Box Score by Benny Benton
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Barton College sophomore Danny Shand scored on a contested layup with 1.5 seconds remaining to provide the winning basket in a 75-73 Conference Carolinas victory over rival University of Mount Olive Tuesday night in Kornegay Arena.
Mike Moore had drained a game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the key with 11 seconds left for the Trojans (15-12, 10-9) after Dominique Reed came up with a big offensive rebound.
Barton (18-9, 13-6) then cleared the left side for its point guard, and Shand drove to the basket, banking in the game-winner over Mount Olive defender Jaquan Blount to the delight of a large contingency of Bulldog faithful who made the trip south to Mount Olive.
BC's victory, coupled with a two-point loss by Lees-McRae College to league leader King University, moves the Bulldogs into sole possession of third place in the league standings. With a win over second-place Emmanuel College at home on Friday or an LMC loss at North Greenville University, Barton would secure the No. 2 seed for next week's Conference Carolinas Tournament.
Senior Jake Veasley scored 21 points to lead Barton in the win. R.J. Claypool added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds, Dominique Byrd chipped in 11 points, and Shand contributed eight points and five assists.
Mount Olive was paced by a game-high double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds from Blount. The senior guard scored 14 of those points and grabbed seven of those rebounds in the first half, helping stake the Trojans to as much as a nine-point cushion.
UMO led by eight at 37-29 following a 3-pointer by Tayon Gleaves when Barton began to climb back in it. Byrd scored four straight points and Claypool added a layup with 13 seconds left to pull BC within two.
Mount Olive scored the final basket of the half on a layup by Reed at the buzzer to take a 39-35 advantage into intermission, and went back up by five on two occasions in the second half, the latter one 58-53 with 10:20 remaining following a jumper by Reed.
However, Veasley sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Reed layup, and Matt Woods added another 3-pointer to put Barton back into the lead at 62-60 with 7:04 to go.
Holding a three-point advantage at 67-64, Barton used a free throw by Daniel Westbrook, a jumper by Veasley and a free throw by Byrd to take its biggest lead of the night, seven points, at 71-64 with 3:25 remaining.
BC still enjoyed a six-point cushion at 73-67 following two free throws by Claypool with 1:52 to go, but Dontrell Brite made a jumper to cut the UMO deficit to four, and Barton kept the door open for a Mount Olive rally by missing four straight free throws down the stretch, two each by Byrd and Shand.
A Blount offensive rebound kept a Mount Olive possession alive and led to two free throws by Reed with 41 seconds left. He missed the first but made the second, making it a one-possession game at 73-70.
After the two free throw misses by Shand, Brite forced an off-balanced 3-pointer from the left wing with 17 seconds remaining. Reed grabbed the offensive board and UMO worked the ball back to Moore, who drained the 3-pointer to tie the game and set up the thrilling conclusion.
Barton helped itself by committing just nine turnovers in the game while forcing 16. The Bulldogs scored 20 points off those miscues, helping make up for 61 percent shooting from the free throw line (14 of 23).
The Bulldogs will square off against Emmanuel at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Wilson Gymnasium.
