MOUNT OLIVE (Feb. 28) – Despite featuring six players with double-digit points, the Trojans fell short by an 84-79 margin against Barton on Wednesday night in Conference Carolinas action at Kornegay Arena.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive men's basketball team closes the regular season with a 7-21 overall record behind a 6-12 mark in league play. The Trojans will enter the league tournament as the No. 10 seed and travel to the campus of Francis Marion to face No. 9 seed Belmont Abbey for a chance to advance to the second round to meet the No. 4 Patriots.
Meanwhile, Barton improves to 13-15 this season with a 10-8 record in conference action.
Redshirt sophomore
Redford Dunton finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting with eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 31 minutes. Freshman
Kennard Davis scored a season-high 14 points on six-of-nine attempts with eight assists and four rebounds in 29 minutes. Sophomore
Aaron Murphy produced 13 points and two rebounds, while freshman
Kahlif Barnes tallied 11 points, five rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Freshman
Josiah Watkins and sophomore
Brent Randleman each contributed 10 points, respectively.
In the first half, the Bulldogs climbed ahead by a 21-11 margin after making 8-of-12 from the field with five three-pointers. Mount Olive rallied back with a 10-4 run to close the gap to 25-21 with 9:01 left before the sides exchanged points for the next four-plus minutes. The Trojans scored four straight points to tie the contest at 31-31 with three minutes remaining, but Barton responded with five unanswered points to take a 36-31 advantage. UMO tallied the final four points of the half to trail 36-35 at the break.
The Bulldogs mounted a 12-4 run to begin the second half and established a 48-39 lead with 14:37 left in the game. Mount Olive responded by closing the gap to 51-47 before Barton totaled eight straight points to stretch the lead to 59-47. The Bulldogs held their largest lead of the game at 72-57 with 5:07 to go before UMO went on a 13-3 run to close the gap to 75-70 with 2:33 remaining. The sides traded baskets over the final two minutes, as Barton sealed the victory, 84-79.
Mount Olive finished the contest shooting 30-of-67 (44.8 percent) from the floor while converting 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Barton posted a .476 field goal percentage (30-of-63) and made 16-of-27 (59.3 percent) from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs finished with a 41-38 rebounding advantage while scoring 21 fastbreak points. The Trojans totaled 44 points in the paint and 23 points off the bench.
Senior Reese McDonald scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block in 37 minutes. Junior Trey Crews posted a double-double with 16 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, three blocks, and one block in 34 minutes. Senior Jett Fortuny and graduate student Trevon Spencer tallied 16 and 13 points, respectively.
The Trojans return to the court on Sunday, March 3, when they face Belmont Abbey in a first-round of the Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Championship in South Carolina.
