Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.-Junior guard Gerald Boston scored a game-high 25 points and dished out a game-high nine assists for visiting Barton College in an 83-67 Conference Carolinas men's basketball loss at Mount Olive College on Valentine's Day in Kornegay Arena.
The Trojans improved to 16-7 overall and 9-4 with its eighth win in its last nine games after avenging a two-point loss to the Bulldogs on Jan. 11. Barton dipped to 14-9 and 6-7 and will play its last regular season road game at Belmont Abbey College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Boston led all players with 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 accuracy from the free throw line. Boston was credited with assists on nine of the Bulldogs other 19 made shots. Boston and junior Keith Manley shared team-high rebounding honors with six boards apiece.
Manley scored six of Barton's first 14 points but was held scoreless for the final 31 minutes. A Manley layup provided the Bulldogs with at 12-9 lead early before Mount Olive scored the next 15 points to take control. Another Manley lay-in ended a Trojans run and a three and a half minute scoreless drought for Barton.
The Trojans build a 14 point lead in the first half but a Boston 3-pointer in the final seconds cut the Barton deficit to just six, 45-39, at halftime. The hosts stayed ahead by at least six points after the intermission despite several comeback attempts by the Bulldogs.
A layup by senior Aaron Suggs at the 5:58 mark once again got Barton to within six, 68-62, but the Trojans would hold the Bulldogs to just two made field goals in the final five minutes. Mount Olive closed the contest on a 15-5 run to pull out to its largest lead of 17 in the final minute.
Mount Olive received balanced scoring in the win as all five Trojan starters scored in double figures. Craig Hayes led the group with 17 points, Kason Cheeks cashed in 16, Derek Staton sank 16, Mahamed Ibrahim netted 14 and Dory Hines had 13.
Hayes and Cheeks each finished with double-doubles as they both pulled down 10 rebounds. MOC dominated the backboards, 47-33, that led to an 18-7 advantage on second chance points.
Junior Joseph Velez supplied Barton with 12 points and senior Jaren Haley added nine points.
The Trojans fired at 46% and the Bulldogs were accurate 41.8% of the time. Mount Olive made 8-of-17 (47.1%) three-point attempts compared to just 4-of-15 (26.7%) by Barton. The hosts also converted on 17-of-24 (70.8%) attempts from the charity stripe in comparison to 7-of-13 (53.8%) by BC.
