth, Tray
7), Lenoir-Rhyne 30 (McDowell, Elliott 7). Assists--Carson-Newman
20 (Dixon, Jordan 8), Lenoir-Rhyne 23 (Hodges, Marcus 8). Total
fouls--Carson-Newman 27, Lenoir-Rhyne 26. Technical
fouls--Carson-Newman-Dixon, Jordan, Lenoir-Rhyne-Hodges, Marcus.
A-559 2009 Food Lion SAC Men's Basketball Tournament - First Round
No. 8 Carson-Newman at No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne
No. 2 Newberry 107, No. 7 Mars Hill 103 (OT)
NEWBERRY, S.C. - The second-seeded Newberry College men's basketball team will advance to the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals after a hard-fought 107-103 victory over seventh-seeded Mars Hill College in Eleazer Arena on Wednesday night.
Newberry (21-7 overall) will face third-seeded Tusculum College in the semifinal matchup at 8 p.m. Saturday in Hickory, N.C., at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena. Mars Hill ends its season at 17-11 overall.
Newberry was led by 32 points and nine rebounds from senior forward Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas), who played his final game in Eleazer Arena. Sophomore Jesse Wheeler (Suwanee, Ga.) scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebo! ! unds, with no points bigger than the long distance three-pointer he drained with 1.9 seconds on the clock in regulation to tie the game and send it to the extra frame.
Brett Goodwell (Inglewood, Calif.) added 17 points and eight rebounds, with Grant Domsic (Winter Garden, Fla.) rounding out double-digit scorers with 16 points. Matt Alexander (Atlanta, Ga.) scored seven points, dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds in his final home game.
Mars Hill had three 20-plus scorers, led by 25 points from P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.). Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) netted 23 points and Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) scored 20 points off of the bench. Jamarl Glen (District Heights, Md.) scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high eight boards and Akeene Coakley (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) rounded out double-digit Lions with 12 points.
NEWBERRY 107, MARS HILL 103
MARS HILL (17-11)
Gore, P.J. 9-18 5-6 25; Sanders, Danny 9-20 1-1 23; Polite, Stoney
8-18 1-3 20; Glen, Jamarl 5-13 3-3 13; Coakley, Akeene 5-11 2-2 12;
Blake, Tony 2-3 0-0 5; Miller, Andy 2-3 0-0 4; Pickering, Jarred
0-1 1-2 1; Johnson, Dallas 0-1 0-0 0; Brozos, Tinos 0-0 0-0 0;
Mack, Julian 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-88 13-17 103.
NEWBERRY (21-7)
Martin,Clemente 9-15 14-18 32; Wheeler,Jesse 7-11 9-10 24;
Goodwell,Brett 7-10 3-4 17; Domsic,Grant 6-10 0-0 16;
Johnson,Kendrick 4-6 1-1 9; Alexander,Matt 2-4 3-4 7; Dawkins,Will
0-0 2-3 2; Overmyer,Ty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-56 32-40 107.
Mars Hill..................... 38 52 13 - 103
Newberry...................... 44 46 17 - 107
3-point goals--Mars Hill 10-30 (Sanders, Danny 4-9; Polite, Stoney
3-10; Gore, P.J. 2-5; Blake, Tony 1-2; Coakley, Akeene 0-4),
Newberry 5-13 (Domsic,Grant 4-8; Wheeler,Jesse 1-3; Alexander,Matt
0-1; Martin,Clemente 0-1). Fouled out--Mars Hill-Coakley, Akeene;
Sanders, Danny; Glen, Jamarl, Newberry-None. Rebounds--Mars Hill 32
(Glen, Jamarl 8), Newberry 41 (Martin,Clemente 9). Assists--Mars
Hill 18 (Gore, P.J. 4), Newberry 22 (Alexander,Matt 8). Total
fouls--Mars Hill 29, Newberry 15. Technical fouls--Mars Hill-None,
Newberry-None. A-647
No. 3 Tusculum 64, No. 6 Wingate 53
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Kyle Moore scored 20 points to lead third-seeded Tusculum College to a 64-53 win over No. 6 Wingate University in a quarterfinal round game of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
With the victory, the Pioneers (19-9) advance to Saturday's semifinal and will face No. 2 seed Newberry College at 8 p.m. from the Catawba Valley Community College Arena in Hickory, N.C. Wingate ends its season at 12-16.
