NC State 92, Appalachian State 68
RALEIGH, N.C. - The No.25/24 NC State Wolfpack proved to be too much for the Appalachian State University men’s basketball team as the Wolfpack blew open a second-half lead to cruise to a 92-68 victory in Reynolds Coliseum.
Appalachian was able to hang with NC State for the first 10 minutes of the contest knotting the game a 14-14 at one point before NC State started to pull away to improve to 6-1 behind five players in double figures. Nathan Cranford (Harrisburg, N.C./Central Cabarrus) led all scorers with 18 points, all of them in the second half, as the Apps fall to 3-5 on the season.
The Wolfpack defense came into the contest holding opponents to 54 points per game on 33 percent shooting and showed why, allowing ASU to shoot just 39 percent from the field and 27 percent from behind the arc, 15 percent below ASU’s season average. By contrast, the Wolfpack shot a blistering 67 percent from the field and 52 percent beyond the arc in front of the raucous hometown crowd.
NC State opened up a 9-3 lead in the first four minutes on a dunk from Cameron Brennerman, two of his 13 points on the afternoon. However, the Apps, undeterred by the early deficit rallied on a 9-2 run to take the lead, 12-11, with 13:32 on the clock. Freshman Eduardo Bermudez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) keyed the run, recording an assist, basket and two rebounds during the two-and-a-half minute stretch to give ASU the lead. NC State soon reclaimed the lead before D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville Road) tied the game at 14-14 with two of his 11 points in his hometown.
Unfortunately, that was as close as ASU would come as the Wolfpack outscored ASU 24-12 the remainder of the half to take a convincing 38-26 lead into the lockerroom. ASU kept NC State within 14 points for the first 10 minutes second stanza before ASU’s interior players encountered foul trouble. Faced with a size advantage inside, the Wolfpack began to extend their lead to as many as 27 at one point. Appalachian would get no closer than 16 points the rest of regulation as NC State prevailed 92-68.
Despite facing a larger lineup, the Apps were only outrebounded by two, 31-29, with Demetrius Scott pulling down five caroms in addition to his 12 points. Freshman Tyler Webb (Nickelsville, Va./Twin Springs) continued his strong play in the paint with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, four rebounds and two assists. However, his counterpart in the paint, Andrew Brackman, had a better afternoon with a team high 16 points and six boards for the Pack.
Appalachian continues its longest road trip of the season with a 7 p.m. contest at Marshall on Saturday, December 17. The game will be the 48th meeting between the two former Southern Conference rivals.
Chattanooga 97, Milligan 50
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Chattanooga never trailed and slowly built a 16 point halftime lead, before a second half explosion led by the Mocs’ freshmen resulted in a 97-50 victory over visiting Milligan College at McKenzie Arena Saturday night.
The Mocs (3-5), who played five freshmen together for the bulk of the second half, got career scoring nights from four players and won the rebounding battle convincingly, 59-27. Nicchaeus Doaks led all scorers with career high 18 points, while grabbing nine rebounds. Doaks was 7-of-10 from the field, including a 3-pointer. Alphonso Pugh posted his second double-double in three games with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Pugh’s final point of the night was the 1000th of his UTC career, making him the 14th player in Chattanooga history to reach that mark. Khalil Hartwell was in double-figures for the first time in his career with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Tony Brogan led the Buffaloes with 13 points, all in the first half.
Milligan (5-6) cut the UTC lead to nine points early in the second half but the Mocs responded with a 21-2 run to put the game out of reach. UTC forced 22 Milligan turnovers which led to 36 UTC points. The Mocs shot 56.8 percent in the second half, and 51.5 for the game.
Chattanooga will close out this three-game homestand next Thursday against Virginia Intermont, before departing to Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout.
NOTES:
Pugh is the third straight UTC player to score his 1000th career point at the free throw line (the last two: Ashley Champion and Tim Parker)
Four freshmen posted career scoring highs tonight: Doaks (18), Hartwell (10), Troupe (8), and Ferrell (6).
Pugh’s 14 rebounds tie a career high.
Ricky Hood’s eight rebounds tie a career high.
Davidson 80, Catholic 56
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? For the second straight game, Davidson led from wire-to-wire, defeating Catholic University on Saturday evening at Belk Arena, 80-56. Senior Brendan Winters posted a team-high 16 points to surpass 1,500 in his career and lead Davidson to its 12th straight home win while improving to 5-2 on the season. The Cardinals, ranked 25th in the preseason Division III polls, dropped to 6-2.
Winters, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year, hit 4-of-11 shots from the floor as well as all six foul shots to tally his 16 points. He now has 1,509 points in his career, moving into ninth place on Davidson’s all-time list, ahead of former NBA player Brandon Williams ’96.
