Trojans defeat SWU in overtime

CENTRAL, S.C. – Seniors Michael Brown and Trayvon Ferrell combined for 52 points, as the Trojans overcame a nine-point deficit at halftime to defeat Southern Wesleyan in overtime by a 92-90 margin in Conference Carolinas play on Jan. 21.

With the win, the University of Mount Olive men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to three straight and improved to 7-12 overall with a 5-6 mark in conference action. The Trojans finished a six-day stretch with three wins and sit just two games out of fourth place in the league standings. Meanwhile, Southern Wesleyan dropped to 3-17 this season with a 3-9 record in league play.

Brown delivered another outstanding performance on Saturday after dropping a game-high 32 points on 11 of 16 from the floor, including five of nine from three-point range. He added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals while playing for 40 minutes. He collected his third 30-point game of the year and sits third in the league with 21.9 points per game.

Ferrell produced his second double-double of the season after tallying 20 points on nine of 18 shooting with 13 rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes. A native of Raleigh, he leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest while averaging more than 15 points a game.

Freshman Colin Radcliffe finished with 18 points on six of nine attempts with four treys in 28 minutes off the bench. Teammate Shane Peterson totaled 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one block in 37 minutes.

In overtime, both teams traded layups before the Warriors converted a three-pointer at the 3:45 mark to hold an 84-81 lead. Radcliffe answered right back with a three to tie the game before back-to-back layups were exchanged. Following a UMO timeout, the Trojans capitalized off a missed shot and Radcliffe delivered another three-pointer to give Mount Olive an 89-86 advantage with 2:13 left. Southern Wesleyan trailed 92-90 with 18 seconds left and had the potential game-winning three fall short, as UMO escaped with the win.

The first half featured little separation over the initial five-plus minutes with the game tied at 11 before SWU scored five-consecutive points to take a 16-11 advantage. The Warriors extended the lead to 23-15 with 10:46 left, but the Trojans countered with seven straight points to close the gap to 23-22. Southern Wesleyan responded with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to stretch the advantage to 33-24 before grabbing its largest lead of the game at 40-28 with 2:06 remaining. Mount Olive managed to cut into the deficit from the free-throw line after shooting a perfect six of six to trail 45-36 at the break.

The Warriors maintained their lead through the opening minutes of the second half before UMO mounted a 14-5 rally on six of eight shots to tie the game at 56 with 11:06 remaining. On the next possession, Brown put the Trojans ahead on a three-pointer as part of a 7-0 run to take a 63-56 advantage. After exchanging the following four buckets, SWU retook the lead with eight unanswered points, 69-68. The contest would be tied two more times down the stretch of the second half before Mount Olive established a 79-76 lead. The Warriors answered with a three-pointer with 11 seconds left to send the game to overtime tied at 79.

UMO shot at a 46.6 percent clip (34 of 73) from the floor while going 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Southern Wesleyan finished the game shooting 44.1 percent (30 of 68) and converted 17 of 20 (85 percent) from the free-throw line. The Trojans held a 44-36 rebounding advantage and scored 48 points in the paint, while the Warriors recorded 18 points off the bench.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics