MOUNT OLIVE, North Carolina - The University of Mount Olive men's basketball team picked up a big 104-91 win over the Concord University Mountainlins to close out the 54th Annual Mount Olive Pickle Classic. Mount Olive improved to 3-1 on the season while Concord fell to 2-3 after losing both games in the Pickle Classic.
GAME INFORMATION
The contest concluded day two of the 54th Annual Mount Olive Pickle Classic. Jonathan Mebane (32), Johnny Hughes III (26), and Calvin Washington (17) all recorded career-highs in the game.
INSIDE THE SCORE
UMO got on the scoreboard first with a free throw from Hughes. Thirty seconds later, after Concord got on the board, Washington connected on a three-pointer followed by a layup to give UMO the lead, 6-2, a lead that they would never relinquish. The teams remained close in score until the 14:17 mark of the first half when Mebane connected on a three that opened up a 10-point lead, 21-11, for the Trojans. Mount Olive took off from there going a 10-1 rally the put them ahead of Concord by 19 points, still with 11 minutes remaining in the opening half. The Mountain Lions put some points on the board over the next seven minutes but UMO responded to each CU basket and held a 20-point lead, 48-28, with 3:36 to play. The two teams closed out the opening half on a 9-8 run led by Mount Olive who held the 57-36 lead at halftime.
Mount Olive kept things rolling in the second half as they returned to the court scoring nine quick points to go up 66-39 in the first two and a half minutes. The Trojans kept putting on a show for the crowd as they took a 30-point lead, 90-60, by the 10:30 mark. The Mountain Lions of Concord held their ground and began chipping away at the Trojan lead bringing it back down to 20, 98-78, with 3:36 remaining in regulation. A three-pointer for Concord cut the lead to 14-points, 98-84, but a jumper by Hughes put UMO at 100 points and a 15+ point advantage with 2:43 to play. The Mountain Lions tried to cover come the Trojans but Mount Olive's lead was too great and the Trojans finished with a 104-91 win to wrap up the 54th Annual Mount Olive Pickle Classic.
MOUNT OLIVE LEADERS
The Trojans were led by Jonathan Mebane (32), Johnny Hughes III (26), and Calvin Washington (17) who combined for 75 of the 104 total Trojan points. Mebane was 8-13 from behind the three-point arc and shot 11-17 on the night. Hughes was 10-13 from the field and tallied a team-high eight rebounds. Michael Brown had a game-high nine assists on the night.
CONCORD LEADERS
The Mountain Lions were led by Trey Brisco with 20 points. He was followed by Ethan Heller (18), Simun Kovac (14), and Malik Johnson (12). Kovac tallied a game-high 10 rebounds. Brisco was 8-10 on the evening including shooting 4-4 from behind the three-point arc.
KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came early in the first half when Mount Olive opened up a ten-point lead. The lead gave UMO a fair cushion and helped the home team on to win the game in front of a packed house at Kornegay Arena.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will hit the road for a midweek nonconference game against the Falcons of Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh, NC. UMO and SAU square off for a 7 PM tipoff.
