Midseason meeting changed Trojans' fortunes

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 28, 2014 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

astevens@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- With his team mired in a three-game losing streak against Conference Carolinas opposition in early January, University of Mount Olive head coach Joey Higginbotham decided to cancel practice one afternoon.

He called the team into the locker room.

Higginbotham asked each player if he believed the team could win the conference championship. Each player answered "yes."

"The main thing I remember from the meeting is coach asking us if we believe we could win the conference championship," sophomore guard Dontrell Brite said. "Our practices got harder and we faced some adversity, but we were able to overcome it and win the conference championship. That meeting brought us closer together and now we communicate more."

Mount Olive has won 10 of its last 11 games since that meeting. The Trojans clinched a share of the regular-season conference crown with a 75-72 victory over Barton on Tuesday night.

Mount Olive begins its quest for its third conference tournament title at home Saturday against Pfeiffer University. Tip-off is 4 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.

Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"We've got to take care of what we've got," Higginbotham said. "We've got to get ready for Pfeiffer on Saturday. Teams are going to want to beat us. We're the regular season champions and we've got to be ready to go.

"Our goal this year was to get better every day and win the day, and we've got to be better tomorrow."

The Trojans' journey to the conference championship has been filled with highs, lows and twists and turns. Mount Olive began the season 5-3 and nearly pulled off an improbable upset in a 77-75 exhibition loss at East Carolina in early December.

Higginbotham's team finished 6-4 against non-conference opposition, but lost three of its first five conference games.

"I'm really proud of this team and where we've come from," Higginbotham said. "This is probably not one of the most talented teams we've ever had. This is probably one of the toughest teams with some of the best team chemistry that I've been around. We went through that three-game losing ... and we've fought."

Mount Olive has responded from its early-season adversity in resounding fashion. Since that three-game league skid, the Trojans have averaged 86 points a game and held opponents to 74 points a game.

The Trojans persevered through a stretch of four games in 10 days from late January to early February and a second string of five games in 11 days from mid to late February.

Six of Mount Olive's last 10 wins have been on the road.

"It's a grind," Higginbotham said. "For this group to have to go on the road and play three road games in a row, and five games in 11 days it shows a lot about the character and the composure and the fight of this group and I'm proud of what they did."