Box Score by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College men's basketball team will take a season-best five-game win streak into its Conference Carolinas road game at Pfeiffer University in Merner Gym on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Pfeiffer sports information will be providing Live Stats and Live Video for Wednesday's contest.
Barton basketball fans can follow the Bulldogs throughout the season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter and Facebook.
Barton College Men's Basketball
A three-pointer by senior Brian McNair at the buzzer lifted the Bulldogs to their fifth consecutive victory on Monday, an 88-85 road conquest of Limestone College. Barton boasts records of 15-9 overall and 11-3 in the league to hold a half-game lead over King University for the Conference Carolinas regular season title with two just two regular-season games left (three for the Tornado). KU plays at Belmont Abbey Wednesday.
Barton will host a quarterfinals game in the Conference Carolinas Tournament on Saturday, March 1 as either the first, second or third seed depending on results during the final week of the season.
The NCAA is scheduled to release its first Division II Southeast Region Top-10 Poll on Wednesday and the Bulldogs have a shot of being regionally ranked before tipping off in Misenheimer, N.C. (NCAA historically releases the polls around 4 PM each Wednesday for the three weeks heading into the NCAA tourney).
Sophomore Chris Flemmings maintains his position amongst the league-leaders averaging 19.4 points per game (fourth) and 6.7 rebounds (tie for ninth). Flemmings has a 47.0% field goal percentage (fifth) and averages 2.4 made 3-pointers (ninth).
McNair chips in 11.4 points per game including bucketing 1.7 three-pointers per game. He is one of the league's best all-around guards averaging 4.0 assists per game and 2.2 steals per game.
Junior Daniel McClendon and Khari Faison are the Bulldogs next best scoring options each averaging 9.2 points per game. Barton has a deep roster with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game and all having the capability of producing significant numbers on a given night.
Barton ranks highly in the league with 8.4 steals per game (2nd), a +2.3 turnover margin (2nd) and a +1.7 rebound margin (3rd). The Bulldogs are one of the lowest scoring teams in the league 76.8 points per game but are 13-0 in games when they score at least 75 points. BC is eighth in the league with a field goal percentage of 42.5% but has shot over 45% in each of its last five games (all wins).
Barton produced an 83-59 victory over Pfeiffer in the two teams' first meeting on Jan. 21 in the Dog House. The Bulldogs nailed seven of their first eight 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes and maintained a double-digit advantage for the final 30 minutes. Five Bulldogs scored in double figures including McNair (15), Faison (11), freshman Jordan Sharpe (11), McClendon (10) and freshman Kendall Patterson (10). Barton also dominated the glass 49-33.
Pfeiffer University Men's Basketball
The Falcons have lost three consecutive games to drop to 5-18 overall and 2-11 in the league. Pfeiffer maintains a one-game lead on Lees-McRae for the eighth and final playoff position with three games to go in the season. If the standings did not change of the week of the regular season, Wednesday's matchup would be a preview of a quarterfinals game at Barton on March 1.
Pfeiffer has the youngest roster in the league with no seniors and just one junior. Freshman guard Mike Smith has immediately made an impact as one of the nation's top scorers. Smith is averaging 22.5 points per game, which ranks second in the league and 12th in NCAA DII. The quick guard also averages 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game (2nd).
The Falcons have a powerful 1-2 guard combo with sophomore AJ Clark supplying 17.0 points per game (10th in the conference). Clark adds a team-best 4.1 assists per game (7th).
Sophomore David McNair is Pfeiffer's third leading scorer at 8.2 points per game and is the Falcons top rebounder with 9.5 boards per contest (3rd in the league and 26th in DII). Sophomores Matt Ellwood (7.8 points) and Silvere Aluko (6.9) and freshmen Andrew Guerrero (5.5) and Connor Dahn (5.1) all contribute to a high-scoring Pfeiffer offense that averages 80.6 points per game.
However, the Falcons are allowing the most points in the league (89.8) and have the lowest 3-point field goal percentage in the conference (31.6%).
Smith scored a team-high 17 points in Pfeiffer's road loss to Barton in January. Clark canned 13 points and Aluko flirted with a double-double (8 points, 10 rebounds).
