MOC men defeat North Greenville

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on February 2, 2013 11:13 PM

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TIGERVILLE, S.C. - Mount Olive converted 34-of-39 from the free throw line, including 12 in a row in the final 1:27 as the Trojans rallied from a halftime deficit to win their fourth in a row, 87-82 over North Greenville in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play Saturday afternoon.

Mount Olive (10-8 overall, 7-5 CC) trailed by as many as eight in the first half and 40-35 at intermission. After nine lead changes in the final 20 minutes, Darrell Patterson converted a pair of free throws with 1:27 left to put Mount Olive ahead for good. Jordan McCain made six shots from the charity stripe, while Patterson added four and Dontrell Brite two in the closing minute to seal the win.

The Trojans fell behind early as shots failed to fall from the field in the first half (32.4 percent), but three-pointers from Patterson and Mahamed Ibrahim, along with four points from Deshaune Green gave Mount Olive its first lead 10-8. Patterson, who led six Trojans in double-figures, helped keep his team within striking distance even as the Crusaders connected on 50 percent of their shots.

North Greenville came back with an 11-2 run. Chris Dean started the rally with a jumper, then finished it with another that gave his team a 30-22 cushion with 6:14 left in the half.

Jumpers by Brite, Ibrahim and Dory Hines kept the teams close.

Mount Olive erased the halftime deficit in the first two minutes of the second half. An Ibrahim dunk following a steal by Ewon Wright got things started. Green added a jumper, Hines made a pair of free throws and Wright added a basket for a 43-42 Mount Olive lead. It was just the beginning of the back-and-forth play that followed.

Neither team led by more than six points the rest of the contest and there were eight ties in the final 15 minutes. A Phillip Brown jumper gave North Greenville its biggest lead of the second half 51-45 with 14:36 left. Again Mount Olive answered with jumpers from Wright and Patterson and two Hines free throws.

Patterson finished with a game-high 23 points, while Ibrahim added 14, Brite 11, and Green, Hines and McCain 10 apiece. Hines finished with a double-double, adding 10 rebounds.

Dean paced the Crusaders with 22 points.

With the victory, Mount Olive moves into a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference, joining Belmont Abbey and Queens at 7-5. The Trojans still have games against both teams remaining. Both are on the road, where Mount Olive has improved to 3-4 for the season. Mount Olive travels to Charlotte Wednesday to meet Queens beginning at 7:30 p.m.