Box Score by Kevin Buczek
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.-Reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week Chris Flemmings scored a game-high 30 points for visiting Barton College in its upset bid against No. 7 Southeast Region ranked University of Mount Olive but the hosts made their final four free throws in the last 10 seconds to seal a narrow 75-72 win in Kornegay Arena Tuesday night.
Flemmings banked in a highly contested three-pointer from the left wing with just under five seconds left to go to pull the Bulldogs within one point, 73-72. Barton was forced to foul immediately and Dontrell Brite made both free throws to extend the lead to three points and force the Bulldogs to attempt a three-pointer instead of driving to the basket like they had been most of the night. UMO defended well in the final seconds and junior Daniel McClendon was only able to get off a one-handed shot over a couple Trojan defenders that hit high off the backboard.
Mount Olive (18-8, 12-4) completed the regular season series sweep of Barton (16-10, 12-4) to earn the top seed in the 2014 Conference Carolinas Tournament. The Bulldogs will be the second seed and will host a quarterfinals game against either Belmont Abbey College or North Greenville University on Saturday at 7 p.m. (will be determined late Thursday night).
Barton and Mount Olive will share the regular season title. It is the second straight year the Bulldogs have earned a Conference Carolinas regular season title (sharing it with Limestone in 2013).
The NCAA will release its second D-II Southeast Region top-10 rankings late Wednesday afternoon.
Brite scored 15 of his team-high 25 points from the free throw line going 15 of 18 from the charity stripe including an incredible 13 of 15 in the second half to propel the Trojans to the triumph.
Both teams entered with incredible runs to move atop the league standings. Barton had won 10 of its last 11 and Mount Olive was victorious in nine of its last 10. The marquee matchup lived up to the hype in front of a full crowd that included a strong contingent of BC supporters with nine ties and 24 lead changes. The back-and-forth battle was played within a two-possession window all game with both squads' largest lead being six points.
Barton trailed 69-64 heading into the final minute but Flemmings scored eight of his 30 points in the final minute to give the Bulldogs a chance at the end including a three-point play, a pull-up jumper and his final trey where he thought he was fouled while shooting it.
Mount Olive preserved the late lead with uncharacteristic free throw shooting. The Trojans entered the game ranked 287th out of 291 DII programs in free throw shooting accuracy. However, UMO went 24 of 35 (68.6%) on the freebees including four straight by Brite in the final 10 seconds. Barton hurt its chances from the free line going just 8 of 16 (50%) that included a couple late misses on the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities.
Senior Brian McNair aided Flemmings' late theatrics scoring all 11 of his points in the second half. Classmate Zach Faircloth swished nine points, freshman Travis McEachern netted eight and junior Khari Faison bucketed seven. Faison and Flemmings both corralled eight rebounds as BC held a slight 41-39 rebounding edge. McEachern handed out a team-high five assists.
Brite added five dimes to his 25 points including a pair of key assists in the second half on two made three-pointers that seemed to help give the Trojans the momentum heading into the final stretch. Jordan McCain tallied 11 points and Ewon Wright canned 10 points. Kendall Hargrove pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
A Zach Faircloth transition layup as time expired gave Barton a 32-29 halftime edge. A McNair three-pointer at the top of the arc on a pass by Flemmings gave the Bulldogs their last lead, 60-58, at the 5:32 mark of the second half. McNair made a couple free throws a couple minutes later to knot the score for the final time at 62-62.
McCain broke the tie with a 3-pointer that put the hosts ahead for the final 2:43. Mount Olive did not make another basket from that point but maintained the lead by going 10 of 12 from the free throw line from that point.
UMO shot 45.1% (23 of 51) and BC was 41.4% (29 of 70). The fast paced game only had 18 combined turnovers.
