Box Score by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Sophomore guard Chris Flemmings scored all 19 of his game-high points in the second half to help Barton College take visiting University of Mount Olive down to the wire after trailing by 14 points, but the Trojans made 9 of 12 free throws in the final minute to seal a 73-67 Conference Carolinas men's basketball victory in a crowded Wilson Gymnasium Thursday night.
Junior Khari Faison slammed down an offensive rebound to pull the Bulldogs within one possession, 65-62, with 49 seconds to go, but senior guard Ewon Wright made a pair of free throws on UMO's next possession and Barton failed to score on its next two trips down the court. The Trojans, who entered the game ranked 289th in NCAA Division II with a team free throw percentage of 59.3%, kept making freebees down the stretch and Bulldogs missed three of their final four shots to come up short.
Mount Olive (11-7 overall, 5-3 conf.) won its third consecutive game while Barton (10-9, 6-3) had a season-best, four-game win streak come to a halt.
Flemmings made a trio of treys en route to his game-high 19 points. Flemmings also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Barton struggled from the free throw line shooting 58.3% (14 of 24) despite Flemmings going 8 of 9 (88.9%) from the charity stripe in the second half. UMO had its best free throw shooting performance of 2014 (seven games) by converting 67.9% (19 of 28).
Faison,was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures in the score sheet with 11 points. Senior Brian McNair and Travis McEachern each tallied nine points. McEachern dished out a team-high five assists. Faison and junior Ryan Canoy corralled six rebounds apiece.
The Trojans had four players in double digits. Sophomore Mike Moore (18 points, eight rebounds) and senior Dory Hines (15 points, nine rebounds) both flirted with double-doubles. Sophomore Dontrell Brite canned 13 points and handed out five assists. Junior Jordan McCain scored all 10 of his points after the intermission.
Mount Olive made half of its shots from the floor going 25 of 50 (50%) but started off chilly converting on just two of its first 12 attempts. Barton took advantage building up its largest lead early at 13-4. The Bulldogs opening run featured two strong tip-ins by junior Ryan Canoy and senior Evan Shelton before being capped with a three-pointer by senior Zach Faircloth.
Faircloth nailed a second trifecta to keep the Bulldogs ahead by nine, 16-7, at the 9:34 mark before the Trojans started to heat up. UMO made 10 of its final 18 shots to finish the first half on a 24-10 run. Hines provided a dunk in the final seconds to give the Trojans an eight-point advantage but a McNair 3-pointer at the buzzer closed the Mount Olive lead to 28-23 at the midway break.
Moore scored 11 of his team-high 18 points in the period to lead all players into the locker room.
The Trojans scored the first seven points of the second half to construct a double-digit cushion and a 3-pointer by Wright capped an opening 10-1 run that gave Mount Olive its largest lead of the game at 38-24.
The Royal Blue and White kept fighting on "Spirit Night" and a four-point play by Flemmings – his first points of the game – at the 14:28 mark pulled the Bulldogs within seven at 39-32. Barton kept chipping away and a free throw by Flemmings got the Bulldogs to within two points with just over 10 minutes left.
Mount Olive answered with a 12-2 surge to regain a 12-point edge (58-46) with 7:44 on the clock but the Bulldogs barked back one last time with a 16-7 rally completed by Faison's last-minute dunk.
Barton shot 34.3% (23 of 67) from the floor including just 29.2% (7 of 24) from behind the arc.
The Trojans finished with a 42-35 advantage on the glass but the Bulldogs committed five fewer turnovers, 13-8.
Barton next hosts league-leading King University on Saturday as part of Wilson County Schools Night at 7:30 p.m.
