WILSON, N.C.-Senior L.J. Dunn and sophomore Gerald Boston both recorded double-doubles as No. 3 seed Barton College eliminated No. 6 St. Andrews Presbyterian College in the 2011 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals 108-96 on Monday night in the Dog House.
The Bulldogs advance to play at No. 2 Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will host the finals on Saturday at 7 p.m., after top-seeded Queens was upset by No. 8 Belmont Abbey on Monday.
Barton (18-9 overall) – ranked 10th in the current NCAA Division II Southeast Region Poll – has won six straight games including an 87-62 victory over the Saints on Saturday since the return of Boston.
The 5-foot-10 point guard from Burlington, N.C., leads the league in assists and handed out 14 dimes against SAPC. Boston also poured in a game-high 25 points on 9-of-16 accuracy for his fourth double-double of the season.
Dunn, a 6-3 forward from Raleigh, N.C., hauled in a career-high 22 rebounds and scored 16 points for his 11th double-double. Dunn's 22 boards helped Barton control the backboards 48-41. Dunn captured 10 of the Bulldogs 23 offensive bounds that led to 25 second chance points.
SAPC – picked to finish eighth in the league at the beginning of the season – finished off its season one-game under .500 at 13-14. Junior Aaron Christian (New Bedford, Mass.) had a hot hand going 10-of-12 from the field including a perfect 4-for-4 on three-pointers for 24 points. Christian handed out a team-high six assists.
A pair of made free throws by junior Keith Davis (Orlando, Fla.) on the opening possession gave St. Andrews its only lead of the game. BC junior Jo Jo Velez (Woodbridge, Va.) broke an early 5-5 tie with consecutive layups that put the host ahead for the final 37 minutes. A 16-4 run midway through the first half capped by a difficult reverse layup by senior Greg Mammel (San Antonio, Texas) extended the Bulldogs cushion to 43-27.
Barton maintained a 58-46 lead at halftime and opened up the second half on a 10-3 run to take its largest lead of 19 points. The Bulldogs maintained the same advantage a couple minutes later at 80-61 before SAPC made its last run. Christian closed a 13-3 rally with a made 3-pointer to pull the Knights to within nine at 83-74.
The two teams traded hoops on the next set of possessions before a put-back by Dunn followed immediately by a steal and layup by Boston extended Barton's lead to double figures for the final six minutes and 30 seconds.
All five Bulldog starters reached double digits. Sophomore Jarrett Jernigan (Virginia Beach, Va.) canned a season-high 20, junior Jaren Haley (Woodbridge, Va.) tossed in 17 and Velez totaled 11. Mammel and junior R.D. Dowdy (Chapel Hill, N.C.) each tallied eight points in reserve roles.
Both team shot well with St. Andrews swishing 52% and Barton bucketing 48%. The Bulldogs forced the Knights into 20 turnovers with 13 steals including five swipes by Boston and four thefts by Haley. BC protected the ball well finishing with 21 assists and only 10 turnovers.
A quartet of Knights reached the 10-plus point plateau including 17 by junior Antonio Moffitt (Raleigh, N.C.), 16 by senior Marvin Jackson (Gloucester, Va.), and 13 by Davis. Senior Marcus Connor (Charlotte, N.C.) – ranked third in the nation in blocked shots – capped his collegiate career with five rejections.
