Pickle Classic: 10 years ago

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on November 16, 2006 1:47 PM

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The 31st Annual Pickle Classic may be best known for the debuts of two freshmen who would figure prominently in Mount Olive College men's basketball history. Chris McDonald would be named Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Freshman of the Year and would earn All-CVAC honors in each of his next three years. Joey Higginbotham would join the Trojan coaching staff after graduation and is now associate head coach.

On the court, Mount Olive rallied from a 20-point deficit, but the Trojans were unable to hold on, falling to North Florida 67-64 in the consolation game. The Trojans fell to Emmanuel 72-67 in the first round.

Against North Florida, Mount Olive trailed 44-24 with 19 minutes remaining. The Trojans chipped away at the lead and sophomore Paul Dunn's two free throws with 54 seconds remaining put Mount Olive on top 64-63. But North Florida regained the lead and the Trojans were unable to score again the rest of the way.

Dunn, who finished with 15 points in the consolation game, was named to the All-Tournament Team. McDonald reached double figures in both games.

District of Columbia captured the championship, defeating North Florida 72-65 in the first round and posting a 75-58 victory over Emmanuel in the championship. Larry James of runner-up Emmanuel was named MVP.

Also in 1996

News

Bill Clinton defeats Bob Dole in U.S. Presidential election, becoming first Democratic president since John F. Kennedy to be reelected...Centennial Park bombing kills one and injures more than a dozen during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta...Suspected Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski arrested at his Montana cabin...Daniel Green convicted of murder of James Jordan, father of Michael Jordan...Lyle and Erik Menendez found guilty of murdering their parents in nationally-publicized trial...Taliban drive out President of Afghanistan and take over city of Kabul...U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown killed in plane crash...Dolly the sheep, the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born in Scotland...Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey found murdered (case remains under investigation) ...General Motors EV1 becomes first electric car to go into mass production..."Ask.com" (then known as "Ask Jeeves") is created.

Entertainment

"Macarena" spends 14 weeks at No. 1 and becomes biggest dance craze...Spice Girls, Jewel and The Wallflowers make their chart debuts...Longest song title of 1996: "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand"...Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot and killed...Alternative rock band Sublime lead singer Bradley Nowell, who sang the lyric "Life is too short, so love the one you got," dies of a heroin overdose...Faith Hill and Tim McGraw marry...TV debuts: "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The Jamie Foxx Show," "Moesha" and "The Daily Show"...Matt Lauer joins The Today Show...Series finales: "Murder She Wrote," "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "The Ren and Stimpy Show"...Top grossing films include "Independence Day," "Twister" and "Mission: Impossible"...Also in the theaters: "Space Jam," "Fargo," "Scream" and "The Rock" (which did not star The Rock)..."Rent" opens on Broadway.

Sports

Stephanie McCovery sets a Trojan women's basketball scoring record and notches a triple double with 46 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 119-114 overtime win over Belmont Abbey...Goldsboro High School running back Montrell Coley finishes career with 3,456 yards, sixth-highest career total in U.S. high school football history...Albert Belle becomes first baseball player to make $10 million a year, which was a lot of money in those days...Chicago Bulls post best record in NBA history with 72-10 mark...Bulls win fourth title of decade and first of three in a row...Kerri Strug overcomes torn ligaments in ankle to nail perfect one-foot landing in vault and give USA team gold medal in women's gymnastics...USA also wins gold in men's basketball, women's basketball and first-time Olympic sports softball and women's soccer...Major League Soccer debuts...Future WWE "Superstar" Kurt Angle wins gold in 100 kg freestyle wrestling class...15-year-old Martina Hingis becomes youngest Wimbledon champion, combining with Helena Sukova to win women's doubles title...New York Yankees defeat Atlanta Braves in six games in World Series...Third time's the charm for Dallas Cowboys, which defeat Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in their third Super Bowl meeting...Nebraska dismantles Florida 62-24 to win "wire service" college football national championship ...Kentucky defeats Syracuse 76-67 in NCAA Men's Basketball championship...ACC teams shut out of Final Four for first time since 1987...Former Southwest Conference members Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech join expanded Big 12 conference.

Born in 1996

Child actors Jimmy Bennett ("Poseidon," "Daddy Day Care") and Abigail Breslin ("Raising Helen," "The Princess Diaries 2").