November 15, 2006

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Sophomore Keith Josey (Suffolk, Va.), who posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the St. Andrews Presbyterian College men’s basketball team the lead for good as the Knights went on to defeat non-conference Mars Hill College 70-55 in Harris Court Wednesday.

St. Andrews (1-0 overall) shot 42.4-percent (25-for-59) from the field in front of a large and loud crowd while the visiting Mountain Lions (0-1) only converted on 21-of-66 (31.8%) shot attempts. The smaller Knights squad also out-rebounded MHC by a 50-37 margin.

“It was a very hard fought game and I am very proud of our defensive effort,” said St. Andrews second year head coach Billy Lee. “We played a team superior to us inside and yet we out rebounded them. Any time you can hold a team to 27-percent shooting in the second half you really put yourself in a good position to win.”

The first half saw a back-and-forth battle that included 12 lead changes, eight ties, and no lead greater than three. Freshman Justin Brauda (Monroe, N.C.) kept the Knights close by converting on his first three shots of his collegiate career (all three-pointers). Freshman Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) scored eight of his 11 points in the first 20 minutes to lead Mars Hill into the locker room.

With the score deadlocked at 30-30, Josey pulled down a defensive rebound with under 10 seconds left before intermission and dished the ball off to set up a last second scoring attempt for St. Andrews. Sophomore point guard Jeff Worley (Charlotte, N.C.) then found the trailing Josey at the top of the circle, who then converted on the trey as the clock expired to give the Knights a 33-30 halftime lead.

St. Andrews used the momentum from the Josey shot by building a strong 11-point advantage to start the second half with a 13-5 run. Senior Richard Stone (Williamsburg, Va.) scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the final half to lead the Knights to the 15-point victory.

Stone and Brauda each hit three from downtown as St. Andrews nailed a total of eight 3-pointers. Worley handed out eight assists on the evening while Stone grabbed seven boards. Josey added four assists and four blocks to his strong 15 point and 12 rebound night. Junior Taiwon Grooms (Landover, Md.) just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine boards.

St. Andrews will rely on its depth this season as nine different Knights played 12 or more minutes against MHC.

“Offensively, we had different players stepping up at different times in the game like Justin’s (Brauda) three 3-pointers off the bench in the first half,” commented Lee. “Keith (Josey) did everything for us tonight except for changing the light bulbs and sell popcorn. Plus, our crowd really got behind us and it ignited us. It is a very good way to start but it is only the start of a long season.”

Senior Jamison McIver (Taylorsville, N.C.) led the Lions with team-highs of 13 points and six rebounds. Polite added five assists and five rebounds to his 11 point tally.

St. Andrews visits local non-conference rival UNC-Pembroke on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Mars Hill visits NCAA Division I North Carolina A&T University on Monday at 7:30 p.m.