Season Stats

All three co-championship teams as well as fourth seed Presbyterian advanced to the semifinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament with quarterfinal wins on Wednesday night. Top seed Carson-Newman cruised to a 79-66 victory over Newberry, but the other three games were tight. Wingate edged Mars Hill 84-80, while Lenoir-Rhyne nipped Catawba 95-91 and Presbyterian won a defensive struggle over Tusculum, 61-54.

Wingate University Rallies for 84-80 Win over Mars Hill College in Food Lion SAC Tourney

Lenoir-Rhyne Holds On For 95-91 Victory Over Catawba

Eagles March On in SAC Tournament

Blue Hose Win Defensive Struggle 61-54 over Tusculum

Wingate University Rallies for 84-80 Win over Mars Hill College in Food Lion SAC Tourney

Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University junior guard Titus Miller (Spartanburg, S.C.) converted a steal into the go-ahead jumper with 39.3 seconds remaining, lifting the Bulldogs to a heart-stopping 84-80 victory over Mars Hill College in the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament at Cuddy Arena.

Wingate improves to 18-10 overall on the season, while Mars Hill concludes the 2003 campaign 13-15 overall. The Bulldogs topped the Lions four times this year. Wingate will face the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne/Catawba game Saturday night at 8 p.m. The Food Lion SAC final four will be held in Hickory at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena.

Mars Hill made 60.7 percent (17-of-28) of its shots in the first half, taking a 45-30 lead to the lockerroom. Two free throws by freshman forward Tom Weingart pushed the advantage to 47-30 with 19:24 to play in the contest.

Wingate made a 20-5 run to cut the lead to 52-50 on a Miller three-point field goal at the 13:37 mark. The Bulldogs could not get over the hump as Mars Hill continue to hold the lead.

The Lions pushed their edge to 79-70 on a lay-up by junior guard Jerome Ramsey with 2:13 to play. Mars Hill scored only one point down the stretch, as Wingate finished the game with a 14-1 spurt.

Miller’s climatic steal gave Wingate an 81-80 lead with 39.3 seconds to play. The Lions missed a jumper on the next trip and Bulldog junior guard Keenan Dunn (Charlotte, N.C.) got the rebound and was fouled. He made two free throws with 19 seconds remaining to give Wingate an 83-80 lead.

Mars Hill missed a three-pointer to tie the game. Wingate senior center Njogou Bah (Banjoul, The Gambia) got the rebound and was fouled with four seconds to go. Bah made one charity toss to account for the final margin.

Dunn led Wingate with 23 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Senior guard Djuan Hankins (Roanoke, Va.) had 21 points. Miller and senior forward Adam Vandergrift (Hillsborough, N.C.) added 14 points each.

Mars Hill junior guard Ronald Lewis netted a career-high 32 points. He hit 12-of-22 field goals and five-of-12 three-pointers. Lewis had 20 points in the first half. Lion senior forward Dominique Williams scored 21 points (he hit eight-of-13 field goals), while Weingart and junior guard Jerome Ramsey contributed 11 points each. Ramsey was four-for-four from the field and three-for-three from downtown.

Lenoir-Rhyne Holds On For 95-91 Victory Over Catawba

HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne College men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Food Lion/South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a 95-91 win over Catawba College Wednesday evening in Shuford Gymnasium. The number three seed, L-R (20-7, 10-4) plays the number two seed, Wingate University (18-10, 10-4) Saturday night at 8 p.m. at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Center in Hickory, N.C. Catawba finishes their season 11-17, 6-8.

Ryan Pitts led the Bears with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Roman Davis finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Marcus Springs contributed 17 points and a game-high five assists, while Andre Reid came off the bench to add 14 points and a game-high three steals. Tony Connelly totaled 10 points with thee assists in the Bear win.

Senior Brian Carter finished with a game-high 29 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Helgi Magnusson contributed 17 points. Duke Phipps totaled 13 points, three rebounds, and a team-high two assists, while Alex Luyk and Kevin Petty chipped in with 12 points apiece.

L-R outshot Catawba 51.4 percent to 47.1 percent, and the Bears forced 15 Indian turnovers while collecting eight steals. The battle of the boards ended in tie at 39, but L-R totaled 16 assists compared to just four for Catawba. L-R shot 18-for-25 from the line compared to 21-of-31 for Catawba, and the Bears made 5-of-9 from three-point land vs. 6-of-17 for the Indians.

With 2:21 remaining in the game, Carter hit his 10th straight shot to pull Catawba within 87-83 which is the closest Catawba had been since L-R led 64-61 at the 11:50 mark of the second half. Later, Pitts denied Carter his 11th straight made basket with his second block of the game.

A few moments later, Magnusson finished a three-point play to pull Catawba within 87-86 with 1:10 left. Springs hit two free throws to put L-R up 89-86 with 46 seconds left. Catawba raced down the court and missed a layup. Chris Everett was called for an over-the-back foul that sent Tim Crews to the line. Crews made one-of-two from the charity strip, and Catawba hurried down the floor again with Kevin Petty connecting on a thee-point play that brought the Indians to within 90-89 with 30 seconds left.

Springs made two pressure-filled free throws to put L-R up by three points with 24.9 seconds left. Catawba then rushed down the court and committed their 15th turnover. Springs then missed two free throws, but Reid tipped the ball to Springs on the second miss. Springs then made one-of-two from the line to give L-R a four-point advantage.

Catawba again flew down the court, and after tipping the ball around the basket several times, Carter finally scored to pull Catawba to within two-points with 2.5 seconds left. But Reid made two important free throws to seal the 95-91 victory for the Bears.

