Game recaps and notes from around the South Atlantic Conference:

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Eagles went 1-1 during the week, winning on the road but losing at home ... Kente Hart tallied 20 points off the bench to lead Carson-Newman to a 78-64 South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball win over host Tusculum Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena. C-N’s Milo Johnson added 13 points, while Stan Davis and Jermaine Grimm accounted for 10 points each. Hart shot 6-for-11 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. He also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds and dished out four assists ... Carson-Newman shot a sizzling 58.3 percent in the second half while limiting the Pioneers to 26.5 percent in the final 20 minutes ... With C-N leading 34-33 at halftime, the Eagles opened the period with a 14-4 run in the opening 6:02 to lead 48-37. C-N would add on to that advantage and led by as many as 18 points (63-45) following a Hart lay-up with 5:07 left in the game. TC would cut the deficit into single digits following an 8-2 spurt to trail 69-61 with 1:02, but that’s as close as the home team would get ... Tusculum came out firing shooting 70 percent in the first four minutes to take a 12-4 lead, its largest advantage of the night. The Eagles answered with nine unanswered points to take its first lead of the game at 22-20 with 8:22 left before halftime, following a three-pointer by Jesse McMurray ... The Catawba Indians shot 50 percent from the floor in both the first and second half on their way to a 75-61 win over the Carson-Newman Eagles Saturday night at Holt Fieldhouse. The Eagles were led in scoring by Darren Williams who had 12. Andrew Johnson added 11 points for C-N. The Eagles forced the Indians into 22 turnovers and scored 24 points off of them. Catawba jumped out to a 15-6 lead on a three-pointer by Jamel Hamilton seven minutes into the game ... The Eagles came back to take an 18-17 lead on a Darren Williams jumper four minutes later. But the Indians claimed the lead for good when Graves nailed a three-pointer at the 7:36 mark. Catawba led 35-28 at the half ... Just as they did in the first game between the two teams, the Indians built a big lead early in the second half and never looked back. Catawba built a 25-point lead on two occasions in the second half before the Eagles rebounded to cut the final deficit to 14 when Andrew Johnson connected on a three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining ... The Eagles host Presbyterian Monday night in a game that was rescheduled because of inclement weather last weekend. They then close out the regular season with road games at Mars Hill and Wingate.

CATAWBA - The Indians won two road games last week to regain a share of the top spot in the SAC … Catawba won 96-76 at Mars Hill and 75-61 at Carson-Newman … The Indians used a huge rebounding edge in both games, combining to outrebound the two 102-62 … the Tribe held a 52-35 edge against Mars Hill and 50-27 versus Carson-Newman … Catawba had just 12 turnovers against the Lions and hit on 27-of-33 (82 percent) from the line in pulling away from a 49-43 halftime advantage … Jamel Hamilton led the way with 18 points off the bench, while Helgi Magnusson added 17 … Andy Thomson posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds … Thomson had just nine points at Carson-Newman, but had four of the Tribe’s 11 blocked shots … Jolly Manning tallied 14 points, while Brian Graves and Magnusson each had a dozen … The Indians canned 50 percent from the field and held CN to just 35 percent … Catawba rebounded from its three-game losing streak to win four in a row … The Indians still continue to shoot extremely well, hitting 49 percent from the field and nearly 36 percent from three-point range … Graves leads the team with a 13.6 scoring average and has a near 2-1 turnover-assist margin … Magnusson adds 12.9 points and 4.5 rebounds … Catawba closes the regular season with home games against Wingate and Presbyterian this week.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men’s basketball team (15-9, 9-3) saw its nine-game winning streak snapped and lost both its SAC games on the road last week ... The Bears fell to the Bulldogs of Wingate University (86-75) on Wednesday before losing to the Blue Hose of Presbyterian College (80-62) on Saturday … Wingate’s Justin Baker, who scored 30 points in the previous meeting between the two squads, led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting including 18 in the second half while Sean Barnette nearly went for a triple double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists) … Wingate also made eight treys and snapped a seven-game losing streak to Lenoir-Rhyne and defeated the Bears for the first time at home since the 2001-02 campaign … A 16-7 second-half run by Lenoir-Rhyne cut Wingate’s deficit to two (53-51) but L-R simply could not overtake the Bulldogs … Wingate shot 67 percent (18-of-27) in the second half while the Bears were led by sophomore forward Josh Kindred’s (Holly Springs, N.C.) 23 points in just 23 minutes of action … Junior guard Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) added 17 points for the Bears, who turned the ball over 20 times against the Bulldogs … PC, like Wingate, had a strong performance shooting in the second half (68 percent, 13-of 19) and hit nine treys in moving within a half-game of first place in the South Atlantic Conference … PC led by as many as 20 (61-41) and were led by Tray Ballenger’s 16 points en route to the win … Kindred led the Bears with 17 points and Lenoir-Rhyne’s free throw shooting (24-of-30, 80 percent) kept L-R in the contest ... Kindred is second on team in scoring (13.0 ppg) but is averaging 16.9 points against league foes in 2005-06 … L-R is guaranteed a fourth straight winning season and would clinch at least a share of the SAC Regular Season Title for the third time in the last four years by winning the final two games … The Bears have won 14 straight games against leagues at Shuford Gymnasium and eight straight overall at home … L-R's last two games are at home: Newberry on Wednesday beginning at 8 p.m., and against Tusculum on Saturday for Senior Night at 8 p.m.

