February 27, 2006

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, NC—No. 10 seed Lees-McRae College hit eight 3-pointers in the second half to help upset host and No. 7 seed St. Andrews Presbyterian College, 86-82, in the First Round of the 2006 CVAC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Monday in Harris Court.

The Bobcats, who improved to 7-21 overall, will play No. 2 seed Mount Olive College (in Mount Olive, NC) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

The Knights conclude their best conference season since 1999-2000 with a 12-16 overall mark.

LMC jumped out to a 28-15 lead in the first half before the Knights stormed all the way back with a 19-2 run to take a 34-30 lead with 2:37 left in the opening period. The Bobcats scored the final three buckets of the half to take a slim 36-34 advantage into the locker room.

After a close first seven minutes, a senior Chad Eichelberger (Austell, GA) put back provided SAPC with a 50-46 lead with 13 minutes to go. Lees-McRae answered with three consecutive bombs from behind the arc that catapulted them into a five-point lead.

The Bobcats maintained the lead for the next 10 minutes but sophomore Taiwon Grooms (Landover, MD) converted on a perfect 12-of-12 free throw attempts in the second stanza to keep the Knights within striking distance.

Sophomore Dwayne Jeffcoat (Fayetteville, NC) came up with a big steal and layup to tie the game at 77-77 with 1:37 remaining. Henry Williams (Kingsport, TN) put the Bobcats back on top for good with a trey on the ensuing possession. LMC followed with five made free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the victory.

Grooms, who finished the day 16-for-16 from the charity stripe, led St. Andrews with 24 points. Eichelberger recorded a double-double in his final game for the Knights with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Charlotte, North Carolina, sophomores Jeff Worley and Joseph Gripper added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Grooms also grabbed eight boards while Worley dished out five assists.

Williams led the Bobcats with 26 points including four 3-pointers. Lansen Leach (High Point, NC) followed with 25 points. D.J. Menifee (Anderson, IN) scored 12 and Aaron Dugger (Elizabethon, TN) bucketed 11. James Barbee (Durham, NC) supplied a game-high nine assists.

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