MOC holds annual Green-White games

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 29, 2013 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- There's plenty of work left to do.

And very little time to get it done.

That's the summation provided head coaches Joey Higginbotham and Wendy Lee after viewing their respective teams in the annual Green-White exhibition games at Kornegay Arena on Monday evening.

The two contests were part of the annual "Meet the Coaches Night" celebration, which drew its biggest crowd since its inception three years ago. A new hospitality room was unveiled and attendees were encouraged to support the Trojan Club, which is currently working to build a track facility on campus.

John Wieland's 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds to go lifted the White men's team to a 24-22 win over the Green team during Mount Olive's annual exhibition game Monday evening.

Play was sporadic throughout the two eight-minute regulation halves. Higginbotham constantly encouraged the players to relax and slow down as he watched from the scorer's table.

Although statistics were unofficial, returning starter Dory Hines led the White team with 10 points. Junior guard Kendall Hargrove paced the Green team with 10 points.

Senior guard Ewon Wright did not play due to a high ankle sprain and is questionable for today's preseason scrimmage at N.C. Wesleyan.

The women's squad played a 35-minute exhibition. Senior Andrea Jones, fully recovered from an ACL injury, and Joneiqua Gary pumped in 11 points apiece to lead the Green team past the White team, 48-42.

East Carolina transfer Katie Paschal led the White team with 10 points.

Lee served as head coach for the Green in the opening half and sat on the White bench for the second half.

"We've only been practicing for two weeks, so as a head coach you normally see all the bad things, so I won't talk about all the things we have to work on and get better at," Lee said. "I will say that I feel like our upperclassmen, seniors and juniors, were ready to play ... saw some good minutes.

"I thought the young players we added didn't seem intimidated in this environment at all. It was their first night out on a college floor. I thought they looked excited and made some good plays, too."

Each squad tips off their respective season Nov. 8. The MOC men face Shaw University in the Barton College Classic, while the women meet Lander (S.C.) in a two-day tournament at USC-Aiken.