Game recaps and notes from around the South Atlantic Conference:

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles ended their season with a 67-64 loss on Wednesday at Presbyterian in the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The first half was highlighted by five ties and six lead changes with the largest lead coming at five points by the Blue Hose on three occasions. PC led 23-18 at the 6:58 mark on a layup by senior Collins, but Carson-Newman fought back and trimmed the lead only one point at 30-29 on a steal and layup by senior Milo Johnson as the teams entered halftime. Ballenger paced the Blue Hose with 12 first half points on five-of-eight shooting from the floor, while Johnson led the Eagles with eight points on three-of-four shooting from the floor. Carson-Newman outscored the Blue Hose off the bench 13-2 in the first half, but the Blue Hose led in second chance points 10-2. In the second half, the Blue Hose led by as many as eight points at 50-42 on a three-pointer by sophomore Pat Kiscaden at the 10:43 mark, but Carson-Newman s sophomore Andy Tipton scored 10 straight points to pull the Eagles to within one point at 54-53 with 6:21 remaining. The Eagles would not let the Blue Hose extend the lead past five points the rest of the game and trailed by only three points at 67-64 with :19 seconds remaining, but Carson-Newman s last attempt at a game-tying three-pointer fell short as time expired. Carson-Newman was paced by junior Kente Hart’s 13 points, while sophomore Darren Williams added 11 points, and Tipton added 10 points.

CATAWBA - The Catawba men fell in the opening round of the SAC Tournament 87-84 to Tusculum ... The Indians finished the season at 22-8 ... The Tribe fought back in the closing minutes, but came up short as the Indians missed three shots to tie the game in the final 10 seconds ... Helgi Magnusson scored 23 points and had seven rebounds to pace the Tribe ... Chris Wooldridge added 16 points ... Catawba controlled the boards out-rebounding Tusculum 50-31, but the Indians shot only 39.7 percent, a season-low at home for the season ... Catawba finished the season averaging 87.2 points per game ands were led by senior Helgi Magnusson, who tossed in 13.4 a contest and pulled down 4.7 rebounds ... Magnusson finished his career as the No. 7 all-time scorer at Catawba with 1,644 points ... He was named first team All-SAC along with Brian Graves, who averaged 13.2 points and 5.1 assists ... Graves will enter his senior season ranked 8th all-time in assists with 397 and needs 44 points to reach 1,000 in his career ... Chris Wooldridge blocked a team-leading 60 shots, the fourth best total in school history, and now stands fourth all-time with 130 in his three seasons ... Jolly Manning finished third all-time in blocks with 137 .. Manning set a new school record for field goal shooting, making 68.5 percent (113-of-165) of his attempts.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men’s basketball team (18-10) ended the year with a 77-61 loss to Wingate University in the semifinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. … The Bears, who were without junior star reserve Reggie Bratton (Charlotte, N.C.) (suffered a broken foot in the practice prior to the game), never led in the game and trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half as they saw their season come to an end … Lenoir-Rhyne, despite a career-high 25 points from sophomore forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C.) to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds, suffered poor shooting not only from the field (21-of-54, 39 percent) but from the free throw line (15-of-31, 48 percent) as well … Junior guards Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) and Eric Mauldin (Albemarle, N.C.) each tallied 11 points in the losing effort for the Bears, who lost its second straight game to Wingate after beating the Bulldogs on seven straight occasions … The Bulldogs’ Sean Barnette (18 points) was one of four players to score in double figures for Wingate … Lenoir-Rhyne advanced to the semifinals after defeating Mars Hill for the third time this season on Wednesday (84-75) in first round at home behind Kindred’s 21 points … L-R won despite allowing 37 points to SAC Player Of The Year Walt Baxley and was fueled by its 30-of-39 (77 percent) from the charity stripe … Lenoir-Rhyne won the SAC Regular Season Title for the third time in four years and first outright championship since the 1994-95 campaign … L-R’s title was the sixth, the most of any league school and all under 20-year mentor John Lentz … Lentz, whose team was picked to finish fifth in the coaches preseason poll, was named South Atlantic Conference Coach Of The Year (the fourth time in his coaching career) … All award winners on the year included Kindred (All-SAC First Team, SAC All-Tournament Team), sophomore guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) (All-SAC Second Team), Donte Watson (Fayetteville, N.C.) (SAC Freshman Of The Year, SAC All-Freshman Team) and Tyler Boardman (Clemmons, N.C.) (SAC All-Freshman Team) … The Bears have won 17 consecutive at home against league foes and are currently on an 11-game winning streak at Shuford Gymnasium … Kindred all finished the season with 15 straight games of double-digit scoring … Lenoir-Rhyne returns all five starters and its top eight scorers for next year.

