Food Lion SAC Men's Basketball Championship Semifinals Summary: Tusculum To Meet Lenoir-Rhyne for Title
March 5, 2005

Tusculum 76, Catawba 72

Lenoir-Rhyne 84, Presbyterian 82

Tusculum 76, Catawba 72

HICKORY, N.C. -- Tusculum College upset top-seeded Catawba 76-72 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the championship game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament held at the Multipurpose Arena at Catawba Valley Community College. The fourth-seeded Pioneers improve to 17-10 and will face the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne/Presbyterian semifinal in Sunday's 4 p.m. final. Catawba falls to 23-6 and must await word on a possible berth in the NCAA II South Atlantic Regional.

Tusculum took the lead at 30-28 on a layup by Greg McIntosh (Indianapolis, IN) with 3:56 to go in the opening half and never trailed again. Catawba would cut the lead to two points on several occasions in the second half, but could never tie the score. The Pioneers got an outstanding effort from McIntosh, who posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He had 17 points in the opening half as the Pioneers built a 38-33 advantage.

Four other Pioneers reached double figures as Brad Hawks (Galax, VA) and Douglas Tshomba (Brussels, BELGIUM) each added 15 points, while Jordan Lear (Zanesville, OH) and Donald Sexton (Oneida, TN) both tossed in 10 apiece. Tusculum also held a big advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the Indians 46-30. Catawba was led by Chris Wooldridge (Norfolk, VA) with a game-high 20 points and Helgi Magnusson (Reykjavik, ICELAND), who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

There were eight ties and 11 lead changes in the opening half before the Pioneers took control in the final minutes. Tusculum built an 11-point lead at 71-60 with 3:47 left, but Catawba pulled within three at 71-68 with 1:31 to go after eight straight points by Wooldridge. The Pioneers did enough at the line from that point, hitting five-of-10 tries. Tshomba iced the issue with a pair of free throws with 7.5 seconds left for the 76-72 lead.

The Pioneers hit on 47% (25-of-53) from the field for the game, while Catawba managed to hit on just 41% (29- of-70). Tusculum also made the most of its opportunities at the line, hitting on 22-of-29 (76%). Catawba was just 9-of-14 (64%) at the stripe.

CATAWBA COACH JIM BAKER:

"I was disappointed in our defense in the first half. We looked a little tight and bewildered out there. Tusculum presents more problems for us than anyone in the league for us to guard."

ON REGIONAL RANKINGS

"It would have been nice to win it all. Now we are hoping for Virginia Union (to win the CIAA) and for Augusta State not to win the Peach Belt, but we are definitely on the bubble. I think as a league we are deserving to have two teams in there."

TUSCULUM COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM

"Greg McIntosh was unbelievable in the first half. In the second half everybody contributed. We played pretty solid defensively. Our board work was awesome, to out-rebound those guys is a monumental task."

ON CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

"We will have our hands full with either of those teams (Presbyterian or Lenoir-Rhyne)."

TUSCULUM 76, CATAWBA 72
TUSCULUM (17-10) McIntosh, Greg 9-12 0-0 19; Tshomba, Douglas 2-5 10-11 15; Hawks, Brad 7-10 1-4 15; Lear, Jordan 2-7 6-6 10; Sexton, Donald 2-9 5-8 10; Ewing, Bobby 2-8 0-0 5; Farus, Matt 1-2 0-0 2; Cain, Emory 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 22-29 76.
CATAWBA (23-6) Wooldridge, Chris 9-13 2-3 20; Magnusson, Helgi 6-12 1-2 15; Graves, Brian 3-11 2-2 9; Hamilton, Jamel 3-10 1-1 8; Manning, Jolly 2-9 1-2 5; Thomson, Andy 2-6 0- 0 5; Murphy, Ahmad 2-5 0-0 4; Snyder, Zach 1-3 1-2 3; Gibson, Jorvewe 1-1 0-0 2; Frasier, Brian 0-0 0-0 0; Bartasius, Rokus 0-0 0-0 0; Diggs, Jason 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-70 9-14 72.

