Game recaps and notes from around the South Atlantic Conference:

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Eagles dropped a pair of games last week. The Maryville College Fighting Scots, one of the top Division II teams in the nation, earned a hard fought victory over Carson-Newman by the score of 79-74 in front of a capacity crowd in MC’s Cooper Athletic Center Monday night ... Maryville jumped out to an early 14-7 lead following a three-point exhibition by guards Monte Calloway, Bo Mason, and Jonathan Johnson. The Eagles battled back and established their only substantial lead of the contest at the 8:23 mark as C-N’s Andrew Johnson hit a 3-pointer to put Carson-Newman up 23-18. MC’s Andy Chaney put the Scots up by one with his two free-throws (24-23) and Maryville would never relinquish the lead again in the first half. Maryville would go to the intermission with an eight-point advantage 37-28 ... CN got to within one point on four separate occasions in the second half, but Maryville would successfully pull away for the five-point victory ... Carson-Newman was led by Kente Hart and his 22-point, 5 assist evening. Andy Tipton and Clay Scott each added 12 points and a combined 11 boards to help the Eagles ... The Eagles shot 54 percent from the field against the Newberry Indians but still came up a little short as they lost on the road Saturday, 64-60. The Eagles were an incredible 69 percent (11-16) from the floor in the first half and led 29-21 at the break ... But Newberry rebounded in the second 20 minutes of play and outscored C-N 43-31 to take the win. The teams tied on five occasions in the second period, the last coming at 60-60 when Chandler slashed for a layup ... C-N missed on the other end, and Clemente Martin hit a jumper in the lane for a 62-60 lead with 1:15 left. The Eagles could not score on their next possession, and Martin claimed the rebound ... On the next possession, Newberry got two chances to score and converted neither. Eagle Jesse McMurray tracked down the rebound in the corner with 17 seconds left, but his outlet pass was intercepted by Etheridge. Etheridge was fouled and made his first foul shot. His second shot was too long, but Martin rebounded the shot and was fouled. Martin made one free throw for the game’s final point ... Newberry endured a scoreless ten-minute stretch in the heart of the first period and watched Carson-Newman go up by as many as 13 on two occasions ... Following a pair of successful Zach Chandler free throws with 1.9 seconds left in the half, Seven Ezumba intercepted the inbounds pass and beat the buzzer with his only three-point attempt of the year. The shot was true, and the Indians entered halftime down only eight points at 29-21 ... The Eagles were led in scoring by Scott Williams who finished the contest with 21 points. Jess McMurray hit four three-pointers to score 12 points in the game and Andy Tipton added 10 points ... The Eagles play three games this week as they travel to North Greenville on Monday, host Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday and host Presbyterian on Saturday night.

CATAWBA - The Catawba men’s basketball fell in double-overtime at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday in its only action of the week ... The loss was the third in a row for the Tribe, all on the road ... The Indians rallied from an early 12-point deficit against the Bears and again in both overtimes before the Bears finally got the game-winner with three seconds to go with Helgi Magnusson missing on a three-pointer at the end ... Chris Wooldridge made one of two free throws with .7 seconds left of the first overtime to tie the score and Norman Monroe connected on a three-pointer with 14 seconds left in the final overtime to bring the Tribe even ... Magnusson finished with a season-high 26 points, while Jamel Hamilton added 20 in the loss ... Brian Graves had 18 points and nine assists with Monroe tossing in a career-best 14 points with six rebounds ... The Indians shot just over 48 percent from the field, but made only 7-of-24 from behind the arc ... Catawba made 75.6 percent from the line, but did miss a couple a key chances in the first overtime period ... Lenoir-Rhyne enjoyed a 45-38 edge on the boards, including a 19-9 edge on the offensive glass ... Graves leads the squad in scoring at 13.6 points per game and adds five assists ... Magnusson is hitting for 12.7 a contest and is making 46 percent from three-point range ... Hamilton (12.5 ppg) and Wooldridge (11.3 ppg) also averages double digits.