Player of the Year Craig Hayes scored 18 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and hit a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left as East No. 2 seed Mount Olive defeated West No. 1 seed King 78-74 in the semifinal round of the 2012 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament. Mount Olive will play host to East No. 3 seed Barton Sunday in the championship game. Tip-off is 2 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.

Mount Olive will host the championship game for the third time in the five years since the conference tournament adopted the format where the highest remaining seeds host each round. The Trojans won conference championships in 2008 and 2010.

Mount Olive (21-7) led by 13 at the half and after King (23-5) cut the margin to single digits, Mahamed Ibrahim and Jordan McCain connected on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend the Trojans' lead to 47-32 with 17:54 left to play. Mount Olive took its biggest lead at 54-37 after Hayes' three-point play with 14:08 remaining.

Hayes scored 10 consecutive Trojan points, but Brian Hewitt knocked down a pair of three's of his own to keep King within range. After Eddie Piccinini's three-pointer pulled the Tornado within 11, Hayes completed his streak with a layup with 9:42 remaining to give the Trojans a 61-48 advantage. Mount Olive would then go scoreless for nearly three minutes.

A pair of free throws by Lyle Logan, followed by a steal and layup by Hewitt, drew King within 61-55 with 7:28 remaining. McCain ended the Trojans' drought with a three-pointer, but Hewitt sparked another Tornado run with a steal and layup as King cut the margin to 64-59 with 6:07 left.

Ibrahim hit another three for Mount Olive, but Piccinini hit 4-of-4 free throws to cap another 7-0 run and cut the Trojans' lead to 67-66 with 4:19 remaining. Baskets by Derek Staton and McCain helped Mount Olive extend the lead to five, but Hewitt canned another three-pointer with 1:05 left to make it a one-point game again at 75-74.

After a Trojan timeout, Mount Olive ran the clock down to 27 seconds before missing a field goal attempt. But Hayes pulled down the offensive board and drew a foul. Hayes sank both free throws and Staton iced the game with a free throw with five seconds left after a Tornado missed three-point attempt.

Mount Olive trailed by five early in the first half, but Ibrahim's three-pointer with 10:53 left broke a 19-19 tie and put the Trojans ahead to stay. Three-pointers by Hayes and Ewon Wright capped a 20-4 run to give Mount Olive its biggest lead of the half at 37-23 with 3:40 remaining.

King pulled within 10 on a pair of free throws by Lyle with 52 seconds left, but Staton hit a three just before the buzzer to give the Trojans a 41-28 halftime lead.

Ibrahim hit 4-of-7 three-pointers and finished with 14 points for Mount Olive. McCain had 11 points and six rebounds, while Staton added 10 points and five assists. The Trojans were 30-for-59 (50.8 percent) from the field and held King to 39.7 percent shooting.

Hayes was 12-for-17 from the field and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Earlier in the day, Hayes was announced as the 2011-12 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Player of the Year.

Hewitt led King with 24 points, while Lyle added 21 points. Piccinini was 7-of-9 from the free throw line and finished with 10 points. King was 18-for-23 from the free throw line, compared to 8-for-12 for Mount Olive.

In addition to advancing Mount Olive to the championship game, Friday's win also avenges the Trojans' 80-60 loss at King in January in the two teams' only regular season meeting.

No matter Sunday's result, both Mount Olive and King are in contention for at-large bids to the Southeast Regional. The Trojans are ranked No. 6 in this week's Southeast Region Top 10, while King is ranked No. 5. The eight-team regional is comprised of conference tournament champions from Conference Carolinas, the Peach Belt Conference and the South Atlantic Conference. The next five highest-ranked teams in the region earn at-large bids.

Barton defeated East No. 1 seed Queens 65-64 in Friday's other semifinal. The Bulldogs are attempting to become the first men's basketball team to win three consecutive tournament games on the road since the current format of higher seeds hosting each round was implemented.

Mount Olive and Barton split their two regular season games, each winning at home. Barton won 67-65 in January and Mount Olive won 83-67 in February at Kornegay Arena.

The two teams met in the championship game in 2006 and 2007, both won by Barton. The 2006 championship was a 102-100 double overtime classic at Kornegay Arena. Mount Olive won the last conference tournament meeting between the two teams, 79-71 at Kornegay Arena in the semifinal round of the 2008 tournament.

Selections to the 2012 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship will be announced Sunday night on ncaa.com.