Moore did his damage from the charity stripe as he went 12-for-13 from the free throw line, including 8-for-8 in the second half. For the first time in 32 games, Moore was shutout from three-point territory going 0-for-5. The last time he failed to make a trey was against Wingate last season in Greeneville.
Josh Bennett scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half as he finished the shooting 8-for-14 from the floor. Ryan Troutman added nine markers and a game-high 11 assists in the win.
Wingate's Kenny Villines and Rosco Turner accounted for 10 points each, while DeMario Mattox and Tommy Coles tallied nine and eight points, respectively.
Wingate scored the first five points of the game and led throughout most of the first half, taking a 28-25 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, trailing 32-28 in the opening moments of the period, Tusculum went on an 18-4 run, including three-pointers by Taylor Hobbs and Jimmy Boone and 10 points by Bennett as TC led 46-34 with 12:48 remaining in the game.
TC would continue to maintain its advantage over the next nine minutes and would lead 52-41 with 5:13 left. The Bulldogs went on a 5-0 spurt, including two free throws and a bucket by Turner and Jamie Vaughn's free throw with 2:57 left cut the TC lead to six (52-46).
But that's as close as Wingate would get as the Pioneers went 12-for-12 at the free throw line in the second half, including 10-of-10 in the final two minutes to cap the victory.
Moore still sits at 88 three-pointers this season, one shy of the all-time SAC mark held former Pioneer Bobby Ewing (2005).
This marks Tusculum's first trip to the SAC Tournament semifinals since 2006 and third overall. This will be the first time Tusculum and Newberry have ever met in the semifinal round.
TUSCULUM 64, WINGATE 53
WINGATE (12-16)
Villines, Kenny 5-8 0-0 10; Turner, Rosco 3-8 3-5 10; Mattox,
DeMario 4-11 0-0 9; Coles, Tommy 3-6 2-2 8; Johnson, David 3-8 0-0
7; Davis, Ben 2-2 0-1 4; Smith, Chase 1-2 0-0 3; Staley, Larry 0-0
1-2 1; Vaughn, Jamie 0-5 1-2 1; Van Staalduinen, B. 0-0 0-0 0;
Mushman, Sam 0-0 0-0 0; Bilal, Michael 0-0 0-0 0; Jacobson, Phillip
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 7-12 53.
TUSCULUM (19-9)
Moore, Kyle 4-12 12-13 20; Bennett, Josh 8-14 2-3 18; Troutman,
Ryan 3-8 2-2 9; Boone, Jimmy 2-2 0-0 5; Troutman, Rob 1-6 2-2 5;
Hobbs, Taylor 1-2 0-0 3; Klempin, Tommy 1-1 0-0 2; Taylor, Wes 1-1
0-0 2; Steigerwald, Justin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-46 18-20 64.
Wingate....................... 28 25 - 53
Tusculum...................... 25 39 - 64
3-point goals--Wingate 4-17 (Mattox, DeMario 1-3; Johnson, David
1-5; Turner, Rosco 1-4; Smith, Chase 1-2; Vaughn, Jamie 0-3),
Tusculum 4-13 (Hobbs, Taylor 1-2; Troutman, Rob 1-2; Boone, Jimmy
1-1; Troutman, Ryan 1-3; Moore, Kyle 0-5). Fouled
out--Wingate-Johnson, David, Tusculum-Troutman, Ryan.
Rebounds--Wingate 25 (Mattox, DeMario 8), Tusculum 34 (Moore, Kyle
7). Assists--Wingate 12 (Vaughn, Jamie 6), Tusculum 17 (Troutman,
Ryan 11). Total fouls--Wingate 21, Tusculum 15. Technical
fouls--Wingate-TEAM, Tusculum-None. A-409 Food Lion South Atlantic
Conference Tournament - Quarterfinal
#3 seed Tusculum vs. #6 seed Wingate
Tusculum ranked No. 9 in NCAA II Southeast Region
No. 4 Catawba 90, No. 5 Lincoln Memorial 78
SALISBURY, NC -- Catawba junior Antonio Houston (Charlotte, NC/E. Mecklenburg HS) scored 29 points to lead the fourth-seeded Indians past visiting Lincoln Memorial 90-78 in quarterfinal action of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night at Goodman Gym. The Catawba Indians improve to 19-9 and advance to the semifinals on Saturday night at Catawba Valley Community College. The Railsplitters, seeded-fifth, end their season at 14-14.
