MOUNT OLIVE (Jan. 18) – Junior
Shane Peterson registered his second career double-double on Saturday, as the University of Mount Olive men's basketball program surged past Southern Wesleyan by a 107-95 margin in Conference Carolinas play.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 7-11 overall with a 5-5 record in conference action. Mount Olive has matched its win total from the 2024 season with 10 games left in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Warriors drop to 4-11 this season behind a 2-7 mark in league play.
Peterson scored a team-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting while knocking down six three-pointers. He collected the double-double with 10 rebounds, one assist, two steals, and two blocks in 26 minutes on the court. Redshirt sophomore
Christopher Brown tallied 17 points on 7-of-11 attempts while grabbing three rebounds in 20 minutes. Freshman
Matt Kirby contributed 16 points, two rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 25 minutes. Fellow freshman
Chase Dawson also produced 16 points with five rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. Redshirt junior
Kobe Jones recorded nine points, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block in 15 minutes off the bench.
Southern Wesleyan converted the initial two baskets of the contest before UMO responded with seven consecutive points to hold a 7-4 edge with 16:48 left in the first half. The Warriors pulled in front with a 12-3 rally to take a 16-10 advantage, but the Trojans made four-of-seven from the field, including a trio of threes to grab a 22-18 lead. Mount Olive opened up their advantage to 33-25 at the nine-minute mark behind six different scorers. SWU trimmed the deficit to 41-34 with 5:18 to go before UMO mounted a 17-3 run, led by Peterson with six points, to hold a 58-37 lead. The Warriors tallied a pair of buckets in the final minute, as the Trojans went into halftime ahead by a 58-41 margin.
Mount Olive established its largest lead of the game at the 17:31 mark of the second half by going ahead 68-45 (23 points) following a layup by junior
Shawn Wilson. The sides exchanged baskets over a nine-minute stretch as the Trojans maintained a significant advantage, 93-73. Southern Wesleyan over the next four-plus minutes closed the gap to single digits with a 16-5 run to trail 98-89 with 3:24 remaining. UMO made back-to-back tough layups to extend the lead to 102-91 before securing the win at the free-throw line, 107-95.
UMO shot at a 52.6 clip (41-of-78) from the floor while going 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Southern Wesleyan finished the game shooting 50.7 percent (36-of-71) and converted 23-of-32 (71.9 percent) from the free-throw line. The Trojans finished with a 44-38 rebounding advantage with 39 fastbreak points. The Warriors tallied 64 points in the paint and 28 points off the bench.
SWU senior Aaron Tims scored a career-high 32 points on 15-of-20 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds in 35 minutes. Graduate student Che Smith finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 29 minutes. Senior RJ Bell contributed 12 points, four rebounds, six assists, three steals, and one block in 29 minutes.
Mount Olive returns to Conference Carolinas action on Wednesday, Jan. 22, to face divisional rival Barton at 7 p.m.
