MOC men too much for Bobcats

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 22, 2006 2:21 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- "Play your game."

Veteran Mount Olive College men's basketball coach Bill Clingan might sound like a broken record when he utters that statement before each contest, but it's true. When the Trojans play their game, they're awfully hard to beat.

Such was the case Saturday afternoon.

No. 17-ranked Mount Olive played with the precision of a Timex watch and easily disrupted the inner workings of Lees-McRae's defense in a 101-73 victory at Kornegay Arena. The Trojans (12-3) seized their 18th consecutive win at home and rose to 6-2 against Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference opposition.

Lees-McRae, which has surrendered 100 or more points in its last four trips to Mount Olive, exited 3-12 overall and 1-7 in the CVAC.

"We wanted to keep our momentum going, play hard and distribute the basketball ... making one more pass," said Clingan, whose team dished out 26 assists. "We know that if we continue to do that, we're going to be tough.

"If we play 40 minutes, it's hard for a team to match us. Not just the starting five, but the players off the bench carried that same energy level (tonight)."

Five Trojans recorded double figures. Elijah Rouse posted a double-double -- 16 points and 11 rebounds -- on 7 of 7 shooting from the floor. Victor Young provided 13 points and Elton Coffield contributed 13 off the bench.

Montel Jones and Justin Melton each chipped in 10 for Mount Olive, which beat an opponent by 20 or more points for the seventh time this season.

"We had good contributions," said Clingan. "In the first half, we had a tremendous effort from Rouse, who was full of energy. That was super."

Lees-McRae opened in a 2-3 zone on defense, but quickly abandoned that scheme when Melvin Creddle and Chris Bartley each drained an uncontested 3-pointer. Rouse added eight points in a six-minute span, including a backboard-rattling two-handed dunk off Coffield's assist.

The Trojans, ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Division II East Region poll, led 19-8 at that point.

"We had the same game plan as we did before," said Clingan, referring to a season-opening victory over the Bobcats. "We knew they would press a little bit and play zone a little bit. (Their plan) broke down and they had to get out of the zone.

"But our plan was to play our normal game ... pressure, move the ball, hit the open man and go to the boards."

Mount Olive outscored Lees-McRae 32-24 in the paint, which included a decisive 24-3 advantage on second-chance points. The Trojans collected 27 points off turnovers and outrebounded the Bobcats 57-32.

Aaron Dugger poured in 33 points for Lees-McRae, which slipped to 2-6 in road games this season. Henry Williams and Lansen Leach, who each average double figures, managed just five and eight points, respectively.

"Dugger is really a fine player and could play for anyone in the league," said Clingan. "We spend a lot of time on scouting reports and what we need to do individually. We made our assignments and those guys knew who they were playing against, and what their assets were.

"We gave them that responsibility and if they needed help, we'd be there."

Clingan emptied the bench at the 10-minute mark of the second half and every player eventually scored for the Trojans. Mount Olive earned its fifth CVAC home win of the season.

LEES-McRAE (3-12, 1-7)

Henry Williams 0 0 5-6 5, Mike Schachleiter 4 0 5-7 13, James Barbee 0 0 0-0 0, Aaron Dugger 7 4 7-10 33, Rob Markley 3 0 1-2 7, D.J. Menifee 1 0 0-0 2, Lansen Leach 3 0 2-3 8, Joey Harmon 1 0 0-0 2, Eric Berger 0 0 0-0 0, C.J. Guidry 0 0 0-0 0, Rusty Holtsclaw 1 0 1-2 3. TOTALS -- 20 4 21-30 73.

MOUNT OLIVE (12-3, 6-2)

Elijah Rouse 7 0 2-4 16, Chris Bartley 0 1 0-0 3, Maurice Horton 1 0 4-6 6, Victor Young 5 1 1-5 14, Melvin Creddle 0 3 0-0 9, Paulius Dziugelis 0 1 0-2 3, Chuckie Jefferson 0 0 1-2 1, Montel Jones 2 2 0-0 10, Chris Holloway 2 0 3-4 7, Justin Melton 2 1 3-4 10, Elton Coffield 2 2 3-3 13, Justin Egdorf 1 0 1-3 3, Antoine Griffin 0 0 6-7 6. TOTALS -- 22 11 24-40 101.

Halftime -- Mount Olive 58-34. 3-point goals -- Mount Olive 11-23 (Bartley 1-2, Young 1-3, Creddle 3-4, Dziugelis 1-2, Jones 2-4, Melton 1-3, Elton Coffield 2-5), Lees-McRae 4-19 (Wiliams 0-6, Barbee 0-2, Dugg 4-8, Leach 0-2, Harmon 0-1). Rebounds -- Mount Olive 57 (Rouse 11), Lees-McRae 32. Assists -- Mount Olive 26 (Horton 6), Lees-McRae 20 (Leach 5). Blocks -- Mount Olive 8 (Griffin 3), Lees-McRae 4 (Schachleiter). Steals -- Mount Olive 11 (Rouse 5), Lees-McRae 4. Fouled out -- Barbee, Leach. A -- 361.