CENTRAL, S.C. (Feb. 24) – Redshirt sophomore
Redford Dunton dropped a career-high 30 points on Saturday afternoon, as the University of Mount Olive men's basketball program defeated Southern Wesleyan by a 93-83 margin in Conference Carolinas action.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 7-20 overall behind a 6-11 mark in league play entering the final week of the regular season. Mount Olive has won the last three meetings in the series, including back-to-back wins at Historic Tysinger Gymnasium. Meanwhile, the Warriors fall to 4-23 this season with a 3-14 record in conference action.
Dunton delivered an outstanding performance on Saturday with 30 points on 9-of-11 shooting while converting a perfect nine-of-nine from the free-throw line. He also added six rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes.
Sophomore
Colin Radcliffe scored a season-high 16 points on five-of-seven attempts, including four three-pointers in 23 minutes off the bench. Fellow sophomore
Aaron Murphy finished with 12 points and two rebounds in 15 minutes, while freshman
Josiah Watkins totaled 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 29 minutes.
After a two-plus minute scoreless drought to start the game, SWU held an 8-4 lead after converting four-of-six from the field. The Trojans answered back with a three-pointer by Radcliffe to begin a 12-6 run to take a 16-14 edge at the 11:59 mark. The Warriors countered with a 13-2 rally to regain the lead by nine points, 27-18. Mount Olive quickly tied the contest at 29-29 at the 6:16 mark before the sides exchanged baskets down the stretch. Mount Olive went into the break with a 44-43 advantage following a layup by freshman
Ja'Merl Brockington with 30 seconds left.
SWU tied the game in the opening minutes before the teams traded points for the initial 10 minutes of the second half. The Trojans slowly increased their lead to 65-59 behind seven straight points by Dunton before the Warriors trimmed the deficit to 76-73 with just over five minutes remaining. After one final push by SWU, the Trojans secured the win from the free-throw line, 93-83.
UMO shot at a season-high 60.8 clip (31-of-51) from the floor while going 23-of-26 (88.5 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Southern Wesleyan finished the game shooting 50.9 percent (29-of-57) and converted 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) from the charity stripe. The teams tied with 28 rebounds each, while the Trojans scored 40 points in the paint and totaled 37 off the bench.
Junior Reco Hallmon scored a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 24 minutes. Freshman Eric Hackett tallies 15 points on five-of-seven attempts, while senior Griffin Effenberger produced 14 points.
Mount Olive closes the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 28, when it hosts rival Barton at Kornegay Arena in league play at 7 p.m.
