Galarza paces Mount Olive men

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 25, 2004 2:00 AM

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BANNER ELK -- Johnny Galarza led a balanced offensive attack with 13 points as Mount Olive College hammered Lees-McRae 98-71 in an NCAA Division II Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday.

The Trojans, ranked No. 2 in the East Region poll, prevailed for the ninth straight time. They continue play at home Monday against St. Andrews Presbyterian College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at College Hall.

Lees-McRae (4-9) fell to 2-6 in the CVAC.

Galarza came off the bench to hit 5-of-7 shots, including a trio of 3-pointers in 18 minutes. He dished out five assists and picked the Bobcats' pockets for three steals.

Sharome Holloway also shot 5-of-7 from the floor and added two free throws for 12 points. Holloway shared team-high honors in rebounds (five) with Victor Young and Maurice Horton.

Marcus West contributed 11 points, while Mark Bitzenhofer added 10 in a reserve role. Bitzenhofer buried two 3-pointers and missed just one shot in five attempts during his five-minute stint on the court.

Mount Olive (12-2, 6-1 CVAC) jumped out to an early 11-point lead as Galarza hit the first of his three 3-pointers to put the Trojans on top 16-5 with 14:36 left in the first half.

Lees-McRae anwered with a 13-2 run to pull within one, but the Trojans scored the next 12 points and led by double figures the rest of the way.

McDougald's basket with 2:21 left in the half extended the Trojans' lead to 42-24 before Lees-McRae made a run to cut the lead to 11. Elijah Rouse hit a pair of free throws and Galarza followed with a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to give the Trojans a 48-31 lead at halftime.

Mount Olive built the lead to 26 points early in the second half as Galarza hit his third 3-pointer and Sean Barnett scored four points during an 11-4 run to open the second half.

Lees-McRae never got any closer than 19 points the rest of the way as the Trojans led by as many as 32 points in the second half.

The Trojans tallied 30 points off 27 Bobcat turnovers. They outscored Lees-McRae 27-12 behind the 3-point line and won the rebounding battle 41-39.

Janson Greene handed out seven of Mount Olive's 25 assists.

MOUNT OLIVE (98)

Sean Barnett 3 0 2-2 8, Marcus West 5 0 1-6 11, Johnny Galarza 2 3 0-0 13, Brad McDougald 1 0 2-2 4, Janson Greene 3 0 2-3 8, Maurice Horton 2 1 1-2 8, Chuckie Jefferson 0 0 0-0 0, Victor Young 0 2 0-0 6, Mark Bitzenhofer 2 2 0-0 10, Sharome Holloway 5 0 2-3 12, Elton Coffield 1 0 3-4 5, Elijah Rouse 2 0 4-7 8, Chris Bartley 0 1 0-0 3, Plinio Broering 0 0 2-2 2.

LEES-MCRAE (71)

Antwon Brown 2 0 7-10 11, Henery Williams 2 1 5-8 12, James Holmes Jr. 0 1 0-0 3, Robert Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Aaron Dugger 2 0 0-0 4, Jeff McGowan 2 0 4-4 8, Shawn Zellers 0 0 0-2 0, Tyreek Ramseur 5 2 8-8 24, Cedric Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Michael Schachleiter 2 0 1-2 5, Lester Harbin 1 0 0-0 2.

Halftime -- Mount Olive 48, Lees-McRae 31. Three-point baskets -- Mount Olive 9-24 (West 0-1, Galarza 3-5, McDougald 0-4, Greene 0-2, Horton 1-1, Yong 2-5, Bitzenhofer 2-3, Coffield 0-2, Bartley 1-1); Lees-McRae 4-25 (Brown 0-5, Williams 1-4, Holmes 1-2, Dugger 0-4, McGowan 0-3, Zellers 0-1, Ramseur 2-5, Smith 0-1). Rebounds -- Mount Olive 41 (Three players with 5), Lees-McRae 39 (Brown 8). Assists -- Mount Olive 25 (Greene 7), Lees-McRae 8. Turnovers -- Mount Olive 19, Lees-McRae 27. Blocked shots -- Mount Olive 3 (West 2), Lees-McRae 2 (Ramseur). Steals -- Mount Olive 13 (McDougald 4), Lees-McRae 8.

Whistles favor Bobcats

Deanna Lady scored 19 points as host Lees-McRae used a late first-half run and free throw shooting to defeat Mount Olive 76-52. The Bobcats outscored the Trojans 30-9 from the charity stripe.

Officials assessed 10 fouls on the Trojans less than 10 minutes into the opening half. Three Mount Olive players each picked up three fouls before halftime. Latoria Harvey sat out the final 15 minutes of the first half with two fouls, and managed just eight points for the game.

Despite the foul trouble, the Trojans led 26-23 with 3:02 left in the first half as Melanie Cobb came off the bench to score eight points on 4-for-4 shooting. But Lees-McRae scored the final eight points of the half to take a 31-26 halftime lead.

Lees-McRae built the lead to 15 points before the Trojans pulled within 51-42 with 11:04 remaining in the game. Lees-McRae then scored the next 11 points to go up by 20 and put the game away.

Cobb led the Trojans with a career-high 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Teneal Boone and Tanika Hudgins added 11 points apiece. Boone pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Lees-McRae (7-7, 4-3) shot 30-for-39 from the free throw line, compared to 9-for-16 for Mount Olive. Lees-McRae scored 24 points off 25 Mount Olive turnovers.

The Trojans lost their fourth road game of the season.

Mount Olive (6-7, 3-4 CVAC) returns home Monday for a conference game against St. Andrews Presbyterian College. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at College Hall.

MOUNT OLIVE (52)

Ladora Charles 1 0 2-3 4, Latoria Harvey 4 0 0-1 8, Shenetta Moye 0 0 0-0 0, Tanika Hudgins 4 0 3-4 11, Teneal Boone 4 0 3-4 11, LeAnn Simms 0 0 0-0 0, Darlisha Stanfield 0 0 0-0 0, Melanie Cobb 6 0 1-2 13, Tilah Worthy 1 0 0-0 2, Anita Rogers 0 0 0-0 0, Brandy Smith 0 1 0-0 3.

LEES-MCRAE (76)

Tuakia Hughes 2 0 3-7 7, Julie Hardison 4 1 1-2 12, Tonia Hall 0 0 0-0 0, Amber Benfield 1 0 0-0 2, Deanna Lady 5 0 9-10 19, Lindsey Pope 3 1 2-2 11, Courtney Gogolinski 3 0 2-2 8, Laura Parker 0 0 5-6 5, Katie Campbell 2 0 2-2 6, Amanda Huffaker 0 0 1-1 1, Melissa Wilson 0 0 1-2 1.

Halftime -- Lees-McRae 31, Mount Olive 26. Three-point baskets -- Mount Olive 1-10 (Charles 0-4, Moye 0-1, Hudgins 0-2, Smith 1-3); Lees-McRae 2-13 (Hughes 0-1, Hardison 1-2, Hall 0-1, Pope 1-4, Gogolinski 0-1, Parker 0-2, Campbell 0-2). Rebounds -- Mount Olive 37 (Boone, Cobb 8), Lees-McRae 35 (Lady 8). Assists -- Mount Olive 10 (Three players with 3), Lees-McRae 12 (Campbell 3). Turnovers -- Mount Olive 25, Lees-McRae 16. Blocked shots -- Mount Olive 1, Lees-McRae 3. Steals -- Mount Olive 8, Lees-McRae 9 (Campbell 3).