MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Barton men's basketball team (13-8, 11-3) swept the season series from rival Mount Olive (8-14, 6-8) and remained in second place in the Conference Carolinas standings with a 94-84 win over the Trojans Wednesday evening at Kornegay Arena.
Barton junior guard
Donaven Hairston (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore guard
Marcus Boykin (Clinton, N.C.) both scored a game-high 27 points while Boykin crossed the 1,000-point mark for his career as the Bulldogs won their second straight contest.
Boykin now has 1,009 career points, becoming the 13th player in the NCAA Division II era to cross the threshold for Barton. Boykin also scored 21 points before intermission, added nine rebounds and hit all eight free throw attempts in the win.
Mount Olive was paced by Michael Brown (Winchester, Va.) with 26 points and nine rebounds on the night but the Trojans committed 17 turnovers in the setback.
Barton trailed by a 51-48 score just two minutes into the second half before putting together a 23-2 run to take complete control of the contest. A three-pointer by junior guard
Shawn Nelson (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) capped off the run to give the Bulldogs an 18-point advantage: 71-53 at the 10:14 mark of the second half.
Junior guard
Reese McDonald (Raleigh, N.C.) and Nelson finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Bulldogs.
Barton remains on the road to face Lees-McRae in Banner Elk, N.C., on Saturday afternoon in a league game beginning at 4:00 p.m., while Mount Olive remains at home to take on King Saturday night starting at 6:00 p.m.