MARS HILL - MHC lost both of their games last week … The fell at home to Catawba on Wednesday night and then lost at Wingate on Saturday … MHC is now 9-16 overall and 3-9 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, four Catawba players scored in double-digits to lead the Indians to a 96-76 victory over Mars Hill in Stanford Arena Wednesday night … Walt Baxley (Winston-Salem, NC) scored 40 for the Lions in the contest … Andy Thomson (Poynton, England) hit a layup to give Catawba a 8-6 advantage with 17:36 left in the opening half and the Indians maintained the lead the rest of the game … Catawba led by as many as nine points (42-33) with 3:44 on the clock after Jamel Hamilton (Virginia Beach, VA) hit a 3-pointer … MHC cut the Indians lead to 49-43 going into the locker room at the intermission … MHC cut the Indians lead to four points (62-58) with 12:13 left in the game when Baxley hit one of his five 3-pointers in the contest but that was as close as the Lions could get … Catawba went on a 11-to-3 run over the next three minutes to lead by 12 (73-61) with 9:15 left after Chris Wooldridge (Norfolk, VA) hit a pair of free throws to seal the win … Baxley added six rebounds and five assists to go along with his game high 40 points … He was 13-of-14 from the foul line and 5-of-8 from behind the arc … This was the third time he has scored 40 or more points this season … He is averaging 27.8 points per game and that statistic ranks him second in the nation in scoring in NCAA Division II … Elliott McDowell (Canton, NC) added nine points for the Lions … Catawba scored 50 points in the paint, 25 second chance points and received 44 points from their bench … The Indians out rebounded MHC, 52-to-35 … In the second game of the week, Wingate University sophomore forward Sean Barnette (Rock Hill, S.C.) had a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Bulldogs outlasted Mars Hill College 77-70 in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night in Cuddy Arena … Wingate scored the final seven points of the game at the free throw line to break a 70-70 tie and avenge a heartbreaking 77-76 loss at Mars Hill on January 21 … Mars Hill tied the game at 70 with 1:18 remaining, but did not score again … Lion senior guard Walt Baxley led all scorers with 24 points … A steal and lay-up by Bulldog junior guard Justin Baker (Lumberton, N.C.) gave Wingate a 68-61 lead with 4:04 remaining in the contest … The seven-point advantage was Wingate’s largest lead of the evening … The Lions made a 9-2 mini-run to tie the game at 70 on a tip-in by junior center Chris Aline (Reinach, Switzerland) with 1:18 to play … Aline had two huge put-backs during the 9-2 flurry … Mars Hill fouled Wingate junior guard Bill Smith (Manasquan, N.J.) six seconds later and the Adelphi University transfer calmly sank two free throws to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at 72-70 … Mars Hill’s last three meaningful possessions included two missed shots and a turnover as Wingate iced the game at the charity stripe … Smith made eight-of-eight free throws (including four-of-four in the last 1:12), helping the Bulldogs convert 26-of-38 charity tosses for the evening. Smith netted a career-high 10 points in the victory … The number two scorer in NCAA Division II, Baxley hit 24 points on six-of-15 field goals and 10-of-11 free throws … Lion junior guard Marques Maxwell (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added 14 points off the bench, while junior forward Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, N.C.) contributed 13 points before his disqualification … The game was nip-and-tuck throughout, featuring 17 ties … Neither team shot well, as Wingate hit only 39 percent (23-of-59) of its field goal attempts … Mars Hill did not fare much better, converting 40 percent from the floor (24-of-60) … MHC will host Carson-Newman in their last home game on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. and then travel to Newberry on Saturday to face the Indians at 4 p.m.

