MOC hoops teams visit Anderson on Saturday

Published in Sports on January 21, 2005 1:55 PM

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The Mount Olive College men's basketball team received some good news this week when the Trojans moved into the top eight in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings.

Now the Trojans have to pass a tough road test this weekend to keep their regional ranking, as well as maintain their lead in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference standings. It will be Trojans vs. Trojans on Saturday as Mount Olive faces Anderson (S.C.) College.

Tip-off is 4 p.m.

Mount Olive (12-2, 6-1 CVAC) extended its winning streak to three games with a 73-52 victory Monday over Belmont Abbey. Senior center Sharome Holloway broke out of a brief slump with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Holloway, a preseason All-CVAC selection, already had a double-double by halftime.

Junior guard Maurice Horton was one of three Trojans to finish with 10 points in the game to give him eight consecutive games in double figures. Horton, who is second on the team in scoring with a 12.1 average, has scored in double figures in 11 of 14 games this season.

Sophomore guard Elton Coffield, the team's leading scorer at 17.1 points per contest, leads the Trojans with 13 double figure games.

Junior guards Melvin Creddle (11.6 ppg) and Victor Young (10.5 ppg) are also averaging in double figures for the Trojans, who continue to rank third in the nation in scoring offense with 91.1 points per game.

Mount Olive, which has won 10 of its last 11 games, enters Saturday's game with a half-game lead over Pfeiffer and a one-game advantage over archrival Barton.

Anderson (5-8, 3-4) is coming off a 68-66 loss at home Monday against in-state rival Erskine, the Trojans' second overtime loss in as many games. Anderson fell to St. Andrews in triple overtime Saturday. Randy Javois led four Anderson players in double figures against Erskine with 13 points.

Mount Olive won both meetings against Anderson last year, escaping with a 65-62 win at College Hall and winning 92-72 at Anderson in the rematch. Coffield narrowly missed a double-double in the second meeting with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Women face Chiles, Thomas

MOUNT OLIVE -- By luck of the schedule, the Mount Olive College women's basketball team has back-to-back games against two of the three teams tied for first in the NCAA Division II Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference standings.

On the bright side, the Trojans are also in that three-way, first-place tie and are assured of staying in the top three in the league when the week is over.

Mount Olive will try to rebound from its first conference loss of the season as the Trojans travel to No. 10-ranked Anderson (S.C.) College on Saturday afternoon.

Tip-off is 2 p.m.

Mount Olive (8-5, 6-1 CVAC) suffered its first conference loss of the season Monday, falling to Belmont Abbey 78-69 at College Hall. The Trojans were within three points with less than 90 seconds left, but Belmont Abbey sealed the win from the free throw line.

Senior guard Ladora Charles scored a season-high 23 points, while senior forward Latoria Harvey posted her fourth double-double in six games with 22 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Trojans' five-game winning streak came to an end.

The Trojans rallied from a nine-point deficit and could have put themselves in position to win, but hurt themselves from the free throw line, hitting only 10-of-20 attempts. For the season, Mount Olive is shooting 55.8 percent from the line.

Anderson (14-2, 6-1) is coming off a 94-62 win over Erskine on Monday as LaShonda Chiles and Latrice Thomas scored 20 points each. Anderson has won 33 consecutive games when scoring at least 80 points.

Anderson won both meetings last year, a memorable game at College Hall and a forgettable game at Anderson. At College Hall, Mount Olive took Anderson to the wire before falling 95-92 in overtime. Harvey scored 23 points, while now-assistant coach Brandy Smith scored a career-high 20 points. Anderson won the rematch 90-56.

Along with playing consecutive games against the other two teams tied for the conference lead, the Trojans are also facing two of the top four offenses in the nation. Belmont Abbey ranks third in the nation in scoring offense, while Anderson is No. 4. Both teams entered the week averaging more than 86 points per game.

Audio webcasts available

Audio webcasts will be available for Mount Olive's men's and women's basketball games Saturday at Anderson. To listen to the webcast, go to the Mount Olive College athletics web page at www.moc.edu/athletics and click the link to the webcast.

Listeners will need QuickTime Player to listen to the webcast, but the player can be downloaded free of charge. The pre-game show begins at 1:45 p.m.

MOC Sports Information