Battle of the East: No. 15-ranked UMO, Barton meet for Round 1

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on February 3, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- With only a handful of regular-season games left on the calendar, the University of Mount Olive basketball men's basketball team is looking to make the most of every challenge it has remaining.

Up next: archrival Barton College.

The Trojans (20-2 overall) and Bulldogs (12-9) meet Wednesday night at Kornegay Arena for a pivotal Conference Carolinas game. UMO leads King (Tenn.) by 11/2 games in the standings.

Rebounding is key for the Trojans.

"(Barton) plays extremely hard, and they like to run an up tempo offense," UMO head coach Joey Higginbotham said. "The key is going to be trying to slow them down and keeping them off the glass. I think they're the best rebounding team in the league, so we're going to have to take care of the basketball."

The Bulldogs average a conference-best 42.6 boards a game -- 16.3 on the offensive end (tops in the league) 26.2 on the defensive side (third-best in conference play this season).

"They key to playing well against them is grabbing more rebounds," UMO senior Jordan McCain said. "And that just comes down to heart. It comes down to who's going to out work the other."

The Trojans rank fifth among the league's 11 teams with 36.1 rebounds a game. Kendall Hargrove leads the conference in individual rebounding with 8.8 boards a game. A lower-body injury to starting forward Mike Moore has caused Mount Olive to lose some of its rebounding edge.

The team's mantra has been "treat every game with equal importance" this season. So, although the matchup with Barton is a huge rivalry game that draws a standing-room-only crowd, UMO's players don't plan to get caught up in the hype.

"We're just going to treat it like it's any other game," Hargrove said. "We're going to be more focused on running our offense and defense well. Focus on the little things. We're just going to play our game."

With a possible berth in the NCAA tournament on the horizon, players and coaches are using this final stretch to iron out any remaining wrinkles the team might have.

"We haven't been to a NCAA tournament during the time that I've been here," McCain said. "So that's what makes us more focused and determined. It's making us work even harder."