MOC men return to Pfeiffer's floor

Published in Sports on January 26, 2006 2:10 PM

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The last time the Mount Olive men's basketball team played on Pfeiffer's home floor, the Trojans garnered their three biggest wins in school history.

Tonight, the Trojans will try to recapture that March Madness magic.

Nationally 18th-ranked Mount Olive heads to Misenheimer tonight as the Trojans take on Pfeiffer in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men's basketball. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

A live audio Webcast is available on the Mount Olive College athletics Web site at www.moc.edu/athletics.

Mount Olive (13-3 overall, 7-2 CVAC) extended its winning streak to four with a 71-58 win Monday at Coker.

The Trojans held Coker without a field goal in the final 4:26 and outscored the Cobras 46-25 during the second half to overcome an eight-point deficit.

Junior Elton Coffield, the Trojans' leading scorer with a 15.2 average, scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half Monday to spark the win. Coffield remains one of four Trojans averaging in double figures, joining senior guards Melvin Creddle (12.6 points per game), Victor Young (12.1) and Maurice Horton (11.6).

Ironically, the four players have not scored in double figures in the same game since the championship game of the Pickle Classic in November.

Monday's game ended a streak of two consecutive games of scoring at least 100 points for Mount Olive, which is averaging 86.9 points per game this season. The Trojans have reached the century mark four times this season and have scored at least 80 points in 12 of 16 games.

Pfeiffer (10-6, 5-4) enters tonight's contest on a two-game losing streak after falling 89-87 Monday at St. Andrews. Jason Emerson led four players in double figures with 19 points for Pfeiffer.

Mount Olive should not expect a low-scoring slow-tempo game like it experienced Monday night. The Trojans have the eighth-highest scoring average in the nation in Division II, while Pfeiffer ranks third with an average of 96.1 points per game.

Although Mount Olive comes into tonight's game on a winning streak and Pfeiffer on a losing streak, the streaks are reversed in head-to-head meetings. Pfeiffer won all three meetings last year and the last four overall, including the championship game of both the 2004 and 2005 CVAC Tournaments.

Mount Olive's last win over Pfeiffer took place Feb. 9, 2004, when the Trojans won 108-105 on Marcus West's 80-foot heave at the buzzer. That win was the biggest in Mount Olive men's basketball history -- until last March.

Pfeiffer University was the site of the East Regional in the 2005 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship. The Trojans defeated Millersville (Pa.) in the first round for their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, then followed with a semifinal win over Indiana (Pa.).

Mount Olive's last game on Pfeiffer's home floor was an 80-73 win over Salem International (W. Va.) in the championship game of the East Regional, which sent the Trojans to their first trip to the Elite Eight.

MOC Sports Information