ANDERSON, S.C. -- In a game that featured 12 ties and 23 lead changes, the top-seeded Mount Olive Trojans outlasted third-seeded Anderson, 83-80, to claim the 2010 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament crown and the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth. Mount Olive's Lamonte Theus snapped an 80-80 tie by converting an old-fashioned three-point play with eight seconds on the clock and Anderson's Brandon Young was unable to connect on a potential game-tying three at the buzzer as the Trojans fell just shy of picking up their first conference tournament title. After Anderson rallied from a six-point deficit in the last 51 seconds to tie the game, Theus took the inbounds pass after an Anderson timeout. Theus held the ball above the top of the key, drove to the right side of the lane and put up a floater that went high off the glass and rattled around the rim before going in. Theus drew the foul and converted the free throw. Down, 74-72, with 3:06 left in the game, Anderson guard Kevis Cornwell dropped in a basket that knotted the score for the 22nd time of the afternoon, but Mount Olive rattled off six straight points to gain its largest lead of the contest. AU answered by scoring six unanswered points of its own behind old-fashioned three-point plays from junior forward Trey Britton and senior Tony Anderson to knot the score for the final time of the contest and 21 seconds left on the clock. Britton drew a foul on a dunk with 41.9 seconds left and converted the three-point play to make it a one-possession game. Anderson forced a turnover in the backcourt and Tony Anderson's three-point play tied the game 80-80 with 21.2 seconds remaining. Anderson (23-7), the only Conference Carolinas team to defeat Mount Olive (25-5) this season, posted a record-setting 22-win season after winning nine of its last 10 games and 10 of its last 12, while Mount Olive has won nine consecutive contests and 20 of its last 21. The title contest began as a long-range shooting contest, with Tony Anderson giving the Trojans an early lead with a 3-pointer, but Mount Olive's Kendrick Easley, a first-team all-conference selection, answered on the other end by sandwiching a pair of treys around a 3 by AU's Stephen Cobb to knot the score for the second time on the afternoon. Britton and Cobb dropped in back-to-back baskets to push Anderson's advantage to four, but Easley connected on his third triple of the opening minutes to pull Mount Olive back within a point at 10-9 at the 15:35 mark. The homestanding Trojans briefly regained a one-point lead on a Craig Hayes' basket, with the lead changing hands eight more times over the remainder of the opening half and neither team able to open more than a five-point advantage. Mount Olive claimed a five-point lead twice in the closing three minutes of the first half, but each time Anderson reeled the Trojans back in, first on a pair of free throws from all-conference honoree Brandon Young and guard Kevis Cornwell scored AU's final four points of the half to pull Anderson within 37-35 at the break. The Mount Olive Trojans again opened a five-point cushion early in the second half, but AU's Young countered with five straight points behind a 3-pointer and another basket to knot the score for the sixth time, at 40-40, with 18:09 remaining. Easley connected on his sixth 3-pointer to give MOC a three-point lead, but Anderson refused to go away and responded with a 13-5 run to turn the deficit into a five-point lead, at 53-48, with 14:44 on the clock behind three 3s from Young and Tony Anderson. Mount Olive quickly erased the Anderson lead, but AU again eased out to another five-point advantage, with Cornwell scoring two consecutive baskets only to see the Trojans tie the score again at 60-60 on an old-fashioned three-point play from Easley. Cornwell paced four Trojans in double figures with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, while Anderson added 14 points and Young netted 13. Taylor Shgugart, hobbled by a sore ankle, notched 10 points. Britton collected a game-high nine rebounds. Easley led all scorers with 27 points and Craig Hayes added 21 for Mount Olive. Anderson, ranked sixth in the NCAA' Southeast Region, now awaits the selection committee's decision on if and where the Trojans will play in the NCAA tourney. The first-round games in the Southeast Regional are Saturday. The semifinals are scheduled for Sunday and the Championship Game is slated for Tuesday, March 16. The winner of the Southeast Regional advances to the Elite Eight March 24-27 in Springfield, Mass. The Division II Men's Basketball Championship selection show will be webcast on NCAA.com at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight, expect for the West region, which will be announced Monday, March 8. Box Score
June 17, 2010
Boys Basketball Camps on Campus
June 7, 2010
Men's Basketball Announces Five Commitments
June 3, 2010
Brookman Resigns; Accepts Head Post at SMC
March 22, 2010
Young and Cornwell Earn Postseason Honors
March 14, 2010
Anderson Edges Catawba in NCAA Opener
March 14, 2010
Trojans Fall to 4th-Ranked Jaguars
March 11, 2010
Men's Basketball Faces Catawba in NCAA Opener
March 7, 2010
Men's Hoops Drops Heartbreaker in Championship
March 7, 2010
Men's Basketball Seeded 5th in Southeast Region
March 5, 2010
Young; Anderson Earn All-Conference Honors
March 5, 2010
Trojans Move to Championship Game
March 3, 2010
Trojans Climb to Sixth in Regional Rankings
March 3, 2010
Follow the Trojans anywhere, anytime!
March 2, 2010
Britton and Young Lead Trojans Past Barton
February 27, 2010
Trojans Win on Senior Night
February 24, 2010
Trojans Roll Past Lees-McRae
February 22, 2010
Outside Shooting Lifts AU Past North Greenville
February 20, 2010
Big First Half Propels Trojans Past Barton
February 15, 2010
Trojans Edge Queens for Third Straight Win
February 13, 2010
Anderson and Cornwell Lead Trojans Past Knights
February 11, 2010
Shugart leads Trojans Past Coker
February 8, 2010
Trojans Unable to Overcome Saints' Hot Shooting
February 6, 2010
Trojans Upend League-Leading Mount Olive
February 2, 2010
Rally Falls Short as Erskine Holds off Trojans
February 1, 2010
Trojans - North Greenville Rescheduled
January 30, 2010
Basketball Games Postponed
January 28, 2010
Men's Basketball Ranked Sixth in Southeast Region
January 28, 2010
Trojans Stumble at Belmont Abbey
January 26, 2010
Trio of Guards Leads Anderson Past Pfeiffer
January 23, 2010
Trojans Defeat Bulldogs
January 21, 2010
Trojans Beat the Flying Fleet
January 18, 2010
Anderson Picks Up Road Win Over Coker
January 16, 2010
Trojans Hold Off Knights
January 13, 2010
Limestone Edges Men's Basketball
January 9, 2010
Trojans Fall at Mount Olive
January 4, 2010
Men's Basketball Overpowers Lees-McRae
December 18, 2009
Trojans Top Columbus State
December 15, 2009
Shugart Earns Conference Player of the Week Honors
December 15, 2009
Trojans Pick Up Road Win Past North Georgia
December 12, 2009
Outside Shooting Propels Trojans Past UNC Pembroke
December 5, 2009
Queens University Holds off Trojans
December 2, 2009
Trojan Run Past Mars Hill
December 1, 2009
Men's Basketball Garners Top-25 Ranking
November 24, 2009
Trojans Rally to Defeat Belmont Abbey in Overtime
November 21, 2009
Trojans Down Lander in Home Opener
November 17, 2009
Free Admission for AU Basketball Games
November 17, 2009
Trojans Top North Greenville
October 21, 2009
Men's Basketball Picked Third in Preseason Poll
October 9, 2009
Men's Basketball Announces 2009-10 Schedule
September 22, 2009
Men's Basketball Adds Three Signees