McCain just misses double-double as UMO handles Barton's men

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on February 5, 2015 1:49 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- While University of Mount Olive forward Mike Moore continues to ease his way back from an ankle injury, fellow forward Jordan McCain has taken the reins in the starting lineup.

And Trojans haven't missed a beat.

McCain scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 14-ranked University of Mount Olive bested archrival Barton, 89-73, at Kornegay Arena on Wednesday evening.

The key to McCain's recent improvement?

McCain paused for a second.

"Defense," UMO coach Joey Higginbotham whispers to him.

"Yeah defensively I've stepped it up and then continued to be aggressive and taking good shots on the offensive side," McCain said.

The Trojans started uncharacteristically slow against the Bulldogs. But in the middle of the first half, Dontrell Brite hit Dominique Reed in the post for an easy dunk that got the fans off of their feet.

Brite stole a pass on the ensuing possession and hit Kendall Hargrove in transition for another dunk. From there the Trojans outscored Barton by 16 to take an 18-point lead to the half.

"We call those fun buckets," Higginbotham said. "We get out and GET those fun buckets and everyone feeds off that energy they give us. And once we get those, the play on the defensive side is better too."

The stress leading up to the game for both teams was on rebounding. The Bulldogs lead Conference Carolinas on the boards and UMO knew it needed to box out, especially on the offensive end.

Barton owned a 37-34 edge on the glass, collected 17 second-chance points off of 18 offensive rebounds.

The Bulldogs often put two bodies on Hargrove, UMO's top rebounder, to keep him from dominating the game. He challenged his guards to do a better job crashing the glass, and JaQuan Blount got the message loud and clear. The junior college transfer finished with seven rebounds and 23 points.

"Coach was getting on me all week in practice, because I haven't been rebounding like I should be, not being aggressive going after it," Blount said. "So I knew I had to get after it tonight rebounding."

Dontrell Brite scored a team-high 24 points, including 15 in the second half. Brite also added eight assists, a big reason the Trojans shot 56 percent from the field.

"I felt like we took good shots all night," Higginbotham said. "But a big part of that is 'Trell' setting our guys up for those shots with great passes."