After L-R led 52-39 at the half, Catawba cut L-R's lead to 54-44 through two minutes of the second stanza. The Bears pushed their lead to 14 after two Davis' scores. Three free throws by Magnusson closed the gap to 58-49 with 15:50 left. A Springs' dribble and drive put L-R back up by nine with 14 minutes remaining, but Petty answered with two free throws 10 seconds later.

Carter finished a three-point play to pull Catawba to within 62-56 with 13:19 left. Reid and Carter traded baskets as the Bears maintained a six-point advantage with 12:19 remaining. Phipps' three-pointer brought Catawba to within 64-61 with 11:45 to go.

Connelly hit a "three" from the top of the key to give L-R a 67-61 lead with 11 minutes left, and Randy Mauldin found Pitts under the basket to put L-R up 69-62 with 10:30 left. Carter hit a putback shot to pull Catawba within 69-64 with 9:30 left at the media break.

After the timeout, L-R scored six straight points and led 76-64 with 7:35 left. Magnusson hit two free throws, but Springs answered with a long two-pointer. Carter continued to relentlessly drive to the basket and completed a three-point play to pull Catawba to within 78-69 with 6:55 left.

Alex Luyk then made two free throws as Catawba continued to close the gap. Springs hit a huge three-pointer to put L-R back up by 10 with 5:35 left. The Indians refused to go away quietly even after Crews extended L-R's lead to 83-71. Catawba finished a steal and fastbreak with a layup that pulled the Indians to within 83-74 with 4:31 left, and after two L-R free throws, Carter knocked down a three-pointer that brought Catawba to within seven points.

Catawba scored on another fastbreak layup to pull to within 87-79 with 3:30 left, and then on Catawba's next possession, Luyk made a post-up shot to bring the Indians to within 87-81 with 2:57 left.

Eagles March On in SAC Tournament

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.- The Carson-Newman Eagles advanced to the semi-finals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference (SAC) basketball tournament by defeating the Newberry Indians 79-66 Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.

The top-seeded Eagles will face fourth-seeded Presbyterian Saturday night in Hickory, N.C. at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. C-N improves their record to 20-8 while Newberry wraps up their season at 4-23.

The Indians jumped out to an 8-0 lead early and then went without a single point for the next 8:28 of the first half. C-N took advantage of the Indians’ shooting woes and built a 34-24 lead at the half. The Indians cut the lead to 47-45 on a three-pointer by Marcus Cheeks (Newberry, S.C.) with 12:30 remaining in the game.

But the Eagles pushed the lead back to 20 points over the next seven minutes, thanks in large part to three-point goals by Ishmail Simmons (Atlanta, Ga.), Kyle Gribble (Sparta, Tenn.) and Calvin Owen (Nashville, Tenn.).

Owen led the Eagles with 20 points. Simmons added 14 points, Todd Lucas (Eustis, Fla.) scored 13 points and Dustin Edwards (Erwin, Tenn.) chipped in 12 points.

The Indians were led by Elijah Frasier’s (Irmo, S.C.) 24 points. Rashaad Carter (No. Charleston, S.C.) added 16 points and Reggie Coleman (Orangeburg, S.C.) scored 15 points for the Indians.

Blue Hose Win Defensive Struggle 61-54 over Tusculum

CLINTON, S.C. - The No. 4 seed Blue Hose of Presbyterian College fueled by three players in double figures advanced to the Food Lion/SAC Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals with tonight's 61-54 win over the fifth-seeded Pioneers of Tusculum College.

Presbyterian jumped out of the gate on a 10-1 run and held Tusculum without a made field goal until the 14:54 mark when sophomore guard Andrew Harmon (Germantown, Wis.) scored to cut the PC lead to 10-4. The Pioneers would continue to chip away at the lead pulling to within three points on three occasions with the last time coming at 22-19 with 7:11 remaining. PC would outscore Tusculum 11-9 down the stretch to take a 33-28 lead into intermission.

Both teams shot extremely well in the first half as Tusculum hit 55.0% of the their field goals to PC's 50.0%. The Blue Hose held a 15-10 lead on the boards and were led by senior center Rod Isom's seven points while Tusculum was paced by junior forward Brandon Jones' (Loveland, Colo.) 11 points.

The second half saw the Blue Hose extend the lead to double figures, the largest lead being 12 points at 47-35 with 10:09 remaining. Isom helped PC extend the lead to double figures and in the process scored his 1,000th career point on a tip-in at the 18:14 mark. The Pioneers came alive and used a 11-0 run to cut the lead to one point at 47-46 with 5:56 remaining on a three-point play by junior guard Cliff Charles (Newark, N.J.).

After PC's freshman forward Michael Drum scored to put PC ahead 49-46, Tusculum's Jones hit his fifth three-pointer of the ball game to tie the game at 49-49 with 5:17 remaining. PC went on a 6-0 run including four points by senior guard Chuck Rayford to pull ahead 55-49 at the 2:59 mark. The Blue Hose went six-for-six at the line down the stretch including four more by Rayford to seal the victory.

The Blue Hose were led by Rayford's 15 points and seven rebounds while Isom and Drum added 11 points apiece. The Pioneers were led by Jones' game-high 19 points on five-of-seven shooting from three-point range.

Presbyterian improves to 24-7 on the season while Tusculum ends the season at 16-12. The Blue Hose advance to the Food Lion/SAC Tournament semifinals against the winner of top-seed Carson-Newman College/#8 Newberry College game on Saturday, March 8 at 4:00 pm at the Catawba Valley Community Center in Hickory, N.C.