University of Mount Olive scored the first 10 points of the game and led wire-to-wire as the Trojans defeated Southern Wesleyan University 93-78 in Conference Carolinas men's basketball Friday at Central, S.C. Dontrell Brite led the Trojans with 20 points, while Mike Moore and Dominique Reed added 19 points apiece for Mount Olive, which surpassed the 90-point mark for the seventh time in its last eight games.
Friday's contest was originally scheduled for January 23, but was moved due to snow in the Carolinas that weekend.
Mount Olive (15-9 overall, 10-6 Conference Carolinas) won the opening tip and Reed put the Trojans on top to stay with a layup just four seconds into the contest. Brite and Moore both connected on three-pointers in the Trojans' game-opening 10-0 run.
Southern Wesleyan (2-22, 1-15) got as close as 15-13 with 12:41 left in the first half on Darius Sharpe's steal and layup. The Warriors had a chance to tie the game or take their first lead after another UMO turnover, but Jacque Brown's steal led to a layup by Brite. Three-pointers by John Wieland and Moore helped Mount Olive push the margin back to double figures at 32-21 with 6:44 remaining.
Southern Wesleyan cut Mount Olive's lead back to single digits, but Tayon Gleaves' three-pointer with 1:42 left in the first half gave Mount Olive a 40-29 advantage and the margin stayed in double figures for the remainder of the contest. Reed hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds left and the Trojans went into the locker room with a 44-29 halftime lead.
Mount Olive took its biggest lead of the game at 63-43 on Brite's three-pointer with 13:38 left to play and the margin never fell below 12 points the rest of the way.
Gleaves added 10 points and Reed pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Trojans. Reed was 6-for-7 from the field, while Brite and Moore were both 6-for-11. JaQuan Blount shared game-high honors with five assists.
Kenny Holmes scored a game-high 25 points to go with five assists for Southern Wesleyan, while Sharpe added 22 points for the Warriors.
For the fifth time this season, Mount Olive has games on back-to-back dates as the Trojans travel to Due West, S.C., Saturday to take on Erskine College in Conference Carolinas action. Tip-off is 6 p.m.