A look at past Pickle Classics

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on November 18, 2004 1:55 PM

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Ten years ago -- 1994

The 1994 Pickle Classic championship came down to Mount Olive and arch-rival Barton, and fittingly, the game went down to the wire.

Tony Thompson scored 28 points as Mount Olive rallied from a second-half deficit, then withstood a late rally to defeat Barton 83-80 in the championship game of the 1994 Pickle Classic. Kino Outlaw pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked three shots for the Trojans as both players were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Mount Olive led 40-35 at halftime, but Barton rallied to tie the game less than 90 seconds into the second half, then built the lead to as many as six points after a technical foul and a goaltending call against the Trojans. Barton still led by two points with eight minutes remaining when Thompson hit the tying basket and Brent Jones converted a three-point play. Thompson scored 11 points in a span of five minutes to put Mount Olive ahead to stay.

The Trojans led by six points with three minutes remaining and still held a four-point lead with under a minute left when Barton made a final run, thanks in part to some missed free throws by the Trojans. Barton had a chance for the tying three-pointer at the buzzer, but a bad pass prevented the Bulldogs from getting a shot off.

Jermaine McCoy scored 13 points for the Trojans, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line, but it was his defensive work that most impressed Mount Olive head coach Bill Clingan.

"Jermaine does the things that don't go in the box score, but a team needs that kind of player to win games," said Clingan.

In the first round, Mount Olive defeated Morris 107-87, while Barton defeated Embry-Riddle 82-72. Embry-Riddle defeated Morris 82-68 in the consolation game.

What was happening in 1994?

News: O.J. Simpson leads Los Angeles police on famous low-speed chase before being charged with the murders of Nichole Simpson and Ron Goldman ... Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for signing a peace agreement ... Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan attacked one month prior to Winter Olympics, ex-husband of Tonya Harding convicted of arranging attack, Harding banned from figure skating for life ... Republicans gain 52 seats and win majority in U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1954 ... Dow Jones passed 3,900 mark for first time ever ... Former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon dies at age 81 ... 7,000 members of the Tutsi tribe are slaughtered in Rwanda.

Sports: Dr. Mac Cassell named Director of Athletics at Mount Olive College ... Major League Baseball season ends on August 12 due to players strike ... First time since 1904 that World Series isn't played ... Houston Rockets, coached by current Lakers head coach Rudy Tomjonavich, defeat New York Knicks to win first NBA championship ... New York Rangers defeat Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win first Stanley Cup championship since 1940 ... NHL goes on strike to start 1994-95 season ... U.S. hosts World Cup soccer championship ... NFL begins use of two-point conversion ... Fox Network replaces CBS for NFL broadcasts, introduces use of 'mini-scoreboard' in top corner of screen ... Buffalo Bills finish 7-9, ending four-year run as AFC Champions and denied an opportunity to lose fifth consecutive Super Bowl ... Twenty years after losing the title, George Foreman defeats Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight boxing championship at age 45 ... Women's baseball team,, Colorado Silver Bullets, plays first season ... Current Mount Olive head men's soccer coach Jerry Riggs plays his senior season of soccer for the Trojans.

Entertainment: Michael Jackson weds Lisa Marie Presley, about which Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller writes the greatest lead sentence in the history of journalism: "Lisa Marie Presley, the sole child of one of the two biggest, weirdest pop stars in music history, has gone and married the other one" ... Anna Nicole Smith (26) marries billionaire J. Howard Marshall (89) ... "Friends" debuts on NBC and gives Courtney Cox her biggest role since Dancing in the Dark with Bruce Springsteen ... Tom Hanks wins Oscar for previous year's "Philadelphia" and stars in "Forrest Gump," for which he would win another Oscar ... John Travolta's career resurrected in "Pulp Fiction" and Sandra Bullock becomes an overnight sensation in "Speed" ... Also in the theaters: "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Crow" and "The Lion King" ... Future Oscar-winner Kim Basinger stars in Tom Petty's music video "Last Dance With Mary Jane" ... "Most Beautiful Girl In the World" peaks at No. 3, giving The Artist Formerly Known as Prince a top 10 song for the 12th consecutive year ... Remakes on the radio: "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp, "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey and "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio ... "L.A. Law" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" air final episodes.

Born in 1994: actress Dakota Fanning ( "I Am Sam, " "Sweet Home Alabama," "The Cat in the Hat").