The Wildcat defense was dominant in the opening stanza, holding Catholic to just 4-of-25 (.160) from the floor, including 0-of-9 on three-point attempts. The Cardinals did hold their own on the boards, hauling in 20 off the glass to 19 for Davidson.
While Catholic was struggling to find its stroke, the Wildcats also started slowly, connecting on just three of their first 12 shots, yet still led eight minutes into the game, 11-5. But Davidson went on to hit six of its next seven shots, which began a 12-0 run as the ’Cats built a 30-11 lead. Senior Ian Johnson canned his second of two three-pointers to culminate the run.
After the Johnson three, Davidson went scoreless for more than four minutes while the Cardinals drained six free throws. The Wildcats finished the half with buckets by Johnson and Jason Morton to take a 34-17 lead into the locker room.
Davidson gradually extended its lead in the second half, with Johnson knocking down a jumper with 11:14 left for a 52-32 lead. The Wildcat lead never dropped below 20 again and grew to as many as 31 as head coach Bob McKillop cleared his bench. Both teams shot 50 percent from the floor and from downtown over the final 20 minutes. Davidson finished the game with a slight rebounding edge, 37-35, and handed out 22 assists on its 26 field goals.
Johnson was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 14 points, 10 coming in the first half. Sophomore Thomas Sander came off the bench to snare a team-high seven rebounds, and senior point guard Kenny Grant dished off six assists.
Davidson entered the week sixth in the country in fewest turnovers per game, but its 12 in the game was just over its season average of 10.7 per game. Catholic, meanwhile, turned the ball over 19 times.
The Wildcats drilled 10-of-23 (.435) three-pointers, just the second time this season they have scored at least 10 in a game. And their season-low 75 percent from the foul line (18-of-24) knocks them from the top spot in the country for free throw percentage, which had been .844.
Center Shane Sowden starred for Catholic, scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. No other Cardinal managed to tally more than seven points as the squad shot just 33.3 percent (17-of-51) on its field goals.
Davidson returns to the court following the completion of first-semester exams on Dec. 15 when it hosts another Division III opponent, St. Mary’s (Md.), at 7 p.m. Catholic will host McDaniel on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
UNC Asheville 79, Furman 65
ASHEVILLE, NC - The Furman basketball team hit 10 three-pointers Saturday night at the Justice Center in Asheville, N.C., but were outrebounded 45-26 and shot 35.8% from the floor to drop at 79-65 decision to the UNC Asheville Bulldogs.
UNCA came out with a hot hand early and scored eight points in the first 2:30 of the game to take an 8-2 lead. The Paladins made five first half treys, but shot 36.0% from the field and were outrebounded 20-13 to trail 32-29 at the break.
The Bulldogs came out after the break and quickly extended their lead, going on a 16-0 run to start the half. The Paladins scored their first points of the second period on a Robby Bostain field goal with 15:27 left to play, and a pair of Eric Webb free throws put the UNCA lead at 15.
After falling behing by 19 early in the half, the Paladins made a run, and with 5:11 to go Gerad Punch picked off an inbounds pass and dished to Eric Webb who sank a quick three to cut the lead to 13. A turnover by UNCA's Oliver Holmes led to another Webb trey at 4:34 and it looked like the Paladins might have a chance.
A Punch layup at 3:16 cut the Bulldog lead to eight, but Asheville made six-of-eight free throws in the final 1:39 to hold off the Furman charge. UNCA ended the night outscoring the Paladins 30-18 in the paint and beating them by 19 on the boards.
The Paladins were paced in their effort by Bostain's 17 points and four assists. Webb added 10 points with four dishes of his own, while George Brozos grapped a team-best six rebounds.
The Bulldogs were paced by Omar Collington, who scored 18 of his 21 points in the second period. Oliver Holmes claimed a team-best 11 rebounds, while making seven-of-eight free shots on the night.
With the loss, the Paladins fall to 3-4 overall. Furman returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 15, in a 7:30 home game against Sewanee.
Georgia Southern 64, Illinois State 61
NORMAL, Ill. ? Late free throws helped propel the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team to a 64-61 win over Illinois State at Redbird Arena on Saturday. The loss broke a four-game winning streak for ISU (5-2) and snapped a two-game losing streak for GSU (5-4).
The two teams traded the lead for the first nine minutes of the game in an up-tempo fast break fest. ISU took its first lead of the half, 8-6, on a coast-to-coast fast break layup by Nedu Onyeuku. However, that lead would soon switch sides, as Georgia Southern's Donte Gennie converted a three-point play to give the Eagles a 9-8 lead just six seconds later. Onyeuku was to thank for ISU's next lead, when his layup gave the Redbirds a 12-11 lead with 11:27 left in the half.
