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Barton College

Men's Basketball

Barton men drop Saints; move back into first place

Box Score


by John Hackney

WILSON, N.C.-Senior guard Gerald Boston scored 10 of Barton's final 18 points Saturday night as the Bulldogs regained their spot atop the Conference Carolinas men's basketball standings with a 64-59 victory over visiting Limestone College.

Barton, which led 33-26 at halftime, never trailed in the second half, although the Saints were always within striking distance and closed the deficit to one or two points on six occasions.

In ending a three-game skid (all on the road), Barton rose to 10-4 in the conference, a half-game up on both Limestone and King, who stand 10-5. The Bulldogs swept the two-game series with Limestone and lost both games to King, which was upset 110-92 by Belmont Abbey Saturday night. Barton improved to 15-5 overall while Limestone is 14-7. Barton visits Pfeiffer University on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.

"I thought both teams struggled offensively tonight," 17th-year Barton head coach Ron Lievense said. "I thought it was a defensive knockout game and they defended and rebounded better than we did. Fortunately for us, they didn't hit their 3s tonight (3-for-27)."

As for Boston, Lievense said; "Gerald played with great pride in the second half and took the game over. That's what great guards do and he did it."

Boston finished with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He was 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the foul line. Senior 6-foot-4 forward Jon Hart added 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 6-4 forward Keith Manley scored 10 and pulled a team-best six boards.

For Limestone, 6-6 senior forward Charles Blue scored a game-high 23 points, yanked seven rebounds and had three blocks. Senior 6-6 center Phillip Moultrie tallied 12 points and 6-6 forward Joe Raga collected a game-high 11 rebounds along with six assists.

Barton canned 26-of-56 shots for 46.4 percent and made 3-of-12 3-pointers for 25 percent. The Saints struggled to 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the floor while misfiring regularly from beyond the arc. Limestone, which entered the contest as the league's most accurate 3-point shooting team, claimed a 39-34 rebounding advantage.

Blue scored the Saints' first four points as the visitors led 2-0 and 4-2. Those were the only two times they would have the lead, although the score was tied one last time at 16-16 with 11 minutes left in the first half. A Hart layup and three buckets by Manley pushed Barton to a 24-17 cushion and a Boston 3-pointer at 4:50 provided the largest lead of the night at 27-19. Five straight points by Blue cut the lead to just three, but Hart and Manley scored inside and Hart swished a baseline jumper off an Aaron Brown pass at the buzzer for the 33-26 lead at intermission.

Blue scored twice and junior guard P.J. Foster drilled a three to pull Limestone within one, but Hart hit a few more buckets and Boston cashed another trey to keep the Saints at bay. The teams basically traded baskets for a 10-minute period as Barton remained in front.

While Boston was doing his thing down the stretch, Moultrie was elevating in the paint for a couple of jump hooks, the last one closing the deficit to 61-59 with 59 seconds left. Boston swished a pull-up jumper at the 36-second mark for a 63-59 cushion and, after a trio of missed 3-pointers, Limestone's inbounds pass was stolen by Manley with 12 seconds left. Brian McNair cashed one free throw to end the scoring and Limestone missed one more trey as time expired.

Lievense is happy his team is back on top, but assures the Bulldogs have a lot of work ahead of them to stay there in a tough league.

"That (Abbey win over King) just shows you that anybody can beat anybody in our league if you don't come with your "A" game," he said. "We have six (regular-season) games left, so we have to do our job down the stretch and play every game like it's our last."

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Players Mentioned

Gerald Boston

#3 Gerald Boston

G
5' 10"
Senior
Aaron Brown

#1 Aaron Brown

G
6' 1"
Senior
Jon Hart

#23 Jon Hart

F
6' 4"
Senior
Keith Manley

#30 Keith Manley

F
6' 6"
Senior
Brian McNair

#31 Brian McNair

G
6' 1"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Gerald Boston

#3 Gerald Boston

5' 10"
Senior
G
Aaron Brown

#1 Aaron Brown

6' 1"
Senior
G
Jon Hart

#23 Jon Hart

6' 4"
Senior
F
Keith Manley

#30 Keith Manley

6' 6"
Senior
F
Brian McNair

#31 Brian McNair

6' 1"
Junior
G

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