12/05/06 — MOC roundup

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MOC roundup

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on December 5, 2006 1:47 PM

Mount Olive looks for its first road win of the season as the Trojans travel to Florence, S.C., tonight to take on Francis Marion in non-conference men's basketball action. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

A live Audio Webcast of the game is available on the Mount Olive College athletics Web page. Go to www.moc.edu and click Athletics.

Mount Olive (4-2) snapped a two-game losing skid with a pair of wins at Kornegay Arena, defeating St. Andrews 87-71 Thursday and overcoming Limestone 78-63 Saturday. In both games, the Trojans had a slim lead at halftime before pulling away in the second half.

Senior forward Elijah Rouse is currently the Trojans' top scorer and rebounder with 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Rouse has notched two double-doubles in six games, including career highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds against Pfeiffer.

After starting the Trojans' first four games, senior guard Elton Coffield has returned to his "sixth man" role, coming off the bench in Mount Olive's last two games. He responded with back-to-back 19-point performances, including 17 in the second half against Limestone.

Junior forward Brandon Streeter also produced strong second-half performances for the Trojans, scoring all of his 16 points in the second half against St. Andrews and 15 of his game-high 22 points after halftime against Limestone. Saturday's game marked Streeter's highest-scoring regular season game as a Trojan. Streeter transferred to Mount Olive from Division I Hampton University.

Francis Marion (3-3) is coming off an 84-68 loss at Newberry Saturday. The Patriots had three-game winning streak during November, but come into tonight's game with back-to-back losses. Francis Marion is 2-0 at home this season.

Tonight's game marks the third year in a row Mount Olive has faced Francis Marion. The Trojans defeated the Patriots 74-58 last year at Kornegay Arena and notched an 89-63 win at FMU.

Tonight's contest is the Trojans' last before final exams, which begin this week. Mount Olive takes a break from the court until the end of the month when the Trojans compete in the UNC Pembroke Classic Dec. 29-30.

Trojans sign

two hoopsters

Mount Olive signed a pair of recruits to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period, it was announced by Trojan associate head coach Joey Higginbotham. Justin Foskey, who is a freshman at Brunswick Community College, signed an NLI, as did high school senior Craig Hayes.

Foskey, a 6-4 shooting guard from Farmville, averaged 18 points and six rebounds per game playing for head coach Larry Williford at Farmville Central High School. He connected on 81 three-point field goals during his senior year. At Brunswick CC, Foskey is averaging 14 points per contest playing for head coach Walter Shaw. Foskey will have three years of eligibility after this year.

Hayes, a 6-5 forward from Woodbridge, Va., is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds per game at Freedom High School. A 53.0 percent shooter from the field, Hayes helped lead head coach Ahmad Dorsett's squad to an 18-9 mark last year.

"We are extremely excited to get Craig and Justin," said Higginbotham. "Craig is a strong post player who has the versatility to step outside. Justin is an exceptional shooter. They're both great kids and they come from great families."

Mount Olive is currently 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference. The Trojans hit the road Tuesday to take on Francis Marion in a non-conference match-up. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Florence, S.C.

Lady Trojans

take on Chowan

Mount Olive hopes to get to the .500 mark before final exams as the Trojans travel to Murfreesboro tonight to take on Chowan in non-conference women's basketball. Tip-off is 6 p.m.

Mount Olive (2-3) snapped a three-game losing skid Saturday with a come-from-behind 72-53 win over Limestone Saturday at Kornegay Arena. The Trojans trailed 8-1 and were held without a field goal for more than five minutes before exploding for 42 points over the next 15 minutes.

In that game, Mount Olive forced 31 turnovers and outscored Limestone 35-12 in points off turnovers.

Junior point guard Keona Corley was a force on both ends of the court, coming within one assist of recording Mount Olive's first triple-double in more than a decade. Corley finished with 11 points, 11 steals and nine assists.

Sophomore guard Tomeka Prichard is averaging 19.5 points in the Trojans' last two games and narrowly missed establishing a new career high. Prichard, last year's Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year, scored 19 points Thursday against St. Andrews and matched a career high with 20 points against Limestone.

Freshman forward Helen Moore returned from an ankle injury to score 14 points off the bench for the Trojans Saturday. Sophomore forward Alisa Jones also came off the bench and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.

Saturday's contest marked the most points scored and the fewest points allowed by the Trojans this season.

Chowan (4-3) is coming off a 79-68 loss at Queens Saturday. Tonight's game marks the Hawks' third against a CVAC opponent.

Mount Olive won last year's meeting 73-45 at Kornegay Arena.

Trojans place two

on all-region team

Seniors Chris Jasso and Charles Williams both earned third team honors on the 2006 NSCAA Division II Men's Soccer All-Southeast Region Team, as selected by head men's soccer coaches in the region.

Williams, a defender from Richlands, (Richlands HS) finished his career as a two-time All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference selection, winning second team honors in 2004 and earning honorable mention this season. Williams, who was named CVAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week in the final week of the regular season, helped the Trojans post eight shutouts and limit opponents to a 1.24 goals against average. Williams scored three goals this season, including the game-winning goal in the 85th minute from 35 yards out in a 1-0 victory over Erskine in the Trojans' regular season finale.

The all-region award was the second this year for Williams, who was also named to the 2006 Daktronics All-Southeast Region second team.

Jasso, a midfielder from Winston-Salem, (East Forsyth HS) tied for third in the CVAC in total assists with eight and ranked fourth in the conference in assists per game. Jasso was named to this year's All-CVAC second team and earned honorable mention in his junior year. He helped Mount Olive finish 17th in the nation in scoring offense with an average of 2.60 goals per game. Jasso scored the game-winning goal in the fourth minute of overtime in the Trojans' 1-0 victory over regionally seventh-ranked St. Andrews.

Mount Olive posted a record of 12-8-0 overall and 5-5-0 in the CVAC.