Dory Hines recorded a double-double and became the Mount Olive College all-time career assists leader as the Trojans defeated UNC Pembroke 90-65 in non-conference men's basketball Thursday at Kornegay Arena. Hines finished with 13 points and 10 assists and was one of six Trojans to score in double figures.
Entering the game with 518 career assists and needing seven assists to break the school record, Hines equaled the mark before halftime with six assists in the first half. His tying assist came in spectacular fashion with less than two minutes left in the half, finishing a Dontrell Brite steal with an alley-oop lob to Kendall Hargrove, who put home a slam dunk.
Hines dished record-breaking assist No. 525 with 12:47 left in the contest, finding Ewon Wright in the left corner for a three-pointer and a 16-point Trojan lead. Hines added to his record just 25 seconds later on a layup by Hargrove after a steal by Wright.
The previous mark of 524 assists was held by Derek Staton, who graduated in 2012.
Hines' chase for the record wasn't the only drama in the first half as the two teams exchanged a series of runs. Mount Olive (7-3) used a three-pointer by Jordan McCain and a three-point play by Dominique Reed to build an 18-10 lead with 13:17 left before halftime. The Trojans took their first double-digit lead at 22-12 after a layup by Hines with 12:04 remaining.
UNC Pembroke (9-2), which was ranked No. 22 in last week's NABC Division II Top 25, came back to score the next nine points as Alex Bradley's 35-foot three-pointer from the right wing triggered the run. After a pair of Hines free throws, Jihad Wright's putback dunk and Ben Jacobs' free throws with 8:38 left put the Braves on top 25-24, their first lead since 4-2. The Braves added to their lead as Griffin Pittman's three-pointer capped an 18-2 run and gave UNC Pembroke its biggest lead at 30-24 with 7:37 remaining.
Brite answered with a three-pointer on Mount Olive's next possession and ended the Trojans' five-minute field goal drought. Mike Moore's three-pointer with 4:36 remaining put Mount Olive back on top 34-32 and the Trojans led the remainder of the contest. Moore added two more three-pointers over the next two minutes, the third coming off of an assist by Hines with 2:02 remaining.
After Hargrove's alley-oop dunk on Hines' record-tying assist, Brite's layup completed a 27-8 run over the final seven-plus minutes of the first half as the Trojans went into the locker room with a 51-38 lead.
The margin never fell below 13 points in the second half and Kyle Rhoades' jumper with 10:33 remaining pushed the lead past the 20-point mark at 71-50. The lead grew to as many as 27 points in the final minute.
McCain finished with 17 points for Mount Olive, while Moore and Reed added 11 points apiece. Reed, who is tied for 29th in the nation in blocked shots, blocked four shots Thursday. Hargrove finished with 10 points and team highs of six rebounds and three steals. The Trojans shot a season-best 15-for-16 from the free throw line (93.8 percent), including a perfect 5-for-5 by Hines.
Quamain Rose led UNC Pembroke with 14 points, while Keysheen Hinton added 13 points off the bench. Wright pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Braves, which received votes in this week's NABC Top 25.
Mount Olive concludes non-conference play Sunday as the Trojans travel to Augusta, Ga., to take on GRU Augusta. Mount Olive posted a 72-69 win at Kornegay Arena last year over the Jaguars, which entered that game ranked No. 12 in the NABC Top 25 and were still known as Augusta State University. Tip-off is 4 p.m.