Erskine Falls to Mt. Olive

The Erskine men's basketball team failed to complete a second half comeback for the second time in three days as they fell to Mt. Olive, 65-61.

The game was even at 17-17 midway through the first half before Mt. Olive went on a 19-6 run to close the half. The Trojans' run was aided by nine Erskine turnovers. Erskine shot only 30 percent ( 9-30) in the opening half from the floor and 30 percent (3-10) from the free throw line.

The second half proved a different story as the Fleet rallied from 13 points behind to cut Mt. Olive's lead to two with 2:25 to play. Junior guard Darrin Quarles missed a short jumper from the wing which would have tied the score. Moments later on the subsequent possession Quarles and freshman Brandon Moses missed three-point shot attempts to tie the game.

Mt. Olive secured the victory when Virgil Singleton connected on a free throw with five seconds to play to improve Mt. Olive to 4-1 on the season.

Quarles led Erskine in scoring with 17 points. Moses added a career-high 13 points and fellow freshman Brandon Burris added 11. Burris also grabbed 11 rebounds as did sophomore pivot man Jeff Wiersma.

"We are improving but a loss is still a loss," said Erskine coach Mark Peeler. "We couldn't make the plays we needed to in the end to win. I believe we have a good team that will continue to improve but somewhere down the line, and soon, we need to experience winning."

Erskine next plays on the road Tuesday at Queens College. Game time is 7:30 pm.