Craig Hayes and Mahamed Ibrahim combined for 13 points during a game-breaking 16-0 run early in the second half as Mount Olive overcame foul trouble with a 78-64 victory over Pfeiffer in Conference Carolinas men's basketball Wednesday at Kornegay Arena. Ibrahim led all scorers with 23 points for the game, while Hayes recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan McCain scored nine of his 12 points off the bench in the first half as two Trojan starters played six minutes or less due to foul trouble in the first period.

Mount Olive (15-7, 8-4 Conference Carolinas) held a four-point advantage midway through the first half when Kendall Hargrove electrified the Kornegay Arena crowd with an alley-oop slam dunk off of Dory Hines' inbounds pass to cap an 18-8 run to give the Trojans a 24-18 lead with 8:39 remaining. McCain, who played 17 minutes in the first half, hit a layup with 4:06 left to give Mount Olive its first double-digit lead at 37-26, but the Trojans would not score again in the half and settled for a 37-30 halftime lead.

The Trojans were whistled for three fouls in the first 66 seconds of the contest. Mount Olive played virtually all of the first half without starting center Kason Cheeks and starting guard Derek Staton, both of whom picked up two quick fouls. Cheeks finished the contest with six points on 3-of-3 shooting, despite playing only one minute in the first half and eight minutes overall.

Pfeiffer (11-10, 5-6) got as close as 43-39 on Reggie Hollinger's layup with 17:27 left in the game before the Trojans broke the game open. Hayes started the run with a three-pointer, Ibrahim followed with two technical free throws and McCain knocked down a three-pointer as Mount Olive built the lead back to double figures. Ibrahim added another three-pointer and Hayes scored the final five points to extend the Trojans' lead to 59-39 with 11:01 remaining.

The Falcons got as close as 71-59 with 2:27 left after Hollinger's own 5-0 run, but Hayes and Staton combined to hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Wednesday's contest marked the lowest scoring game in the Mount Olive-Pfeiffer series since the 2000-01 season. Pfeiffer won both games that year 79-77 and 69-60.

Hines had seven assists and seven rebounds in the first half alone for Mount Olive and finished with 10 assists and eight boards. Hines reached double figures in assists for the fifth time this season. McCain pulled down six rebounds and Deshaune Green added five rebounds off the bench.

Hollinger hit 11-of-15 free throws and led Pfeiffer with 22 points and six rebounds. KC Anuna finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Danny Smith added 12 points and five assists.

A total of 46 fouls were whistled in the contest, 28 against Mount Olive. The Trojans were 18-for-23 from the line (78.3 percent), while Pfeiffer was 15-for-30 (50.0 percent).

Mount Olive is off until next Tuesday when the Trojans play host to archrival Barton in the Battle of the East. The game will be "Blackout Night" as MOC fans are asked to wear black to the game. Black Battle of the East t-shirts are on sale at the athletics office for $10, with proceeds going to Make-A-Wish. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.