MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The University of Mount Olive men's basketball team picked up their second Conference Carolinas victory after dominating the Saints of Limestone College 84-60 on Wednesday evening at Kornegay Arena in Mount Olive, N.C. Jonathan Mebane led all Trojans with 19 points en route to the Trojans 24-point win.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Mount Olive 84, Limestone 60
Records: Mount Olive (3-5, 2-0), Limestone (6-3, 1-1)
Location: Kornegay Arena | Mount Olive, N.C.
How It Happened
Play-by-Play
FIRST HALF
- Senior Jamaal Matin got things started off quickly after Don Pigford won the jump ball by scoring a layup basket seven seconds into play.
- Limestone responded by going on a 9-4 run over the next four minutes to lead 9-6 at the 16:05 mark in the opening half.
- A Matin three-point jumper knotted the score at nine-all (15:05) and a Michael Brown layup (14:08) following the Limestone timeout gave the Trojans the lead, which they never relinquished.
- The score tied up three times over the next two and half minutes, last at 16 all, before Mount Olive took a three-point lead, 19-16, following a three-point conversion on a Brown layup and free throw combination.
- The Saints closed the point gap to one, 19-18, at 10:49 on a layup but the Trojans went on a six-point run over a two-minute span to lead 25-18 at the 8:58 mark.
- Limestone scored off of a Mount Olive turnover at 8:36 but UMO lit a fire as they went on a 14-0 run over four and a half minutes to take a 39-20 lead with 4:04 to play in the half.
- Mount Olive maintained a comfortable 16-point cushion heading into halftime despite Limestone's 10-7 run to close out the final minutes as the score sat 46-30 at the halftime buzzer.
SECOND HALF
- UMO came out of halftime continuing to bring the heat as they took a 20-point lead, 51-31, following a Don Pigford layup and a Cameron Robinson three-pointer in the opening 90 seconds.
- The Trojans led grew to 23 points following a Matin jumper, a Tanner Poole layup and an Alan Treakle three-pointer that put the score at 58-35.
- Four Jonathan Mebane free throws and a Darius Spragley jump shot put the UMO back up to 24 points, 64-40, at the 12:35 mark.
- Mount Olive's lead grew to as many as 27 points following a Mebane jump shot at 7:38 on the clock as the score grew to 70-43.
- A late pair of free throws by Treakle gave Mount Olive a 30-point lead, 80-50, with 2:35 remaining in regulation.
- The Saints rallied to score 10 points in the final minutes of the game but the Trojans were the stronger team as they went on to win 84-60.
KEY STATS
- Jonathan Mebane (19) and Darius Spragley (16) both scored more points than the leading scorer for the Saints who had 13 points.
- Michael Brown (12) and Jamaal Matin (11) both joined in the double-digit points club.
- Don Pigford had a good rebounding night as he collected 12 rebounds including nine on the defensive end.
- UMO held the Saints highest scorer to just six points in the contest when he averaged 17.5 heading into tonight's game.
- The Trojans nearly doubled the Saints in the rebound category as UMO brought down 41 boards while Limestone only grabbed 24.
- Mount Olive shot 88.2% from the charity stripe connecting on 15-of-17 free throw attempts.
UP NEXT
The Trojans are back in action this weekend as they hit the road for a Conference Carolinas contest against the Warriors in Central, S.C. Mount Olive will take on Southern Wesleyan on Saturday, December 15, at 4 p.m. at Tysinger Gymnasium.
