MOC men carry 13-2 CVAC record into Belmont Abbey

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 14, 2005 1:55 PM

• Print
• Email

The Mount Olive College men's basketball team has an opportunity to set a school record for the quickest trip to the 20-win plateau as the regionally second-ranked Trojans head to Belmont tonight to take on Belmont Abbey in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men's basketball. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

Mount Olive (19-3 overall, 13-2 CVAC) is coming off a hard-fought 93-83 win at Lees-McRae Saturday. The Trojans trailed most of the game and fell behind by as many as 12 points in the second half before Melvin Creddle and Elton Coffield keyed a second-half comeback. Creddle scored a career-high 28 points, including 10-for-14 from the free throw line.

Coffield finished with 19 points and hit back-to-back three-pointers late in the game to put the Trojans ahead to stay.

Mount Olive has won 10 of its last 11 games as the Trojans battle with Pfeiffer for the top two spots in the CVAC standings and in the NCAA Division II East Region Poll. Mount Olive lost at Pfeiffer last Monday to snap an eight-game winning streak. Despite the loss, the Trojans have a chance to remain at No. 2 in the region after losses last week by the third- and fourth-ranked teams.

Belmont Abbey (9-14, 8-8) is coming off a 62-55 win at Coker Saturday.

Mount Olive won the first meeting this season 73-52 in January as Sharome Holloway scored 17 points and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds. It was at Belmont Abbey last season that Holloway suffered a season-ending wrist injury.

Mount Olive set a school record with 23 wins last season, the third 20-win season in school history. Last year, the Trojans reached the 20-win mark in their 26th game.

Notes: Junior guard Maurice Horton, who has missed the Trojans' last two games with a shoulder injury, is doubtful for tonight's game. ... After starting the season hitting only 40 percent from the free-throw line, Elijah Rouse is 28-for-40 (70 percent) from the line over the last month, including a 7-for-9 performance Saturday against Lees-McRae.