NEWBERRY - In what is arguably the biggest week for Newberry men’s basketball during Shaun Golden’s tenure, the Indians picked up their first two road wins of the year and extended their winning streak to four to draw within two games of .500. Five players averaged double figures for the week, indicating how the team has unified and spread the load in order to win ... On Monday, senior Michael Dease canned five three-pointers and Newberry won its first road game of the year, defeating North Greenville College 74-68. Dease led Newberry with 17 points on 5-13 shooting. NGU took an early lead and kept it for the first 15 minutes of the game, but the Indians took a 24-22 lead on a Tommy Burke three-pointer with just over five minutes remaining in the half. Newberry closed the first half on a 12-3 run, and held a 36-27 advantage at the break. Newberry would get up by as many as 17 points, but a 24-7 Crusader rally tied the ballgame at 61-61 on a PJ Schumacher three-pointer with just less than four minutes to play. Alonzo Hinds gave Newberry the lead for good on a three-point basket with 2:38 remaining in the game. Newberry closed out the game with four made free throws by Chandler ... On Wednesday, Newberry used a balanced attack with four players in double figures to pull the upset over Presbyterian College, 82-67. Newberry held 10-plus point leads in each half spanning almost 16 minutes, and was not seriously threatened past the ten-minute mark in the second period ... Junior Zach Chandler tormented the Blue Hose early. In the first minute of play, he had rebounded a PC miss, stolen the ball twice in the backcourt for layups, and forced two Blue Hose fouls on the way to a 6-0 Newberry lead. The visitors scored the next eleven points, and Clemente Martin and Cory Etheridge answered with a three-point play and mid-range jumper to tie the score at 11. Monroe led Newberry with 18, followed closely by Chandler and Alonzo Hinds who had 16 apiece. Martin scored 13 points, four of those from emphatic dunks. Monroe paced the Indians on the glass and in thefts as well, garnering eight rebounds and three steals ... Clemente Martin scored 20 points off the bench to lead visiting Newberry College to a 66-64 win over Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena. The Indians increased their winning streak to four games and complete the season sweep over Tusculum. Newberry also claims its first victory in Greeneville in five years ... Martin shot 6-for-9 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the free throw line to go along with his six rebounds. Zach Chandler added 14 points, while Sammy Monroe posted 13 markers and a pair of blocks in the win ... Newberry went on a 13-2 run in the opening half to take a 24-11 lead following a jumper by Monroe at the 6:02 mark,and then closed out the half with a 5-0 spurt to take a 29-22 lead into the locker room ... Newberry held Tusculum without a field goal in the final 3:49 as the Pioneers got only two shots off during that span. The Pioneers stayed in the game as they made their last five free throw attempts, while the Indians shot 2-of-7 from the free throw line in the final three minutes. Newberry came up with several critical offensive rebounds down the stretch. The biggest one came with Newberry holding onto a 65-64 lead with a dozen seconds left. Chandler missed a pair of free throws, but Tusculum tipped the rebound out of bounds as Newberry maintained possession. Alonzo Hinds made of two free throws, giving the Indians a two-point lead with 8.1 seconds left. The Pioneers got one more chance, but senior Donald Sexton’s three-pointer at the buzzer hit the rim to end the game ... Newberry will be on the road Wednesday, traveling to Hickory, N.C. to take on Lenoir-Rhyne College, and return home for the season finale against Mars Hill on Saturday.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian College (20-7, 8-3 SAC) split a pair of games last week to pull within half of game of a tie for first place in the SAC regular season standings. The Blue Hose (8-3) trail Lenoir-Rhyne (9-3) and Catawba (9-3) going into Monday’s make-up game with Carson-Newman College. PC lost 82-67 on the road Wednesday to Newberry College, but bounced back to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne College (80-62) at home Saturday ... Presbyterian College’s senior Johann Collins scored a team-best 18 points, but the Blue hose turned the ball over 22 times en route to a 82-67 loss to Newberry College on the road Wednesday. PC entered halftime trailing 38-29 after committing 14 first half turnovers, but out-shot the Indians from the floor (46.2 percent to 42.9 percent). Newberry placed four players in double figures led by Sammy Monroe’s 18 points. The Indians converted PC’s turnovers into 24 points on the night and hit eight-of-18 three-point field goals. PC’s Grant Herren tallied a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds in the losing effort ... Presbyterian College’s senior Tray Ballenger and freshman Bryan Bostic combined for 27 points to lead the Blue Hose to an 80-62 victory over the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne College Saturday afternoon at the Ross E. Templeton Center. PC improves to 20-7 overall (8-3) with the victory, while Lenoir-Rhyne falls to 15-9 (9-3) on the season. Ballenger hit seven-of-10 field goal attempts on the night, while Bostic was three-of-six from three-point range and added four assists. Ballenger added four boards and four steals for the game. The Blue Hose shot an impressive 68.4% from the floor in the second half and finished the game shooting 58.3% from the field, including nine-of-21 from beyond the arc. Junior Sean Dixon added eight points, seven boards, and four assists for the Blue Hose, while redshirt sophomore Martynas Versinskas and sophomore Pat Kiscaden came off the bench to tally eight and nine points respectively ... 