MOC men win, women fall
By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on February 26, 2012 1:52 AM
MOC SPORTS INFORMATION
CHARLOTTE -- Craig Hayes scored 31 points and Mount Olive used a 15-3 run midway through the second half to break away from a tie game as the regionally eighth-ranked Trojans concluded regular season play with an 88-79 victory over Queens in Conference Carolinas men's basketball on Saturday.
Derek Staton added 22 points to give the Trojans a regular season sweep over the East Division champions.
Mount Olive is the East No. 2 seed and plays host to West No. 3 Lees-McRae in the first round of the Conference Carolinas men's basketball tournament Tuesday at Kornegay Arena. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Lady Trojans stumble
CHARLOTTE -- Mount Olive rallied from a 14-point , first-half deficit, but host Queens scored the final seven points of the game and escaped with a 64-61 Conference Carolinas women's basketball decision Friday night.
The loss sends the Trojans (18-8 overall, 12-5 Conference Carolinas) in the conference tournament Monday night as the second seed in the Eastern Division. They will face the Western Division's third seed Erskine in the quarterfinals at Kornegay Arena.
The lead changed hands eight times in the second half, after Mount Olive recovered from a slow start and closed within 32-31 at intermission. Despite holding the Royals (10-16, 8-9) without a point for almost four minutes in the opening half, the Trojans fell behind 30-16 with 3:57 left. A three-point play by Jasmine McDonald, another layup by Kirksten Mitchell and two Joneiqua Gary free throws closed the gap to seven in less than a minute.
The Mount Olive run grew to 9-0 on layups by Alyssa Luebs and Tamara Nesmith. Andrea Jones and McDonald scored just before the break to trim the lead to one.
Mount Olive took its first lead of the game on a layup by McDonald with 17:28 left. The Trojans led by as much as four several times before the final horn, but the Royals would not go away.
The Trojans took their final lead on a Gary three-pointer, then a McDonald layup with 1:48 left. Mount Olive did not score again.
Queens' Shonice Pettaway hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to cut the lead to 61-60. A missed front end of a one-and-one opportunity kept the Royals in the game. Moments later, the Trojans came up empty on a one-and-one chance. Queens quickly worked for a shot, but Melissa Thomas' layup was off-target. Pettaway was there for the offensive rebound and was fouled with four seconds remaining.
Pettaway made both free throws to put Queens ahead. Mount Olive never got off a shot. The Trojans turned the ball over, and Dyonna Battle hit two more free throws with less than a second remaining to put the game away.
Jones led the Trojans with 15 points, while Gary chipped in with 14. McDonald collected a double-double on 13 points and 15 rebounds. McDonald also led her team with six assists. Nesmith grabbed 10 rebounds.
Pettaway led the Royals with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting. She was 7-for-7 from the foul line and grabbed 14 rebounds giving her a total of 11 double-doubles on the year. Sarah Myatt finished with 12 points and 10 boards for her 11th double-double of the season as well. Melissa Thomas scored 11 points, while Shanel Sweet added seven points and six assists.