MOC-Limestone
By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on March 1, 2011 1:47 PM
GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Mount Olive point guard Derek Staton pumped in a career-high 37 points and passed the 1,000-point mark along the way, but Mount Olive suffered a season-ending, 82-68 defeat against Limestone in the 2011 Conference Carolinas men's basketball tournament.
The seventh-seeded Trojans concluded the year 14-13 overall.
Mount Olive never gave itself much of a chance against the Saints, missing its first nine shots and 12 of its first 13 overall. The Trojans trailed 19-2 by the time Staton surpassed the milestone scoring mark with his first basket of the game just over 61/2 minutes into the contest.
The Trojans cut the deficit to 10 at 19-9, fell behind by as many as 19 points, and climbed back within 10 again on a Staton basket with 1:49 left before the half.
Leading 42-30 at the break, Limestone outscored Mount Olive 22-9 to start the second half and take its biggest lead of the game, 25 points, at 64-39 with 11:34 to go.
Brandon Allen, who had just one point in the first half for the Trojans, scored 16 in the game's final 13 minutes, leading Mount Olive back. The Trojans got within 11 points on two occasions late in the half, the last time with 1:38 to go.
Allen had a team-high eight rebounds to go with his 17 points. Staton had six rebounds and four assists in addition to his record-scoring night.