MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Lees-McRae men's basketball picked up the 86-84 victory on Saturday evening at Mount Olive and recorded their sixth consecutive victory of the 2023-24 season.
Jaylin Stewart led five Bobcats in double-digit scoring with 17 points in 21 minutes of action.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae – 86; Mount Olive – 84
LOCATION: Kornegay Arena – Mount Olive, North Carolina
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (6-1/1-0); Mount Olive (1-7/0-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Nico Ashley opened the game with an alley-oop dunk off the opening pass from Stewart. UMO proceeded to score eight straight points to take the 8-2 advantage, but Lees-McRae stopped the early run and regained the lead at 9-8.
- Mount Olive's Colin Radcliffe buried a three-pointer with 10:33 left in the first half to give the Trojans the 26-23 margin, but Stewart answered with an old-fashioned three-point play on the Bobcats' next offensive possession. Jeremy Golson staked out a four-point lead for Lees-McRae with 4:57 left in the opening half and the Bobcats claimed the 51-45 margin at the halftime break.
- Golson connected on another three to put Lees-McRae on the board in the second half and LJ Rogers rattled home a dunk off a steal to grow the Bobcat lead to nine points.
- UMO cut the deficit to three points off a triple from Redford Dunton, but Sidney Dollar contributed a fastbreak layup off his own steal to give Lees-McRae the five-point edge. Ja'Quavian Florence put back his own offensive rebound to cap a 5-0 scoring run for the Bobcats at 69-60.
- The Trojans continued to chip away again at the nine-point margin as Kahlif Barnes collected a layup at the 8:25 mark of the second half to put UMO down by two. Timon Jones quickly gave Lees-McRae the five-point control once again after a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. UMO then successfully knotted the score at 78-78 with 3:11 to play in regulation after a made shot from beyond the arc from Shane Peterson.
- Ashley gave the Bobcats the two-point with 1:36 on a fastbreak basket, but Mount Olive retook the lead at 82-81 after a made free throw from Josiah Watkins. Ashley calmly went back to the charity stripe and successfully made his free throw attempts to give the Bobcats the one-point advantage once again at 84-83 and Dollar slammed home a dunk off a steal from Rogers at 86-83. Lees-McRae gave life to Mount Olive with a technical foul on Dollar's dunk, but the Bobcats saw a miss from Dunton at the buzzer for the 86-84 win.
- Lees-McRae tallied 31-61 (50.8%) from the field and 6-18 (33.3%) from three-point range. The Bobcats went 18-28 from the free-throw line with 24 points coming off the fastbreak.
- Stewart registered 17 points on 5-8 shooting and 7-11 from the line. Ashley followed with 15 points, six rebounds, and three blocks. Florence provided 14 points on an efficient 6-8 shooting to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Golson had 11 points with three three-pointers and Dollar rounded out the Bobcats in double-digit scoring with 10 points, four rebounds, and two steals.
FOR THE TROJANS:
- Dunton led all scorers in the game with 20 points and added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Shane Peterson collected a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Aaron Murphy contributed 15 points and five rebounds for the Trojans.
NOTEWORTHY:
- The six consecutive wins for Lees-McRae men's basketball is the most in a single season since 2018 when the Bobcats recorded eight wins in a row. Lees-McRae earned the Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship on March 4, 2018 in Banner Elk.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae men's basketball resumes league play on Thursday, Dec. 7 in Due West, South Carolina against Erskine. The tip-off with the Flying Fleet is scheduled for 4 p.m.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on Twitter (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics).
