MOC men down St. Andrews

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on January 27, 2009 1:46 PM

• Print
• Email

MOC Sports Information

LAURINBURG -- Derek Staton's 20-footer with 27 seconds left broke a 74-74 tie and Mike Holloman blocked a layup attempt with four seconds remaining as Mount Olive nipped St. Andrews 78-74 on Monday evening.

The Trojans (11-7 overall) claimed the Conference Carolinas lead at 10-1.

Kendrick Easley led all scorers with 23 points, the last two coming on a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining to ice the game. The Trojans have won nine of their last 10 games.

Zack Garst's layup with 1:57 remaining pulled St. Andrews within a basket and after a defensive stop, Charles Phillips' 15-foot off-balance turnaround jump shot tied the game 72-72 with 1:27 left.

Staton put Mount Olive back on top 20 seconds later with a 15-foot jumper, his first points since early in the first half. But St. Andrews tied the game again on Jeremy Hearst's dunk with 43.8 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, the Trojans worked the ball around the perimeter. Staton admits he was not the first option.

"We were trying to get the ball inside, but nothing was there," said Staton. "I had an open look, so I took it."

Standing just inside the arc near the left corner, Staton connected to give the Trojans the lead again.

St. Andrews nearly turned the ball over on its final possession, but the Knights got a timeout with 11.3 seconds left. Fenderbosch drove the right baseline and three Trojans converged. Holloman blocked Fenderbosch's layup attempt from behind and the two players went down to the floor with the ball.

The possession arrow pointed to Mount Olive and the Trojans had the ball with 1.8 seconds remaining.

Easley received the inbounds pass and immediately drew a foul. After Easley hit both free throws, a desperation shot from halfcourt was off target as the buzzer sounded.

Aaron Dobson finished with 15 points, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.