MOC men stay unbeaten at home

Published in Sports on January 15, 2006 2:22 AM

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MOC Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE -- Maurice Horton tallied game highs of 17 points and eight rebounds to lead nationally 21st-ranked Mount Olive to a 76-63 win over Erskine in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men's basketball Saturday at Kornegay Arena.

Four Trojans scored in double figures as Mount Olive remained unbeaten at home this season and extended its overall home winning streak to 16.

Mount Olive (10-3 overall, 4-2 CVAC) overcame an early four-point deficit as three-pointers by Chris Bartley and Elton Coffield and Horton's fastbreak slam dunk off a steal highlighted an 11-2 run and gave the Trojans a 15-10 lead with12:27 left in the first half. Erskine (5-7, 3-3) got as close as two points, but consecutive three-pointers by Victor Young ignited a 17-3 run to give the Trojans a 16-point lead, their biggest of the first half. Mount Olive went on to lead 40-27 at halftime.

"We got outstanding performances tonight by Maurice (Horton) and Victor (Young)," Mount Olive coach Bill Clingan said. "Besides hitting some big baskets for us, they made a lot of hustle plays that don't show up in the boxscore."

Mount Olive built the lead to 53-35 on Horton's basket with 12:32 left in the game before Erskine went on a 9-1 run to cut the Trojans' lead down to seven. Jay Waring hit a pair of three-pointers for Erskine during the scoring run.

Mount Olive held a 59-51 lead with just over five minutes remaining when the momentum swung back to the Trojans' advantage. Waring's three-point attempt that would have cut Mount Olive's lead to five rimmed out and Young hit a three-pointer on the Trojans' ensuing possession to build the lead back to double digits. After a missed shot attempt by Erskine, Horton converted an off-balance alley-oop layup from Young to extend the Trojans' lead to 64-51 with 4:46 remaining.

Craig Williams, who hit 6-of-7 free throws in the second half, kept Erskine in the game with a three-point play as the Flying Fleet got as close as close as eight points after Matt Odom's three-pointer with 2:55 remaining. But Elijah Rouse's layup built the lead to double digits and Mount Olive hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final 79 seconds to seal the win.

"This was a game of momentum swings," Clingan said. "Fortunately, the momentum swung back our way at the end."

Coffield and Young finished with 15 points apiece for Mount Olive, while Bartley added 11 points. Coffield matched a season-high with five assists to share game-high honors with Melvin Creddle, who also pulled down seven rebounds. Horton, who was 6-for-7 from the field, added three assists and three steals.

Williams led four players in double figures with 15 points for Erskine. Odom and T.J. Taylor added 12 points apiece, while Reed Long finished with 10 points.

Prior to the game, Coffield was honored for having scored his 1,000th career point earlier this month against Charleston (WV).

Mount Olive returns to action Monday as the Trojans play host to Belmont Abbey in a CVAC match-up. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.