Kendall Hargrove led six players in double figures and Dory Hines posted a double-double as Mount Olive pulled away for an 85-66 victory over Fayetteville State in the final game of the 47th Annual Mount Olive College Pickle Classic Saturday at Kornegay Arena. Hines, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, joined teammate Deshaune Green on the All-Tournament Team.
In Saturday's opening game, Denzel Dillingham scored a game-high 21 points as Lenoir-Rhyne broke away from a tie game for a 64-51 victory over West Virginia. Lenoir-Rhyne posted a 2-0 record in the Pickle Classic and remained unbeaten on the season.
Mount Olive (1-1) built on a nine-point halftime advantage as Darrell Patterson's three-pointer gave the Trojans a 47-34 lead with 12:49 left to play. The margin stayed in double figures the remainder of the game.
Green scored six straight points during a stretch midway through the second half, capped by a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul and a one-handed dunk underneath the right side of the basket as the Trojans extended their lead to 58-42 with 8:42 left.
The lead surpassed the 20-point mark for the first time on Hines' dunk with 7:33 remaining. The margin grew to as many as 24 points before Preston Holmes hit a 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer.
In the first half, Mount Olive overcame a slow start as Patterson's steal and layup capped a 12-1 run and gave the Trojans a 13-5 lead with 11:58 left in the first half. The Trojans led by nine after Hargrove's tip-in, but Fayetteville State (1-3) used a pair of three-pointers by Anthony Shelton to pull within 23-20 with 4:41 remaining.
Mount Olive held Fayetteville State scoreless over the next four minutes and Dontrell Brite's layup off of Patterson's steal gave the Trojans a 29-20 lead with 1:55 remaining. Tyrell Tate's layup with ended Fayetteville State's drought with a layup with 47 seconds left, but Hines's 14-footer at the buzzer gave Mount Olive a 31-22 halftime lead.
Patterson and Mahamed Ibrahim each finished with 13 points, while Green and Jordan McCain added 10 points apiece. Freshman Dontrell Brite led all players with six assists in just his second collegiate contest.
Shelton finished with 19 points and five assists for Fayetteville State, while Tate added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Broncos.
In the opener, Dillingham had a pair of layups, an assist and a steal in the first five minutes of the contest to stake Lenoir-Rhyne (4-0) to a quick 10-2 lead. West Virginia State (2-2) came back with a 14-2 run of its own as Victor Sharpe's three-pointer and two free throws helped give the Yellow Jackets a 16-12 lead with 6:54 left before halftime.
Kendrick Ward's two free throws with 1:54 remaining extended West Virginia State's lead to six, but Lenoir-Rhyne scored the final six points of the half to tie the game. B.J. Beasley's layup at the buzzer counted despite being called for a charging foul as the two teams went into the locker room tied 22-22.
Lenoir-Rhyne scored the first seven points of the second half to extend its scoring run to 13 points, but West Virginia rallied to tie the game 34-34 with 13:22 left to play. Dillingham's three-pointer with 11:41 remaining ignited a 15-4 Lenoir-Rhyne run and the Bears led the rest of the way. West Virginia State went scoreless for five minutes until David Ford's basket with 4:07 left ended the drought.
Jarvis Perry added 16 points for Lenoir-Rhyne, while Beasley pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Ford and Anton Hutchins led West Virginia State with 11 points apiece.
Joining Trojans Green and Hines on the All-Tournament Team were Tyrell Tate of Fayetteville State, Denzel Dillingham and R.J. McClure of Lenoir-Rhyne, and David Ford and Anton Hutchins of West Virginia State.
Mount Olive will play its third game in four days Monday as the Trojans play host to North Greenville in a Conference Carolinas match-up. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Kornegay Arena, immediately after Trojan women's basketball vs. North Greenville.