Dory Hines fist-bumped his University of Mount Olive basketball players near midcourt after a disappointing loss to Columbus State University on Saturday evening.
He pulled Shane Peterson aside.
As the two walked toward the locker room, the UMO head coach wrapped his arm around the freshman guard. Seconds earlier, Peterson missed a free throw with the Trojans clinging to a 63-62 lead.
CSU’s Daniel Melvin pulled down the rebound and kissed a layup off the glass with just over 10 seconds remaining. The Cougars scored an insurance basket moments later and escaped Kornegay Arena with 66-63 victory on day two of the 57th annual Pickle Classic.
“I just told him you’re going to be in that moment again and there’s nobody better that I’d love to have in that moment,” Hines said. “He had just made a defensive play before that helped us.”
Peterson stuffed his stat sheet with six points, five rebounds and three assists. He played 27-plus minutes for the Trojans, who dropped to 0-2 after a season-opening, five-point loss to 2022 NCAA Division II runner-up Augusta University on Friday.
Trayvon Ferrell and Brown emerged as UMO’s offensive leaders with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Brown pulled down eight rebounds and doled out six assists.
The Trojans and Cougars (2-0 overall) battled through seven lead changes and nine ties. The contest was tied at 54, 56 and 58 before CSU reeled off eight consecutive points to seal the comeback win.
“We’ve played two NCAA tournament teams on the first weekend of the season,” Hines said. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. We battled with them. We learned a lot about ourselves.
“We played hard, but we’ve got to get smarter…continue to work hard to get better.”
UMO travels to Shaw University on Tuesday.
