JaQuan Blount led all five starters in double figures with 17 points, while Dominique Reed and Kendall Hargrove both posted double-doubles as nationally 18th-ranked University of Mount Olive defeated Belmont Abbey 82-55 in Conference Carolinas men's basketball Wednesday at Kornegay Arena. Reed finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Hargrove added 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. All of Hargrove's points came on dunks.
Dontrell Brite staked Mount Olive (15-2 overall, 8-1 Conference Carolinas) to a 5-0 in the first minute of the contest and the Trojans led wire-to-wire. Belmont Abbey (1-15, 1-8) pulled within a point after a layup by Drexler Clark, but Mount Olive scored the next six points and Blount's layup with 13:37 left in the first half gave the Trojans their first double-digit lead at 19-8.
A dunk by Hargrove and a three-pointer by Tayon Gleaves highlighted a 15-2 run as Mount Olive extended its lead to 34-12 with 8:20 remaining. Blount hit a three-pointer and Jordan McCain and Brite combined to hit 4-of-4 free throws during an 11-1 run to give the Trojans their biggest lead of the half at 45-15 with 4:27 left before halftime.
All of Hargrove's 12 points come from six dunks
Mount Olive was limited to a pair of Brite free throws the remainder of the half and Belmont Abbey used Ray Chen's layup with four seconds left to close the gap to 47-21 at halftime.
Belmont Abbey rallied early in the second half as three-pointers by Tyler Horn and Chen cut Mount Olive's lead under 20. But baskets by McCain and Brite triggered a 12-1 run as the Trojans built their lead to 67-39 with 9:48 left to play. The margin ballooned to as many as 37 points at 80-43 with 4:12 remaining.
Brite flirted with a triple-double with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. McCain added 12 points and seven boards as the Trojans outrebounded the Crusaders 50-30.
Chen led Belmont Abbey with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench. Clark added 11 points for the Crusaders.
Mount Olive is idle until Monday when the Trojans travel to Tigerville, S.C., to take on North Greenville in a Conference Carolinas match-up. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.