MARS HILL - MHC ended the 2005-06 season with a 84-75 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne in the first round of the SAC Tournament … MHC ends the year with a 9-19 overall record and a 3-11 mark in the league … The No. 1-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne College men’s basketball team (18-9) advanced to the semifinals of the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament after defeating eighth-seeded Mars Hill College (9-19), 84-75, in the first round Wednesday night at Shuford Gymnasium … Sophomore forward Josh Kindred (Holly Springs, N.C./Fuquay-Varina HS) was one of five Lenoir-Rhyne players to score in double figures, finishing with a team-high 21 points and a game-high nine rebounds, as the Bears won their 11th straight game at home and 17th straight at Shuford Gymnasium against league foes … In the losing effort, Mars Hill senior and SAC Player Of The Year Walt Baxley (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led all scorers with 37 points including 26 after intermission but it wasn’t enough as the Lions fell to the Bears for the third time this year … Lenoir-Rhyne used a 17-0 run late in the first half to take a 44-33 lead into break … In the second half, the Bears held a 71-61 advantage with 8:14 left thanks to a technical foul on the Mars Hill bench but the Lions battled back with 10 straight points culminated by a lay-up from Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, N.C.) with 5:14 remaining to tie the contest at 71 … Lenoir-Rhyne, however, responded quickly with back-to-back treys from junior guards Eric Mauldin (Albemarle, N.C./Albemarle HS) and Marcus Springs (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park HS) and reeled off eight straight points for a 79-71 lead at the 2:46 mark of the second half and the Lions would not get any closer than six points the rest of the way … Sophomore guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C./Southern Alamance HS) added 13 points and Mauldin came of the bench to score a season-high 12 points including three treys while Chris Aline (Reinach, Switzerland) also scored in double figures for the Lions … The Bears also shot 59 percent (24-of-41) from the floor including 67 percent (16-of-24) in the first half.

NEWBERRY - Newberry missed its first four shots to go down 6-0 and never got any closer than three the rest of the way, falling to fourth seed and eventual tournament champion Wingate, 100-72, in first round play of the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball tournament Wednesday night at Cuddy Arena. Newberry’s season is concluded with a 12-15 record ... Leading by three at the halfway mark of the first half, Wingate jumped up by 11 in nearly three minutes and took a 13-point margin (42-29) into intermission ... Wingate took charge early in the second, outscoring Newberry 19-6 following the break to push the lead to 61-36. Sammy Monroe went on a 9-2 run, capped by a reverse dunk, before the Bulldogs took a timeout to regroup. Newberry got no closer than 19 the rest of the way ... Monroe led all Newberry scorers with 18 points, and Alonzo Hinds (Freeport, Bahamas) contributed 15 to the Indian cause. Bulldog Sean Barnette had a game-high 24 points, followed by Justin Baker, Shaun Kirkland, and Brian Grier with 21, 19, and 16, respectively.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian College (24-9) advanced to the championship game of the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament before suffering a 61-50 to Wingate University. The Blue Hose did receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament, their fourth trip since 1996 ... The Blue Hose, who are seeded No. 7, will take on No. 2 seed Armstrong Atlantic State University (23-7) on March 11 in the first round of the South Atlantic Regional held in Richmond, Va. by Virginia Union University ... Presbyterian College’s senior Johann Collins (Raleigh, N.C.) tallied a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Blue Hose defeated Carson-Newman College in the first round of the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament. Fellow senior Tray Ballenger (Wellford, S.C.) added 14 points and five boards, while junior Sean Dixon (Marietta, Ga.) chipped in 15 points and eight assists. Carson-Newman was led in scoring by Kente Hart who tallied 13 points and three assists on nine-of-nine shooting from beyond the arc. Darren Williams added 11 points and Any Tipton came off the bench to score 10 points ... PC’s Sean Dixon scored a game-high 19 points to go along with three rebounds as the Blue Hose defeated Tusculum College 67-62 to advance to the championship game of the Food Lion SAC Tournament. Sophomore Pat Kiscaden (Oviedo, Fla.) and junior Grant Herren (Oviedo, Fla.) added 12 points apiece, while senior Tray Ballenger (Wellford, S.C.) chipped in 10 points. The Blue Hose led by as many as 22 points in the second half, but had to hold off the Pioneers down the stretch to secure the five-point victory. Jordan Lear led the Pioneers with 16 points and Donald Sexton added 13 points ... Wingate University placed three players in double figures led by SAC Tournament MVP Sean Barnette who tallied 21 points and 14 rebounds as the Bulldogs clinched the SAC Tournament title with a 61-50 victory over Presbyterian College. SAC All-Tournament selection, Johann Collins (Raleigh, N.C.), led the Blue Hose with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while SAC All-Tourney selection, Sean Dixon (Marietta, Ga.) added 13 points and nine boards. The Blue Hose dominated the backboards 53-36 including 22-8 on the offensive glass, but struggled to shoot 27.7 percent from the floor and went 0-for-18 from three-point range ... The Blue Hose are using a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense this season. PC has six players averaging atleast 7.3 ppg this season and 10 players averaging atleast 10.4 minutes per game. Defensively, the Blue Hose are holding opponents to 64.6 ppg and hold a +7.0 rebound margin over their opponents. The Blue Hose are 12-7 when their opponents score 65 points or more this season.