BRISTOL, Tenn. (Jan. 27) – The University of Mount Olive men's basketball program featured six players in double figures on Saturday afternoon in an 89-83 victory at King in Conference Carolinas action.
With the win, the Trojans have won four of their last six games and improve to 5-14 overall with a 4-5 mark in conference play. Mount Olive has earned victories in the previous two games at the Student Center Complex in Tennessee. Meanwhile, the Tornado drop to 5-13 this season behind a 2-8 record in league action.
Sophomore
Shane Peterson scored a team-high 21 points while grabbing five rebounds and one steal in 35 minutes. He ranks second on the team with 13.6 points per game while collecting his fourth 20-point game of the season. Redshirt sophomore
Redford Dunton registered his second double-double of the year with 17 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. He also added two assists, three steals, and one block against King.
Fellow sophomore
Brent Randleman finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 attempts with five rebounds and three steals in 26 minutes. Sophomore
Aaron Murphy contributed 12 points, five rebounds, and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench. Sophomore
Trey Nelson registered 10 points, two rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 36 minutes. Freshman
Josiah Watkins reached double figures with 10 points while adding three rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 14 minutes off the bench.
King made five-of-eight from the field in the opening minutes of the contest to hold a 10-3 advantage at the 14:47 mark. The Trojans rallied back with five consecutive points to cut into the deficit before the Tornado stretched the lead to 19-10. Mount Olive responded with a 12-2 run, including a three-point play by Randleman, to take the lead by a 22-21 margin with 8:44 left. King recaptured the lead with a short 7-2 rally before Mount Olive quickly answered back to tie the contest at 28-28. The sides traded points over the next few minutes before UMO scored six of the final nine points of the half to take a 42-37 lead at the break.
In the second half, the teams exchanged points over the initial five-plus minutes before the Trojans extended the lead to 61-51 after tallying a 7-3 run. King trimmed the deficit to five points with 10:46 left before regaining a 67-66 edge following a 9-3 rally. Mount Olive responded with nine consecutive points to hold a 75-67 advantage before the Tornado closed the gap to 79-77 with 3:29 to go. With UMO leading by an 84-83 margin with 44 seconds left, Randleman made a critical layup as part of a 5-0 run to seal the 89-83 victory.
UMO shot at a 41.3 clip (31-of-75) from the floor while going 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, King finished the game shooting 50.0 percent (30-of-60) and converted 19-of-25 (76.0 percent) from the free-throw line. Both teams totaled 38 rebounds with the Trojans recording 25 points off the bench. The Tornado scored 48 points in the paint and tallied 16 points off turnovers.
Freshman Mikhail Pocknett scored a game-high 28 points on 8-of-13 shooting while converting 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. He also totaled 11 rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two blocks in 38 minutes. Sophomore Jordan Akal finished with 17 points, four rebounds, and one steal in 32 minutes. Junior Kenny Turner posted a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while freshman Seth Cullen tallied 11 points.
Mount Olive returns to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 31, when it faces UNC Pembroke on the road for conference play at 7 p.m.
