Limestone upsets Mount Olive, advances to tournament championship

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, March 05, 2014 

By Travis Chell – King Sports Information 

CONCORD, N.C. – In the first men’s basketball semifinal of the Conference Carolinas Tournament powered by OrthoCarolina, fourth-seeded Limestone College knocked out the top seed University of Mount Olive. The Saints trailed at halftime, but grabbed the lead early in the second half to take the contest 75-57 to advance to the championship game Thursday night.

 

Mount Olive (19-9) looked to control the game from the onset as they scored the first six points of the game and held a 9-2 lead three minutes in before the Saints went on a run. Shaq Dance scored five straight points to pull Limestone (20-8) within two before pulling Limestone within 12-11 two minutes later.

 

The nation’s leader in three-point baskets, P.J. Foster gave Limestone their first lead with a triple that gave the Saints 16-14 lead with eight minutes into the half. The Trojans answered with four straight points to regain the lead before the Saints went on another run.

 

Foster started the spurt with another trifecta, and followed that with a jumper and another triple to give the Saints a 24-18 lead with just under six minutes left in the first frame. Dance converted a layup to give Limestone a 27-20 lead, but the Trojans would close the half on an 8-0 run.

 

Dory Hines started the spurt with a layup, and Kendall Hargrove followed with a bucket. Hines capped the run with a pair of buckets to give Mount Olive a 28-27 lead at the break.

Asaad Woods started the second half with a jumper that brought the lead back to Limestone for good. Josh Odem followed with a three-point basket and Jamal McNeill capped the 7-0 spurt with a bucket.

 

Ewon Wright pulled Mount Olive back within two with a triple five minutes into the second half, but Limestone had an answer, as they did all night. Odem drilled a jumper, and Dance converted a three-point play to put Limestone back in control leading 44-37 with 13 minutes left.

 

The Saint lead grew to 54-44 following an Odem triple and Limestone used an 8-2 run to stretch their advantage to 65-49 with four minutes left. The Limestone advantage grew to 19 following a pair of Odem triples en route to Limestone’s 75-57 victory.

 

Limestone shot 49.0 percent from the floor in the win while holding Mount Olive to a 34.9 field goal percentage. The Saints made 40.0 percent of their triples, and the Trojans hit 17.6 percent of their shots from long range.

 

Dance led a balance Saint attack with 19 points while Foster and Odem added 18 apiece. Woods chipped in with 12 points and handed out three assists.

 

Hines led Mount Olive with 18 points while Hargrove and Dominique Reed added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

 

Limestone advances to tomorrow’s Conference Carolinas Tournament powered by OrthoCarolina championship game and will face either No. 2 Baron College or No. 3 King University. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at Cabarrus Arena in Concord, N.C.