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men’s basketball team (13-7, 7-1) remained alone atop the South Atlantic Conference standings by defeating Catawba, 98-96, in double overtime at Shuford Gymnasium Saturday evening in one of the greatest games every played on the Bears’ home floor … The contest, which featured 16 ties, came to an end in the second overtime when sophomore guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) made a driving lay-up with 5.7 seconds left and Catawba’s Helgi Magnusson missed a three-point shot from the corner as time expired … Lenoir-Rhyne has now won a season-high seven straight games and 10 of their last 11 contests ... The game also came down to wire at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime … Sophomore forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.), who tied a career high with 22 points and set a personal high with 14 rebounds, missed a tip-in at the end of the second half that would have won it for the Bears while Catawba’s Chris Wooldridge missed the front end of two free throws with 0.7 seconds left in the first overtime which could have seal the game for the Indians … Junior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Bears with a career-high 25 points including five in the second overtime and Rudder added 21 points and five assists … Kindred is third on the team in points with 11.8 ppg but is averaging 15.9 points against league opponents … Lenoir-Rhyne has now won 13 straight games against league opponents and seven straight games overall at Shuford Gymnasium … The Bears’ seven-game winning streak is the longest in two years, the same season they started 7-1 in the conference as well … L-R travels to Jefferson City, Tenn., to play Carson-Newman Wednesday evening before hosting Mars Hill Saturday night at 8 p.m.

MARS HILL - MHC lost their only game last week to Presbyterian College, 74-69 … The Lions fell to 9-12 overall and 3-5 in the SAC … Drew Biggs scored his career high 25 points to lead Presbyterian College to a 74-69 win over Mars Hill College Saturday afternoon in Stanford Arena … PC jumped out to a 11-point (16-5) lead with 15:46 left in the first half after Martynas Versinkas (Kaunas, Lithuania) hit a layup … MHC trimmed the PC lead to just four points (21-17) with 10:24 left in the first period after Mark Hamilton (Savannah, GA) hit a shot in the paint. PC then out scored MHC 21-to-15 to take a 42-32 lead into the locker room at halftime … PC hit 56 percent (14-25) of their field goals in the first stanza while MHC only converted on 29.6 percent (8-27) of their first half shots … MHC opened the second half on a 14-to-3 run to take a 46-45 lead with 15:22 left in the contest after Elliott McDowell (Canton, NC) hit a layup … MHC would then take their largest lead of five points (52-47) with 12:04 remaining after Walt Baxley (Winston-Salem, NC) hit a pair of free throws … PC then went on a 12-to-3 run of their own to lead by four points (59-55) with 9:13 on the clock after Biggs hit one of his seven 3-pointers in the game … MHC clawed their way back and took a 67-64 lead with 4:58 left after Baxley hit a jumper but the Blue Hose scored eight unanswered points over the next two minutes to take a five point lead (72-67) … PC would not relinquish the lead after that point … MHC scored 26 points in the paint and 31 points off PC miscues. The Lions added 10 points off the break while PC received 40 points from their bench and won the rebound battle, 36-to-23 … Following Biggs for PC was Bryan Bostic (Norcross, VA) with 14 and Johann Collins (Raleigh, NC) with 11 … Collins entered PC’s 1,000-point club with this afternoon’s effort … Baxley led all scorers with 32 points … He was a perfect 11-for-11 at the foul line … Baxley leads the SAC in scoring with a 26.3 average. McDowell was the only other Lions in double-figures with 14 points … MHC will play at Tusculum College on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. before playing at Lenoir-Rhyne College on Saturday night, also at 8 p.m.

