Blount scores 17 points, UMO men throttle Belmont Abbey

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on January 15, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsagus.com

MOUNT OLIVE - The shots were falling as fast as the freezing rain that hung around outside Kornegay Arena late Wednesday night.

Inside, it was business as usual for No. 18-ranked University of Mount Olive, which shot 46 percent from the field during an 82-55 victory over Conference Carolinas foe Belmont Abbey.

The Trojans (15-2 overall, 8-1 CC) came out of the gate firing, pushing the ball in transition and hitting 17 of their first 34 shots. The crisp offense -- combined with UMO's athleticism and speed -- kept the Crusaders' defenders on their heels.

All five UMO starters scored in double figures -- JaQuan Blount (team-high 17 points), Dominique Reed (16), Dontrell Brite (13), Jordan McCain (12) and Kendall Hargrove (12). Blount shot 6 of 9 from the floor.

"It's great because then the other team can't focus on one person," Hargrove said. "We just play off of each other. I like to get out in transition, but as a team we're better in the half court. When we screen and move, we can get easy buckets."

UMO coach Joey Higginbotham echoed those sentiments.

"That's been the thing for us all year," he said. "It's never been one guy. It's always a total team effort. We're definitely not a one man show, and that's something that's exciting. We always talk about it, 'whose night is it?'

"It doesn't matter who scores, we score."

The continued absence of junior forward Mike Moore (ankle injury) didn't stop the Trojans inside the paint. UMO scored 51 points, including 12 on offensive putbacks and owned a decisive 50-30 rebounding advantage over the Crusaders.

"We really emphasis [rebounding]," Higginbotham said. "We got out-rebounded by Pfeiffer last game so we talked about it a lot. That's one thing we feel: even without the size, we shouldn't be getting outrebounded in this league."

"I think we wanted the balls a little bit more than they did tonight. It's not always about height, it's about heart."

Defensively, the Trojans played a strong game, especially in the first half. Despite being undersized, Higginbotham's team altered the Crusaders' shots at the rim and kept a hand in the face of their outside shooters.

Abbey shot 33 percent (20 of 60) from the floor and committed 13 turnovers, which led to 18 UMO points.

The Trojans, who are 10-0 at home this season, remained one game behind King (Tenn.) in the conference standings. The teams meet Jan. 23 at Kornegay Arena as part of the school's "Black Out" night where the first 500 fans receive a free T-shirt courtesy of Piggly Wiggly in Mount Olive.

"We've got to work on our patience, that's it," said Hargrove, whose team visits North Greenville before its rematch with King. "Patience and defense."