Top-seeded UMO reaches tournament semifinals

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 1, 2014 11:23 PM

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astevens@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive may not have crafted a masterpiece on Saturday afternoon, but it certainly used its paint brush.

The top-seeded Trojans overcame a sluggish start and tallied 44 points in the paint during a 77-68 win over Pfeiffer during quarterfinal-round play of the 2014 Conference Carolinas men's basketball tournament Saturday afternoon.

UMO returns to action Wednesday in the semifinals at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord. Tip-off is 3 p.m.

Sophomore guard Dontrell Brite led the Trojans with 18 points. Kendall Hargrove supplied 15 points and Dominique Reed had 12 points.

The Falcons' Andrew Guerrero led all scorers with 19 points.

Pfeiffer used offensive rebounding and sharp shooting from beyond the arc to build a 21-18 lead in the first half. The Falcons had a 9-6 edge on the glass in the opening 20 minutes and were 4 of 8 from 3-point range.

Early on, Mount Olive failed to play with the same intensity it displayed in Tuesday night's emotional win over archrival Barton that clinched a share of the regular-season conference championship.

"We did enough to win the game and this time of year you have to do that sometimes," UMO head coach Joey Higginbotham said. "Handling the emotions of coming off such a big win the other night and then wanting more from them tonight and being in March crazy things happen. We gutted through the nerves and got a win.

"Survive and advance."

Mount Olive struggled to find an answer early for 6-foot-11 Pfeiffer center Silvere Aluko. Aluko picked up his second foul fewer than five minutes into the ball game and was forced to take a seat on the bench.

"When they got second-chance points and offensive rebounds and took another 20 or 30 seconds off the clock that hurt us," Higginbotham said. "(Aluko) definitely changes shots but I was proud of Dominique for continuing to go at him. That was big for us getting (Aluko) in foul trouble."

Mount Olive countered by getting to the free throw line 14 times in the first half. The Trojans' ability to beat defenders off the dribble led to points in the paint or trips to the line.

Higginbotham's team closed the first half on a 21-11 run and led 41-32 at the break. The Trojans had 22 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes.

"We emphasize paint touches," senior guard Dory Hines said. "When you get in the paint you can make good things happen. When you get in the paint you can pass it right or left or pull up or get to the rim.

"Just getting in the paint is a big factor so 44 points in the paint, that's big for us."

Mount Olive continued to pound the ball into the paint in the second half. The Trojans' lead reached double digits, 56-46, on a Hargrove free throw.

The interior play opened up quality looks from the perimeter. John Weiland's 3-pointer capped a 14-5 run that extended the lead to 65-49 with fewer than eight minutes to go in the game.