Box Score Mount Olive, N.C. – Southern Wesleyan Men's Basketball dropped a Conference Carolina contest against Mount Olive Saturday afternoon 61-54.
Justice McCullough (19) posted double figures in the loss. He was followed by Darius Sharpe with nine points. Southern Wesleyan posted a field goal percentage of 40.8% while Mount Olive boasted a 30.6%. There were 6 assists made by Southern Wesleyan. Darrian Brown and Kevin Stamps each had two of the assists.
McCullough also posted 15 rebounds. He was followed by Kevin Stamps with seven rebounds. The Warriors made 45 rebounds as a team in the loss compared to the 32 rebounds made by Mount Olive.
\Stamps also led the team with a block.
Three Warriors posted a steal and the Warriors had 23 turnovers in the contest.
Game Vitals
Final: Mount Olive 61, Southern Wesleyan 54
Records: Southern Wesleyan (2-12 / CC 1-5), Mount Olive (2-12, CC 1-5)
Coach Wimphrie Says…
"I'm pleased with the effort tonight. We played a good first half. But we lost focus during parts of the second half. We did not limit our mistakes and they made us pay. Guard play must improve and the team must shoot the ball better from the field and free throw line. If we do not correct these areas, we will continue having a hard time winning."
How It Happened
Southern Wesleyan took the lead early on a layup by Justice McCullough in the contest against Mount Olive on the first snow day of the 2017 year. Cameron Robinson allowed the Trojans to take a 5-2 lead over the Warriors. A jump shot by Zalan Richards allowed the Warriors to regain the lead 9-5. The Trojans were able to tie the game 12-12 on a layup by Emmanuel Patton after ten minutes of action in the first half of the contest. The Trojans were able to regain the lead on jump shot by Jamal Martin, however the lead was short lived as freebies by McCullough allowed the Warriors to take a 18-17 lead. Darius Sharpe made a critical three point jump shot with seconds left in the first half to allow the Warriors to gain a 27-23 lead going into halftime.
The Trojans started the second half of the game off with a layup by Saiquan Jamison to make the score 27-25 and then tie the game on a dunk by Jamal Martin. Mount Olive took a 30-27 point lead over the Warriors on a layup by Tyler Thomas. Southern Wesleyan was not going to go down quietly as Justice McCullough scored a layup to shorten the Trojan lead to 31-29 and then tie the match at 34 on a 3-point jump shot by De'Quan Weldon. With seven minutes remaining in second half of the game, Kevin Stamps made a free throw to bring the Warriors within one point. Weldon went on to make a layup to drop the Trojans lead to 52-49. Despite another key shot with seconds to spare from senior Darius Sharpe, the Trojans won the game 61-54.
What's Next
The Warriors will next travel to Erskine College on January 11 to take on the Flying Fleet at 7:30. They will then return home to Historic Tysinger Gymnasium to take on the Belmont Abbey Crusaders at 4 p.m on January 14.