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum College men’s basketball team ended its season in the semifinal round of the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament… The Pioneers (14-15) fell behind by a 22-point margin, but rallied to make things interesting in a 67-62 loss to No. 2 seed Presbyterian… Tusculum got to Saturday’s semifinal with its 87-84 upset of third-seeded Catawba… Chris Poore recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds as he scored his 1,000th career point (including two years at Anderson University)… Senior guard Donald Sexton wrapped up his stellar career… He leaves Tusculum with 463 career assists, the second most in school history and fourth best ever by a South Atlantic Conference player… His 4.20 career assists average is also fourth best in TC history and seventh in the SAC record book… Sexton ended his career having made an assist in 57 consecutive games… Against Catawba, he posted 15 points and nine assists in the win… Senior Douglas Tshomba also wraps up his playing career at Tusculum… Tshomba was one of the best three-point shooters in school history… In just three seasons at TC, he made 155 three-pointers, which are fifth most in Tusculum history… Against PC, he was held without a three-point field for the first time in 12 games (he didn’t even attempt a shot from beyond the arc in a game for the first time this season and the first time since Feb. 26, 2005 in the regular-season finale against Lenoir-Rhyne)… Only three times during his TC career did Tshomba not attempt a three-pointer… Tshomba also garnered All-SAC Second Team honors this year… Sophomore Jordan Lear won the individual team scoring title with 417 points (14.4 ppg)… Poore claimed top honors on the boards averaging 5.7 rebounds per game (166)… He was also the top shooter on the squad (55.1 percent)… Tshomba was the team’s leading three-point shooter (60-162, 37 percent) and free throw shooter (83.7 percent), fourth best in a season at Tusculum… Tshomba’s career free throw percentage of .849 is third in both Tusculum and South Atlantic Conference history… Tusculum suffers its first losing season in four years, but advances to the SAC Tournament semifinal for the third time in four years… TC is 6-6 all-time in SAC Tournament games.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men’s basketball team (18-12 overall) earned a ticket to the NCAA Division II playoffs Sunday afternoon by virtue of its 61-50 win over Presbyterian College in the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament championship game. Wingate has won seven straight games entering the NCAA playoffs. The Bulldogs did not trail in three Food Lion SAC tournament games ... The NCAA announced Sunday night that the Bulldogs will play defending national champion Virginia Union University in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional. Wingate is the number eight seed, while Virginia Union is the number one seed. The Panthers were ranked number three in last week’s NABC/NCAA Division II coaches poll ... The NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional will be played Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday in Richmond, Va. The venue and the game times will be announced Monday afternoon by the VUU athletic department ... Wingate sophomore forward/guard Sean Barnette was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 Food Lion SAC tournament. In three tourney games, Barnette averaged a double-double with 21.0 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game. A first team All-SAC selection in 2006, Barnette hit 56.8 percent (25-of-44) of his shots from the field ... Bulldog redshirt sophomore center Bryan Grier joined Barnette on the all-tournament team. Grier broke the SAC career record for blocked shots during the Food Lion SAC tournament. The second team All-SAC pick had 13 rejections in three games, giving him 212 for his career. The previous record was 211 by Lenoir-Rhyne center Ryan Pitts (2000-04) ... Wingate won its first league tournament championship in six years and earned a berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign with the 61-50 victory over Presbyterian Sunday. Barnette led the way with 21 points and 14 rebounds (both game-highs) against the Blue Hose. Bulldog junior guard Justin Baker contributed 14 points for the winners ... The Bulldogs limited the Blue Hose to 31 percent (18-of-65) shooting for the contest and blocked eight shots, including five by Grier. The Vance High School graduate is the top shot-blocker in NCAA Division II, averaging 4.9 blocks per game ... The Bulldogs placed four players in double figures in a 77-61 semifinal win over top-seed Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday. Barnette led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds. Wingate hit the century mark for the fourth time this season Wednesday night, taking a 100-72 win over Newberry in the first round of the Food Lion SAC tournament at Wingate. The Bulldogs were 10-3 overall at home this season.