Alderson-Broaddus ends Mount Olive's dream season

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 14, 2004 2:05 AM

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MEISENHEIMER -- Close the history book.

The last chapter chronicling the most-successful season in the Mount Olive College men's basketball program was penned in disappointing fashion Saturday afternoon. Two crucial turnovers in a 30-second span enabled Alderson-Broaddus to pull away for an 85-80 victory and eliminate the Trojans from the NCAA Division II East Regional contested at Pfeiffer University.

The second-seeded Battlers, denied a playoff win each of the past two seasons, advance to today's semifinals against archrival West Virginia State College. State, the regional's No. 3 seed, ousted District of Columbia 80-69 in the day's first quarterfinal-round game.

It was Mount Olive's first-ever postseason trip.

"In a game like this at this time of the year, you have to have a few breaks," Mount Olive coach Bill Clingan said. "You either make them or get them. We didn't have either one today."

Mount Olive (23-8) survived some minimal scoring droughts and stayed within a possession of the Battlers. Johnny Galarza's steal and layup, and Janson Greene's fall-away 3-pointer pulled the Trojans within 73-72 with under three minutes to go in regulation.

The teams traded missed field goals on their next possessions. Marcus West's turnaround jumper in the lane gave Mount Olive just its second lead of the game, 74-73, at the 1:51 mark. Tyrone Hammonds, who led four Battlers in double figures with 26 points, pushed his team back in front 75-74.

Alderson-Broaddus received a break after Hammonds' go-ahead basket. Greene dribbled into the lane and lightly pushed his defender away from him. The official called a charging foul.

"I possibly could have beat him to the hole, made a nice pass or kicked the ball out," Greene said.

A few seconds later, the Trojans' Victor Young got caught up in a screen and got whistled for holding. The Battlers' Josh Allen drained both free throws to make it 77-74 with 48.1 seconds remaining.

Mount Olive had a chance to climb within one or tie the game. But Marcus West lost possession of the ball in the lane and it rolled into the Battlers' backcourt. Greene touched the ball, which resulted in a backcourt violation.

The Trojans immediately fouled Stephen Dye, who converted two free throws for a 79-74 advantage with half a minute to play.

"I thought we really played well defensively the last three or four minutes of the game," Alderson-Broaddus coach Greg Zimmerman said. "Even the one foul they called on Jerred Novotny, whether we fouled the guy or not, we had great defensive pressure the whole time.

"In a game like this, a lot of times it comes down to one or two stops."

Alderson-Broaddus sealed the game and the program's first-ever playoff win by hitting 10-of-10 free throws in the final 48 seconds. The