 MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.-- The Limestone College men's basketball team picked up a big 75-65 win against Mount Olive in Conference Carolinas action on Saturday night at the Kornegay Arena. The Trojans, ranked No. 11 in the February 19 National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division II Coaches Poll, falls to 16-3 in the conference (21-5 overall). The Saints improve to 5-13 in the league (8-16).
Limestone’s Andrae Franklin (Fort Pierce, Fla.) had a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Kenny White (Columbia, S.C.) and Marques Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) each had 17 points. White and John Prioleau (Charleston, S.C.) both dished out four assists.
No. 11 Mount Olive cut a 14-point second half deficit down to five points with two minutes left, but Limestone held on to upset the Trojans.. Brandon Streeter scored 25 points – 19 in the second half – and pulled down 13 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season, but it wasn’t enough as Mount Olive had its seven-game winning streak snapped and suffered its first home loss of the year.
Mount Olive (21-5 overall, 16-3 Conference Carolinas) used a 5-0 run to take an 11-8 lead on Shaughnnon Washum’s basket with 11:14 left in the first half. Limestone (8-16, 5-13) came back with eight unanswered points and led the remainder of the game. The Saints built the lead to 22-14 after Franklin’s layup with 4:19 left in the first half.
Washum hit Mount Olive’s first three-pointer of the game with 2:51 left before halftime to cut the lead to five, but Kenny White answered with a three on Limestone’s next possession. The Trojans got as close as three points in the final minute after Streeter hit 3-of-4 free throws. White answered with another three-pointer with 21 seconds left and the Saints got a goaltending call at the buzzer to go into the locker room with a 30-22 halftime lead.
Mount Olive was held below the 30-point mark in the first half for the first time since scoring 28 points February 11, 2006, against Queens.
Streeter, who scored all of his first-half points from the free throw line, started the second half with a three-point play and a pair of layups as Mount Olive pulled within 33-29 with 17:50 remaining. But Limestone built the lead to double digits as White and Andre Coleman combined for three three-pointers to give the Saints a 52-38 lead with 10:35 remaining.
The margin was still in double figures with less than three minutes left when Mount Olive made a final run. After Streeter converted a three-point play to cut the lead to single digits, Justin Melton made a steal in the backcourt and a layup to pull the Trojans within 66-60 with 2:35 left.
Mount Olive got the ball back on a steal at midcourt and hit 1-of-2 free throws to pull within five. Melton made another steal, but the Trojans missed a pair of free throws and Marques Williams answered with a layup on the other end to build Limestone’s lead to 68-61 with 1:13 remaining. That would be as close as Mount Olive would get.
Free throws and three-point shooting marked the difference, particularly in the second half. Mount Olive was 15-for-33 from the line and 2-for-22 from three-point range. Limestone overcame first-half 2-for-7 shooting from both the line and beyond the arc, hitting 11-of-13 free throws and going 6-for-9 from three-point range in the second half.
Melton finished with 11 points for Mount Olive, the only other Trojan in double figures. Williams and White scored 17 points apiece for Limestone.
Mount Olive’s loss, coupled with Pfeiffer’s win at Anderson Saturday, drops the Trojans into a tie for first in the conference standings. Limestone maintains a half-game lead for the eighth and final spot in the Conference Carolinas Tournament, which gets underway March 3.
The Saints had a 30-22 lead at halftime, and edged the Trojans 45-43 in the second period for the win. The loss was Mount Olive's first home defeat of the 2007-08 season.
Limestone hosts Coker on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Gaffney, S.C. |