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 10.8 minutes per game. Defensively, the Blue Hose are holding opponents to 65.9 ppg and hold a +7.2 rebound margin over their opponents. The Blue Hose are 10-5 when their opponents score 65 points or more this season ... Presbyterian College’s senior duo of Tray Ballenger and Johann Collins entered their final season with the Blue Hose with their sights set on reaching the 1,000-point plateau. Ballenger, a native of Wellford, S.C., reached 1,000 career points in PC’s 80-73 win over Wingate University on February 8. Collins, a native of Raleigh, N.C., scored his 1,000th career point in PC’s 74-69 victory over Mars Hill College on February 4. Ballenger enters the week with 1,026 career points and Collins enters with 1,064 career points. The duo are the 15th and 16th players under Coach Gregg Nibert’s tenure to reach the 1,000-point milestone ... PC travels to Jefferson City, Tenn. on Monday, February 20 to face Carson-Newman College at 8:00 pm. The game has been postponed twice due to inclement weather. The Blue Hose return home to host Tusculum College on Wednesday, February 22 at 8:00 pm, followed by a road trip to Salisbury, N.C. to take on Catawba College on Saturday, February 25 at 8:00 pm in the regular season finale.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum College men’s basketball team went 0-2 last week, losing its final two home outings of the 2005-06 campaign… Junior Chris Poore led the Pioneers in scoring with his 21-point effort in a 78-64 home loss to Carson-Newman… The defeat halted a four-game winning streak against the Eagles… Douglas Tshomba added 14 points, while Gabe Story grabbed a game-high nine rebounds… Poore shot 8-for-15 from the floor and hauled in six rebounds… In Saturday’s 66-64 home finale loss to Newberry, Tusculum out-shot (51.1 percent-40.7 percent) and out-rebounded the Indians (33-29), but NC forced 26 turnovers resulting in 22 points… Tshomba, playing in his final home game at Pioneer Arena, posted 23 points and eight rebounds… The Brussels, Belgium senior went 7-for-10 from the field, including 4-of-5 from downtown… Poore posted 19 points, while Jordan Lear tallied 17 points in the loss… Senior Donald Sexton scored only two points in his final regular season home game at TC, but extended his streak of posting an assist to 53 consecutive outings… Sexton has recorded 445 assists in his career, which are second most in school history and is now fourth on the all-time assists list in SAC history… Sexton’s .776 career free throw percentage is fifth best in Tusculum history… Tshomba is shooting 84.9 percent from the foul line in his TC career, which is third in both school and SAC history… Tshomba is averaging 21.7 ppg in his last nine games… He also has 151 three-point field goals to his credit at Tusculum, which are fifth in school history… Tusculum will close out the regular season with two road games at Presbyterian and Lenoir-Rhyne… Wednesday’s game at PC will be televised by Time-Warner Cable.

WINGATE - Wingate University sophomore forward Sean Barnette had a double-double with 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds as the Bulldogs outlasted Mars Hill College 77-70 in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night in Cuddy Arena. With the victory, the Bulldogs gave head coach Parker Laketa his 99th win at the Wingate helm ... Wingate (13-12 overall, 6-6 SAC) scored the final seven points of the game at the free throw line to break a 70-70 tie and avenge a heartbreaking 77-76 loss at Mars Hill on January 21. Mars Hill tied the game at 70 with 1:18 remaining, but did not score again ... Two free throws by junior guard Bill Smith gave the Bulldogs the lead for good at 72-70 six seconds later. Mars Hill’s last three meaningful possessions included two missed shots and a turnover as Wingate iced the game at the charity stripe ... Smith made eight-of-eight free throws (including four-of-four in the last 1:12), helping the Bulldogs convert 26-of-38 charity tosses for the evening. Smith netted a career-high 10 points in the victory ... Wingate redshirt sophomore Bryan Grier (Charlotte, N.C.) had 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Grier is the top shot blocker in the NCAA Division II. Bulldog junior guard Justin Baker added 14 points to the Bulldog cause ... The game was nip-and-tuck throughout, featuring 17 ties. Neither team shot well, as Wingate hit only 39 percent (23-of-59) of its field goal attempts. Mars Hill did not fare much better, converting 40 percent from the floor (24-of-60). Only one 2005-06 Wingate opponent (Tusculum at Tusculum, January 7, 2006) has shot better than 50 percent in a game this season ... Wingate shot 66.7 percent (18-of-27) in the second half as the Bulldogs expanded a 37-35 halftime advantage en route to a 85-74 SAC home win over first-place Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night. Baker was the standard bearer for the hosts, hitting 11-of-15 field goal attempts en route to a 26-point evening ... Barnette narrowly missed a triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. The 2005 SAC Freshman of the Year added three blocked shots and one steal. Barnette led the Wingate to two wins in three games last week (the Bulldogs dropped a 77-70 decision at St. Andrews Monday). Barnette averaged a double-double with 21.3 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game last week..