NEWBERRY - Junior Cory Etheridge shot 75 percent from the floor and dropped five three-point shots to help push Newberry past Carson-Newman, 64-60, in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Eleazer Arena. Twenty-one points is a season high for Etheridge, who canned four of five foul shots. Newberry improves to 7-12 and 2-6 in the conference. Carson-Newman shares Newberry’s record in both columns ... The teams tied on five occasions in the second period, the last coming at 60-60 when Chandler slashed for a layup. C-N missed on the other end, and Clemente Martin hit a jumper in the lane for a 62-60 lead with 1:15 left. The Eagles could not score on their next possession, and Martin claimed the rebound. On the next possession, Newberry got two chances to score and converted neither. Eagle Jesse McMurray tracked down the rebound in the corner with 17 seconds left, but his outlet pass was intercepted by Etheridge. Etheridge was fouled and made his first foul shot. His second shot was too long, but Martin rebounded the shot and was fouled. Martin made one free throw for the game’s final point ... Newberry endured a scoreless ten-minute stretch in the heart of the first period and watched Carson-Newman go up by as many as 13 on two occasions. Following a pair of successful Zach Chandler free throws with 1.9 seconds left in the half, Seven Ezumba intercepted the inbounds pass and beat the buzzer with his only three-point attempt of the year. The shot was true, and the Indians entered halftime down only eight points at 29-21 ... Five minutes into the second stanza, Carson-Newman secured a ten-point lead off Scott Williams’ jumpshot. Williams scored 15 of his 21 points after intermission. However, the Eagles went cold, allowing Newberry to even the score at 40 with five points from Chandler and three from Ezumba during the run ... Martin and Chandler joined Etheridge in double figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Sammy Monroe shared top rebounding billing with Martin, each collecting ten boards ... The Eagles’ accuracy could not have been much better in the first period, shooting a shade under 70 percent. They finished the game converting 53.7 percent from the field, but Newberry pressured Carson-Newman into 24 turnovers. The Indians took care of the ball well, committing only ten turnovers ... Newberry hits the road for Wednesday’s contest, an 8 p.m. matchup at Catawba College.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian College (17-6, 6-2 SAC) won a pair of games this past week to move into sole possession of second place in the SAC regular season standings. The Blue Hose defeated Allen University 91-48 on the road last Tuesday and defeated Mars Hill College 74-69 on the road Saturday ... Presbyterian College placed four players in double figures led by junior guard Sean Dixon’s game-high 16 points. The Blue Hose shot 54.4 percent from the field for the game and dominated the backboards (45-28) versus the Yellow Jackets. Freshman guard Bryan Bostic and senior forward Tray Ballenger each scored 11 points, while fellow freshman Travis Sligh added a career-high 12 points and three boards. The Yellow Jackets were held to 29.8 percent shooting from the field for the game and turned the ball over 20 times ... Presbyterian College sophomore guard Drew Biggs tallied a career-high 25 points on seven-of-10 shooting from three-point range to lead the Blue Hose to a 74-69 victory over the home-standing Mars Hill College Lions on Saturday. Bostic chipped in 14 points and six boards on the night, while senior center Johann Collins broke the 1,000-point plateau with 11 points and five boards. PC held the Lions to 29.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half to build a 42-32 lead entering halftime. The Blue Hose held off a second half rally by the Lions, led by senior Walt Baxley who tallied a game-high 32 points ... The Blue Hose are using a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense this season. PC has six players averaging atleast 8.2 ppg this season and 10 players averaging atleast 11.2 minutes per game. Defensively, the Blue Hose are holding opponents to 65.0 ppg and hold a +6.7 rebound margin over their opponents. The Blue Hose are 8-5 when their opponents score 65 points or more this season ... Seniors Tray Ballenger and Johann Collins both enter their final season at PC with their sights set on the 1,000 career point plateau. Collins reached the 1000-point plateau versus Mars Hill College on Saturday and now has 1,002 career points. He becomes the 15th player under head coach Gregg Nibert’s tenure to reach this milestone. Ballenger enters the week with 983 career points, only 