No. 7 MOC men set to battle Queens

Published in Sports on November 29, 2005 2:02 PM

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The Mount Olive College men's basketball team has three wins under its belt as the nationally seventh-ranked team. Tonight, the Trojans play their first-ever conference game as a top 10 team.

Mount Olive heads to Charlotte tonight as the Trojans take on Queens in the opening night of Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference play. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

Mount Olive (3-0) is playing for the first time since last Tuesday's come-from-behind 74-58 victory over Francis Marion. The Trojans trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and still trailed 33-23 in the second half before senior point guard Melvin Creddle sparked a rally by scoring 22 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. Creddle scored the last 14 points during a 16-6 run early in the half to tie the game.

Creddle leads three players in double figures with an 18.3 scoring average. Senior guard Victor Young, who was named MVP of the Pickle Classic 10 days ago, is averaging 15.3 points per game. Junior guard Elton Coffield, the Trojans' top scorer last year and a two-time preseason All-America this year, is averaging 14.3 points per contest.

The Trojans are averaging 96.7 points per contest and reached the 100-point in both of their games at the Pickle Classic. Mount Olive has outscored its first three opponents by an average of 30 points per game.

Mount Olive is outrebounding its opponents by an average margin of 9.4 boards per game. Junior forward Elijah Rouse is the Trojans' top rebounder with a 5.7 average, while four other players are averaging at least four rebounds per contest.

Queens (2-1) is coming off a pair of wins over the weekend at the Eckerd College Tournament in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Royals defeated Tampa 57-54 and nipped Eckerd 71-67.

Mount Olive swept the series last year and has won the last three meetings against Queens, dating back to the semifinal round of the 2004 CVAC Tournament.

MOC Sports Information