Georgia Southern recovered the lead 13-12 after Sean Olivier sank two free throws as Greg Dilligard picked up his second foul of the half for ISU. That forced Dilligard to the bench and the Eagles would proceed to go on an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 22-12 with 6:32 left in the first half. GSU held the Redbirds scoreless for nearly five and a half minutes before Neil Plank converted two free throws to get the Redbirds back on the scoring track at 22-14. However, the Eagles would not relinquish that lead and led by as many as 13 points on way to a 31-20 lead at halftime. Plank led the Redbirds in scoring with eight points in the half while Elton Nesbitt paced the Eagles' attack with nine points.
The Redbirds came out firing in the second half, with Dana Ford getting credit for the half's first basket after a goaltending call on Georgia Southern. Ford would go on to score six quick points in the half and Brandon Holtz's first three-pointer of his career eventually pulled ISU within three points of the Eagles at 38-35.
With the scored tied at 44-44, Dilligard scored two-consecutive hoops giving ISU its first lead of the second half at 48-47. However, the Eagles would not go away, with Nesbitt leading the way with 14 points in the half. Six of those points came in the last two minutes as Georgia Southern would recover the lead on a three-pointer by Gennie at 60-57. The Eagles held on to that three point lead, with the Redbirds having a final shot at a tie. However, Neil Plank's last second 3-pointer rimmed out and Georgia Southern came away with a 64-61 win.
Nesbitt led all scorers with 23 and Gennie added 13 points. The Eagles connected on 16-of-18 free throws on the night (88.9 percent). Three Redbirds were in double figures, with Onyeuku leading the way with a season-high 14 points.
Georgia Southern returns to Hanner Fieldhouse Wednesday, Dec. 14, hosting Jacksonville. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. The Eagles are looking to extend their home winning streak to 15, as they currently have the ninth longest streak in the nation.
Western Carolina 56, East Carolina 48
Greenville, N.C. - Kyle Greathouse made three first-half 3s and scored a game-high 12 points to lead Western Carolina to a 56-48 win over East Carolina here Saturday night.
Corey Muirhead also added 10 points in the victory as WCU (6-6) sent its cross-state rival to their third consecutive loss holding the lead for the final 28:49.
Sam Hinnant, Taylor Gagnon and Corey Rouse each scored10 points for East Carolina (3-4). Rouse also tallied a game-high 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and 16th of his career.
The Catamounts made six first half 3s and finished the game shooting 50 percent from behind the arc, 8-for-16. Conversely ECU couldn't find its outside shooting touch as the Pirates made just 3-of-19 extra point attempts. WCU ended the game shooting 46.3 percent (19-of-41), while ECU connected on just 31.7 percent (13-of-41) of its field goal attempts.
ECU trailed by 12, 36-48, with 6:20 remaining, but trimmed its deficit to four with 59 seconds left on a Courtney Captain lay up, 52-48. The Pirates then sent Greathouse to the line, where he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity.
On ECU's ensuing possession, Captain stepped out-of-bounds in front of the ECU bench to turn the ball back over. Jared Outing then made 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to five before Greathouse extended the lead even further with another free throw following an ECU miss.
The Catamounts' leading scorer Antonio Russell calmly sank two free throws with 20 seconds on the clock to determine the final margin of victory.
Miami 71, Wofford 40
MIAMI, FL ? Guillermo Diaz scored 17 points and Robert Hite added 16 as Miami posted a 71-40 win over Wofford on Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
Wofford (3-6) hung tough for a half, trailing 33-25 at intermission. But Miami (6-3) outscored the Terriers
38-15 in the second half.
There were three ties and seven lead changes in the first half. The Terriers took their last lead of the night at 18-17 on a three-pointer by Shane Nichols with eight minutes to play in the half. A three-pointer by Matt O’Connor pulled Wofford within one at 26-25 with 2:12 remaining. But the Hurricanes scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 33-25 lead at intermission. Miami’s run continued in the second half as it scored the first nine points to take a 42-25 lead with 16:18 remaining in the game.
Shane Nichols led the Terriers with 11 points. Howard Wilkerson and Byron Fields each scored seven for Wofford. Tyler Berg, Fields and Drew Gibson each shared team rebound honors with three each.
Miami’ Anthony King had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 10 points. Jimmy Graham added 10 rebounds for the Hurricanes.
“Those two guards (Diaz and Hite) are going to make a lot of money playing basketball after they’re finished in college,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young.
“I’m convinced the second half was an aberration.
We’ve been in tough situations before, at Purdue and at West Virginia and at Clemson. We didn’t handle the second half well and they got us.”
Wofford will next play at South Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 17.