17 points shy of the milestone ... Presbyterian College head coach Gregg Nibert entered the 2005-06 season with a major milestone within his grasp. Nibert, the program’s all-time winningiest coach with 299 wins, needs only one more wins to reach 300 career victories. When he reaches this milestone, he will be one of only three active coaches in the SAC to reach 300 career wins. He is the league’s all-time leader in SAC victories (145) and overall wins (299) since the league became an all-sports conference prior to the 1989-90 season ... PC travels to Central, S.C. on Monday, February 6 to take on Southern Wesleyan University in non-conference action at 7:00 pm. The Blue Hose return to league play on Wednesday, February 8 when they host Wingate University at 8:00 pm, before traveling to Jefferson City, Tenn. on Saturday, February 11 to face Carson-Newman College at 8:00 pm.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum College men’s basketball team ended a three-game losing streak with Saturday’s 92-89 overtime win at Wingate… The Pioneers have won four in a row over the Bulldogs, averaging 100 points during that stretch… Chris Poore scored a career-high 30 points going 11-for-20 from the floor and 8-of-14 at the free throw line… Poore also hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds, including six offensive boards… Jordan Lear added 18 points, while Donald Sexton recorded 17 markers, including the game-winning lay-up with 1.7 seconds left in overtime… Sexton has recorded 424 assists as a Pioneer and has moved into sixth place in South Atlantic Conference history, passing Catawba’s Art Wade (423 - 1994-98)… Sexton needs two helpers to take over fifth place and surpass Presbyterian’s Bret Jones (425 - 1989-93)… He has recorded an assist in 49 straight games… Tusculum has recorded a three-point field goal in 518 consecutive games dating back to 1987… The Pioneers will host Mars Hill on Wednesday, before traveling to Catawba on Saturday.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaking 92-89 SAC decision (in overtime) to Tusculum College Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena on the Wingate campus. The Pioneers converted a traditional three-point play with 1.7 seconds left in extra time to take the win. Wingate sophomore guard/forward Sean Barnette had 27 points and 12 rebounds against Tusculum, notching his third career double-double ... Against Tusculum, Wingate scored the first two hoops in overtime to take an 83-79 lead on a lay-up from redshirt sophomore center Bryan Grier at the 4:01 mark. Tusculum answered with a 7-2 mini-run to take an 86-85 advantage on a Donald Sexton three-point field goal at the 2:57 plateau ... One free throw by Barnette gave Wingate its last lead at 88-87 with 1:11 remaining in the extra frame. A lay-up by Pioneer Jordan Lear put Tusculum up 89-88 with 49 seconds left. Barnette hit one more free throw with 41 seconds to go to tie the game for the 11th and final time at 89-89. The two teams traded missed shots, setting the stage for Tusculum’s late-game heroics ... On Wednesday night, Wingate junior guard Justin Baker hit 27 points as the Bulldogs defeated North Greenville University 85-76 in NCAA Division II men’s basketball action in Cuddy Arena. Barnette had 19 points against NGU, while Grier had 12 points, four rebounds, four blocks and four assists. Grier leads the NCAA Division II in blocked shots ... Last week’s SAC Player of the Week, Baker scored 22 points in the first half as the Bulldogs sprinted to a 49-35 halftime lead versus NGU. Wingate shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) in the first half, while holding North Greenville to 38.2 percent (13-of-34) ... A three-point field goal by Barnette put Wingate up 74-53 with 7:55 remaining in the contest. North Greenville hit two three-pointers in the final 17 seconds of the game to cut the deficit to single digits. On the evening, Wingate made 15-of-30 three-point field goals. Baker hit five-of-eight, while Barnette nailed five-of-10 trifectas ... Barnette averaged 23.0 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game Wingate’s two Wingate contests last week. He also contributed five assists, five steals and one blocked shot. He tied his career-high with 12 rebounds against Tusculum ... A graduate of Northwestern High School, Barnette is listed in the top 15 of seven SAC statistical categories. He is second in the league in individual scoring (19.0 points per game). Barnette steps up his play in SAC contests, as he is averaging 23.0 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game in league games. His season averages are 19.0 points per game and 5.8 rebounds..