Houston would finish with a double-double, adding 11 rebounds. He was 11-of-20 from the floor and connected on four three-pointers. Cliff Burns (Cooleemee, NC/Davie Co. HS) and Dominick Reid (Charlotte, NC/Cannon School) each added 15 for the Indians.
Catawba pulled away in the final 10 minutes using a 9-0 run to take a 75-64 lead with 5:34 remaining. The Railsplitters never reduced the margin to single digits from there.
Lincoln Memorial battled back from an early 20-9 deficit and took a 28-26 lead on a Wadner Joseph (Miami, FL) layup. Catawba would spurt ahead by six and led 42-38 at the break. Houston had 13 points at the break, while LMU's Desmond Johnson (Lynch, KY) had 11.
Down seven, the Railsplitters used a 15-7 run to go on top 54-53 on a Stuart Miller (Harrogate, TN) three-pointer with 15:14 left. Houston answered with a three-pointer and Catawba never trailed again. The Indians led 62-55 before a run by LMU brought the Railsplitters within 66-64 at the 9:33 mark. Catawba then used the 9-0 run to grab a comfortable margin.
Johnson led LMU with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Miller added a dozen points with Joseph and Brandon Armstrong (Decatur, GA) each tallying 11 points. Lincoln Memorial shot just 29% in the second half and only 39% for the game.
Catawba shot 45 percent in each half and held a 50-42 edge on the boards. LMU had a +12 edge in rebounding in the regular season meetings, which the teams split. Reid also added seven rebounds and six assists. Rob Fields (Orangeburg, SC/Orangeburg-Wilkerson HS) scored a dozen points with Isaac Rose (Jonesville, NC/W. Forsyth HS) picking up 10 points and nine rebounds. Donald Rutherford (Morganton, NC/Freedom HS) added 10 rebounds and nine points.
CATAWBA 90, LINCOLN MEMORIAL 78
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Johnson, Desmond 7-20 8-10 22; Miller,Stuart 4-7 1-2 12;
Armstrong,Brandon 3-10 2-3 11; Joseph, Wadner 4-11 2-3 11;
Curry,D'Mario 4-4 1-4 9; Sanford, Carlos 3-7 0-0 7; Bogard, Matt
1-1 2-2 4; Martin, Tony 0-1 2-4 2; Sikes,Robin 0-2 0-0 0;
Allen,Justin 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-67 18-28 78.
CATAWBA
Houston, Antonio 11-20 3-3 29; Reid, Dominick 6-13 3-3 15; Burns,
Cliff 7-15 1-2 15; Fields, Rob 4-11 3-3 12; Rose, Isaac 2-8 6-6 10;
Rutherford, Donald 4-8 0-2 9; Williams, Donzell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
34-76 16-20 90.
Lincoln Memorial.... 38 40 - 78
Catawba............. 42 48 - 90
3-point goals-Lincoln Memorial 8-25 (Miller,Stuart 3-6;
Armstrong,Brandon 3-9; Joseph, Wadner 1 2; Sanford, Carlos 1-4;
Allen,Justin 0-3; Johnson, Desmond 0-1), Catawba 6-17 (Houston,
Antonio 4-8; Rutherford, Donald 1-2; Fields, Rob 1-2; Rose, Isaac
0-1; Reid, Dominick 0-4). Fouled out- Lincoln Memorial-Johnson,
Desmond, Catawba-None. Rebounds-Lincoln Memorial 42 (Johnson,
Desmond 11), Catawba 50 (Houston, Antonio 11). Assists-Lincoln
Memorial 15 (Armstrong,Brandon 3; Miller,Stuart 3; Sanford, Carlos
3), Catawba 16 (Reid, Dominick 6). Total fouls-Lincoln Memorial 23,
Catawba 23. A-312