Tusculum...................... 38 38 - 76 
Catawba....................... 33 39 - 72 

3-point goals-Tusculum 4-21 (Sexton, Donald 1-7; Tshomba, Douglas 1-3; McIntosh, Greg 1-1; Ewing, Bobby 1-7; Farus, Matt 0-1; Lear, Jordan 0-2), Catawba 5-19 (Magnusson, Helgi 2-5; Hamilton, Jamel 1-6; Graves, Brian 1-4; Thomson, Andy 1-3; Snyder, Zach 0-1). Fouled out--Tusculum-None, Catawba-Graves, Brian. Rebounds- Tusculum 46 (McIntosh, Greg 11), Catawba 30 (Magnusson, Helgi 11). Assists- Tusculum 13 (McIntosh, Greg 4), Catawba 15 (Graves, Brian 5). Total fouls- Tusculum 15, Catawba 21. A-912

Lenoir-Rhyne 84, Presbyterian 82

Hickory, N.C. - The second seeded Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne College (17-11) advanced to the finals of the 2005 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference with an 84-82 victory over the third seed, Presbyterian College (18-11) tonight in the CVCC Multipurpose Arena. The Bears will meet #4 Tusculum College tomorrow in the championship game at 4:00 p.m. Tusculum defeated #1 Catawba College earlier today, 76-72.

Freshman guard Josh Rudder led the Bears, who are now 5-0 against the Blue Hose in SAC Tournament contests. The native of Graham, North Carolina and graduate of Southern Alamance High School, poured in a career-high 30 points to go along with six three pointers. Rudder's previous high was 14 points.

“As far as I know, we were the only school to offer him a scholarship,” L-R head coach John Lentz said. “I bet there are a few schools out there who wished they had offered him.”

Lenoir-Rhyne, behind eight first-half three pointers, rolled to a 35-22 lead out of the gate and led at half by a 46-37 margin.

However, the Blue Hose, who had five players in double figures, fought their way back and went ahead by seven, 67-60. Lenoir-Rhyne forged ahead again, thanks to back-to-back treys from Rudder including a four-point play, and took a 74-70 lead. PC answered with four points including a jump shot by Johann Collins (Raleigh, N.C.) that sent the game to overtime.

The lead swung back in forth in the extra frame and Lenoir-Rhyne took the lead for good on a dunk by sophomore guard Stephen Hinds (Winston-Salem, N.C.), who finished with 13 points. PC missed three shots on its last possession and the Bears hung on for the win.

Senior guard Tony Connelly (Charlotte, N.C.) added 16 points while Sean Dixon (Marietta, Ga.) led the Blue Hose with 18 points. Sophomore forward Grant Herren (Oviedo, Fla.) added 15 points and six rebounds for the Blue Hose.

PC head coach Gregg Nibert was pleased with his team's effort.

"I am so proud of our team and the way we hung in there. Sean Dixon played hard and he had to take a couple of tough shots out there that didn’t fall for him. This team has been fun to coach. We have worked hard all season. We have a very young team and I am already looking forward to next season. I think our best days are ahead of us.”

“We got down nine and we could have packed it in, but like we’ve done all year, we just kept battling and battling,” L-R head coach John Lentz said.”

LENOIR-RHYNE 84, PRESBYTERIAN 82
PRESBYTERIAN ((18-11)) Dixon, Sean 4-10 8-10 18; Herren, Grant 6-8 3-5 15; Collins, Johann 5-8 3-7 13; Kiscaden, Pat 4-8 2-2 13; Biggs, Drew 4-5 2-2 11; Versinskas, Martynas 3-7 1-2 7; Epperly, Brian 1-2 1-2 3; Ballenger, Tray 1-5 0-1 2. Totals 28-53 20-31 82.
LENOIR-RHYNE ((17-11)) Rudder, Josh 7-10 10-11 30; Connelly, Tony 6-13 1-2 16; Hinds, Stephen 5-12 1-2 13; Bratton, Reggie 4-10 2-6 10; Davis, Roman 2-6 4-4 8; Mauldin, Eric 1-1 1-2 3; Kindred, Josh 1-2 0-0 2; Crews, Tim 1-1 0-0 2; Morris, Kyle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 19-27 84.

Presbyterian.................. 37 37 8 - 82 
Lenoir-Rhyne.................. 46 28 10 - 84 

3-point goals-Presbyterian 6-15 (Kiscaden, Pat 3-7; Dixon, Sean 2-4; Biggs, Drew 1-2; Ballenger, Tray 0-2), Lenoir-Rhyne 11-21 (Rudder, Josh 6-9; Connelly, Tony 3-7; Hinds, Stephen 2-5). Fouled out--Presbyterian-Ballenger, Tray; Herren, Grant; Collins, Johann, Lenoir-Rhyne-Kindred, Josh. Rebounds-Presbyterian 38 (Collins, Johann 9), Lenoir-Rhyne 29 (Morris, Kyle 5). Assists-Presbyterian 17 (Dixon, Sean 4; Ballenger, Tray 4), Lenoir-Rhyne 15 (Connelly, Tony 5; Hinds, Stephen 5). Total fouls-Presbyterian 26, Lenoir-Rhyne 22. A-1521