Banner Elk, North Carolina - The University of Mount Olive men's basketball team defeated Lees-McRae 91-85 in Conference Carolinas action Saturday night. UMO improves to 14-10 overall and 8-8 in the conference, while Mount Olive improves to 18-5, 12-3.

INSIDE THE SCORE
The contest was close at the start with the Trojans of Mount Olive got on the scoreboard first with two jump shots from Jonathan Mebane and Cameron Robinson with 17:42 remaining to take a 4-0 lead. A minute later, Lees-McRae got on the scoreboard with a free-throw shot still trailing 4-1. Both teams battled it out, but Lees-McRae found their rhythm and took a seven-point lead at the 12:44 mark with the score 20-13. The Trojans were not ready to back down and took a four-point lead 33-29 with 4:53 raming in the first half. Lees-McRae put some points on the board over the next four minutes but UMO responded to each Lee's-McRae basket not giving up the lead and ended the first half 45-41 advantage.

The second half the Trojans of Mount Olive kept things rolling as they returned to the court scoring six quick points to extend their lead 51-41 with 18:13 remaining. The Trojans never gave up the lead until Lee-McRae fought hard and battled their way back through to trail behind by one with the score 72-71 at the 6:28 mark. Alan Treakle made a three-point shot and Johnny Hughes III made a layup to take the five-point lead with 4:47 remaining in the game. Once again the Trojans did not surrender the lead and finished the game with the 91-85 victory.

MOUNT OLIVE LEADERS
The Trojans were led by Jhonny Hughes III with a season-high of  35 points and 9 rebounds. Jeremiah Phifer and Alan Treakle all had double-digit scoring performances with 15 and 10 points respectively.

LEES MCRAE LEADERS
Lees-McRae was led by Jerick Haynes with 22 points.

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in the final six minutes when the Trojans went on a 10-5 run to stay in the lead and finish the game with the 91-85 win.

UP NEXT

Mount Olive will continue on the road as they take on Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina February 19 at 7:30 P.M.