St. Andrew’s Demetrius Monroe (42) scored a season-high nine points against Mount Olive.
The Trojans (14-4 Overall, 11-0 Conf.) – ranked No. 5 in the current NCAA Division II Southeast Region Poll – used balanced scoring with six players reaching double figures and 11 total players scoring to remain perfect in conference play with their nine consecutive win.
Jackson’s team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 accuracy from the field and 5-of-6 precision from the free throw line was not enough as the Knights (6-12, 2-9) dropped their fifth straight decision.
Sophomore guard Derek Staton handed out a school-record 15 assists setting up Mount Olive’s balanced scoring attack. Junior Craig Hayes and senior Mike Holloman led the Trojans with 22 and 21 points, respectively, with the tandem shooting a combined 18-for-27 (66.7-percent).
A trio of Knights scored nine points for the Royal Blue & White including sophomores Antonio Moffitt and Kurt Fenderbosch. Freshman Demetrius Monroe set a new season-high total with his nine points. Fenderbosch had three of the Knights four made three pointers.
In the first half, a three pointer by senior Kendrick Easley put Mount Olive ahead to stay two minutes into the contest and Holloman’s three-pointer with 14:46 remaining gave the Trojans their first double-digit lead at 17-7. Hayes, who had 14 of his points in the first half, hit a layup with 2:01 left to give Mount Olive its biggest lead of the half at 49-23.
St. Andrews scored the final eight points of the half as freshman Domonique Holliday’s layup with 46 seconds left brought the Knights within 49-31 at halftime. Monroe scored the first basket of the second half to complete a 10-0 run and pull St. Andrews within 49-33, but that’s as close as the Knights would get with Mount Olive shooting 51.3% in the final frame.
MOC saw a 26-point first-half lead trimmed down to 16 points early in the second half, but Holloman scored all the points in a 9-2 Trojan run in a span of 78 seconds. Holloman sandwiched a pair of short jumpers around a slam dunk and a three-pointer to give Mount Olive a 58-35 lead with 17:29 left in the game.
St. Andrews got as close as 17 points after a senior Mike DiBenedetto basket pulled the Knights within 60-43 with 14:16 left to play. Freshman Mahamed Ibrahim answered with a three-pointer and a driving layup for Mount Olive and the Trojans’ lead stayed above the 20-point mark over the final 12 minutes of the game. Mount Olive hit the century mark on Ibrahim’s three-pointer with 2:17 remaining and Jonathan Brinson’s second three-pointer in the final four minutes gave the Trojans their biggest lead at 104-71 with exactly one minute left.
Knights’ junior center Zack Garst had his streak of five straight double-doubles come to an end but he still contributed a team-high nine rebounds, eight points, team-high three assists, and two steals. Classmate Marcus Connor followed with six points and a game-high three blocks.
Mount Olive had a hot hand Thursday evening shooting 50-percent from the field and making 12 three-pointers at a 52.2-percent clip. SAPC was 38.6-percent from the floor and 25-percent from behind the arc.
Junior Brandon Allen totaled 14 points for the hosts while Easley and Ibrahim both scored 12 points and junior Lamonte’ Theus tallied 10 points. Hayes pulled down 11 rebounds to complete his fifth double-double in six games as the Trojans out rebounded St. Andrews 51-37.
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