Lamonte' Theus hit a tie-breaking three-point play with 8.1 seconds left gave top-seeded Mount Olive an 83-80 victory over No. 3 seed Anderson in the Championship Game of the 2010 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament Sunday at Kornegay Arena. With the win, Mount Olive earns an automatic bid to the Southeast Regional of the 2010 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship. The Trojans advance to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years. Mount Olive has won three consecutive Conference Carolinas regular season championships and claimed its second conference tournament title in the last three years. After Anderson rallied from a six-point deficit in the last 51 seconds to tie the game, Theus took the inbounds pass after an Anderson timeout. Theus held the ball above the top of the key, drove to the right side of the lane and put up a floater that went high off the glass and rattled around the rim before going in. Theus drew the foul and converted the free throw. An Anderson three-point attempt from the right wing was off the mark. Tournament Most Valuable Player Kendrick Easley (6'1''-G) connected on his first six three-point attempts and led Mount Olive with a game-high 27 points. Easley, who was also named MVP when the Trojans won the 2008 Conference Carolinas Tournament, was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Theus and Trojan point guard Derek Staton (5'9''-G). Anderson was represented by Kevis Cornwell (6'2''-G) and Brandon Young (6'2''-G). Richard Barbee (6'4''-G), Jr., of Belmont Abbey and Chris Woods (6'5''-F) of Pfeiffer were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Mount Olive (25-5) trailed by five points with less than six minutes left before Craig Hayes (6'4''-F) hit 5-of-6 free throws during a 13-2 Trojan run. Hayes scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half. His two free throws with 2:10 left broke a 74-74 tie and Derek Staton's 18-footer from the left corner with 51 seconds remaining gave Mount Olive an 80-74 advantage, the biggest lead by either team in the entire game. Anderson (23-7) stormed back as Trey Britton drew a foul on a dunk with 41.9 seconds left and converted the three-point play to make it a one-possession game. Anderson forced a turnover in the backcourt and Tony Anderson (5'11''-G)'s three-point play tied the game 80-80 with 21.2 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Theus' heroics for Mount Olive. The first half saw eight lead changes and six ties, and neither team led by more than four points until Mahamed Ibrahim's reverse layup off of Brandon Allen's dish gave Mount Olive a 34-29 advantage with 2:06 left in the first half. Stoney Hill's offensive rebound kept Anderson's last possession of the half alive and Kevis Cornwell hit a short jumper with three seconds left to cut Mount Olive's lead to 37-35 at halftime. Easley was 5-for-5 from three-point range in the first half and had 16 points at the break. Easley's three-point play on Mount Olive's first possession of the second half pushed the lead back to five, but Young answered with a three-pointer and his layup with 18:09 left tied the game 40-40. Anderson and Young combined for three three-pointers in a span of just over two minutes as Anderson built a 53-48 lead with 14:44 remaining. Mount Olive took advantage of Anderson foul trouble early in the second half as Hayes sandwiched a pair of short jumpers around two Mike Holloman (6'3''-G) free throws to put the Trojans back on top with a 6-0 run. After Cornwell's three-point play ignited a 7-2 mini-run to give Anderson another five-point lead, Easley converted another three-point play to cap a Mount Olive run of five unanswered points and tie the game again 60-60 with 10:42 left to play. Cornwell's layup nearly two minutes later broke a 62-62 tie and Anderson led for the next four minutes. Ibrahim's putback of a missed shot pulled Mount Olive within 72-71 and Hayes added a free throw to tie the game with 3:51 remaining. After a defensive stop, Mount Olive regained the lead on Ibrahim's layup. Cornwell forced the 11th tie of the game at 74-74 with 2:42 remaining. Hayes' two free throws and Easley's layup triggered a 6-0 Trojan run and Mount Olive withstood Anderson's late rally to hold on for the win. Holloman finished with nine points and seven rebounds, while Staton added nine points and five steals. Theus, who scored 21 points in Friday's semifinal win over Pfeiffer, finished with seven points, seven assists and six rebounds. Easley finished 9-for-15 from the field, including 6-for-9 from three-point range. The Trojans were 23-for-30 from the free throw line, compared to 8-for-12 for Anderson. Cornwell led four Anderson players in double figures with 23 points, while Anderson had 14 points, Young finished with 13 points and Taylor Shugart added 10 points off the bench. Britton had game highs of nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Mount Olive plays a first round game in the Southeast Regional Saturday. The semifinals are scheduled for Sunday and the Championship Game is slated for Tuesday, March 16. The winner of the Southeast Regional advances to the Elite Eight March 24-27 in Springfield, Mass. Mount Olive made its first-ever Elite Eight appearance in 2005 Courtesy of Mount Olive Conf.Carolinas Tournament Final: Mount Olive - Anderson (S.C.) 83-80 Conf.Carolinas Tournament Semifinals: Mount Olive - Pfeiffer 124-103 Anderson - Belmont Abbey 90-89 Conf.Carolinas All-Tournament MVP: Kendrick Easley of Mount Olive Conf.Carolinas All-Tournament Team Chris Woods of Pfeiffer Richard Barbee of Belmont Abbey Kevis Cornwell of Anderson Brandon Young of Anderson Derek Staton of Mount Olive Lamonte Theus (6'0''-G) of Mount Olive Kendrick Easley of Mount Olive
All-Conf.Carolinas 1st Team Kendrick Easley of Mount Olive Chris Woods of Pfeiffer Daniel Bailey (6'4''-G-90) of Queens Brandon Young of Anderson Mason Ambler (6'6''-F) of Coker All-Conf.Carolinas 2nd Team Richard Barbee of Belmont Abbey Jarrell Douglass (6'5''-F) of Limestone Craig Hayes of Mount Olive Mike Holloman of Mount Olive Danny Friend (6'6''-F-88, college: Limestone) of Limestone All-Conf.Carolinas 3rd Team Jeff Pettiway (5'9''-G) of Pfeiffer Brandon Wright (6'2''-G) of Erskine Tony Anderson of Anderson Chad Patus (6'8''-F) of Belmont Abbey Gerald Boston (5'10''-G) of Barton All-Conf.Carolinas Player of the Year: Kendrick Easley of Mount Olive All-Conf.Carolinas Freshman of the Year: Gerald Boston of Barton All-Conf.Carolinas Coach of the Year: Joey Higginbotham of Mount Olive | |||||||||||||||||||||
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