University of Mount Olive led by as many as seven in the second half, but Pfeiffer University rallied to defeat the Trojans 78-69 in Conference Carolinas men's basketball Saturday at Kornegay Arena. Dominique Reed, who was recognized prior to the game for reaching the career 1,000-point mark, led the Trojans with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Mount Olive (15-11 overall, 10-8 Conference Carolinas) built a 45-38 lead in the second half after Jamaal Matin's two free throws with 16:14 left to play capped an 8-0 run. Pfeiffer (12-14, 8-10) tied the game with a 7-0 run of its own as Xavier Evans hit a three-pointer and lobbed an alley-oop pass from in front of the Falcon bench to De'Vonte Jenkins, who finished with a two-handed slam dunk.
Pfeiffer took a 50-48 lead on a dunk by Makly Bien-Aime, but JaQuan Blount hit a three-pointer for Mount Olive and his inbounds lob from mid-court found Reed, who drove in for a dunk to put the Trojans back on top 53-52 with 11:02 left to play. Evans' basket on Pfeiffer's next possession ignited a 13-0 run and put the Falcons back on top to stay.
The lead grew to as many as 13 points and Mount Olive never got any closer than seven.
In the first half, Mount Olive pulled away from a one-point game as Tayon Gleaves' three-pointer with 8:09 remaining matched the Trojans' biggest lead at 24-16. Pfeiffer rallied to take a 31-29 lead, but Reed made an over-the-shoulder catch in the paint on Gleaves' lob from the right wing and converted a three-point play to help Mount Olive take a 37-33 halftime lead.
Blount finished with 11 points, while Gleaves added 10 points and five assists off the bench.
Andrew Guerrero led four Pfeiffer players in double figures with a game-high 18 points.
Mount Olive concludes regular season play with a pair of Conference Carolinas home games this week. The Trojans play host to Barton Tuesday evening and to Erskine Friday evening. Tip-off both nights is 7:30 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.