San Diego 80, Furman 73
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- Junior guard Ross DeRogatis tied his career high with 28 points on 8-of-10 3-point shootings to lead San Diego over Furman 80-73 on Saturday.
Senior center Nick Lewis added 16 points in a game-high eight rebounds for the Toreros (4-2), who won their third straight game. Senior center Moussa Diagne had a career-high 25 points on 12-of-17 shootings to pace the Paladins (3-3).
DeRogatis scored 10 of San Diego's final 14 points, including a 3-pointer from the right corner with 17 seconds left to cut short the 19-4 Furman rally and give the Toreros breathing room at 76-71.
His two free throws 8 seconds later made it 78-71 and sealed the win.
DiRogatis hit 5-of-7 bonus shots in the first half as San Diego broke from a 23-22 deficit to take a 43-26 halftime lead.
Diagne scored 8 during a 16-6 run to open the second half and cut the Toreros lead to 49-42.
San Diego rallied to regain a 17-point advantage at 69-52 on DiRogatis' 3-pointer with 4:34 remaining .
Furman then opened its 19-4 run on Eric Webb's 3-point shot at 4:18.
No. 22 Wake Forest 78, Elon 59
By KEITH PARSONS, AP Sports Writer
December 3, 2005
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Justin Gray scored half his 22 points during the opening 5 minutes of the second half, Trent Strickland added 10 points and 12 rebounds and No. 22 Wake Forest cruised to a 78-59 victory over Elon on Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum.
For the first time ever, the Demon Deacons (7-1) officially were the visitors in this arena, where they played most of their key home games before the opening of Joel Coliseum near campus in 1989. It hardly has served as the friendly confines over the years, since they improved to 61-76 all-time in Greensboro.
The Phoenix (1-5) were the hosts, choosing to serve in that role instead of traveling about 50 miles to Wake Forest for a "guarantee" game, as they have the previous four seasons. It didn't keep them from losing for the 22nd straight time in the series.
Montell Watson tied a career high with four 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for Elon.
The Deacons led 38-28 at the half before Gray helped them pull away. He worked inside for a layup, then began a personal 9-0 run with a 3 off a nice assist by Trent Strickland. On the other end, Jackson Atoyebi had consecutive shots blocked, leading to perhaps the prettiest play of the day for Wake Forest.
Michael Drum missed on a drive, and the rebound bounced toward the perimeter. Burly center Eric Williams chased it down, and as he was falling, flipped a pass over his head to Gray, who was standing patiently behind the arc.
His shot swished through for a 49-31 lead, and he added another a couple of possessions later to increase the margin to 21. Those were his final points, and 6-foot-11 center Kyle Visser provided the exclamation point to this blowout with his first career 3-pointer.
That came with about 2 1/2 minutes left, and he and the other Wake Forest starters came to the bench soon after.
Of course, after the opening 3 minutes, it appeared they might get to rest the entire second half. Elon had turnovers on its first three possessions, and when leading scorer Atoyebi finally got a look at the basket, two of his shots were swatted away.
The Deacons had no such trouble, running to a 10-0 lead before the Phoenix recovered. They rallied to tie it at 12, then took their only lead on a layup by Chris Chalko. Gray made a 3-pointer to put Wake Forest ahead for good, although the margin at the break still was only 10.
Atoyebi, who came in averaging 14.2 points, finished 2-of-10 from the field and had five points, the first time he has failed to reach double figures.
Story courtesy of Wofford sports information
Wofford 91, Virginia-Wise 46
SPARTANBURG, SC ? Wofford hit a school-record 18 three-point field goals in posting a 91-46 non-conference win over Virginia-Wise this afternoon at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
The Terriers’ first eight field goals of the game were all 3-pointers. Wofford (3-4) made 14 field goals in the first half, 12 of them from beyond the arc.
The loss was the fifth straight for Virginia-Wise (4-8). The Highland Cavaliers lost at VMI in Lexington, VA on Friday night then drove 300 miles for Saturday’s 2 p.m. tipoff against Wofford.
Eric Marshall led the Terriers with 20 points as all six of his field goals came from three-point. Byron Fields scored 15 points including a career-best two 3-pointers. Shane Nicholls tallied 12 points with all four of his field goals coming from long distance.
UVA-W was led by Zydrunas Rackauskas and Parker Gemmell who each scored 14 points.
The Terriers jumped out to a 13-2 lead to start the game. Wofford led 29-7 with 7:34 to play in the first half when Howard Wilkerson scored on a layup to mark Wofford’s first two-point field goal of the game. The Terriers went on to lead 47-20 at the half as Marshall made all five of his 3-point attempts.
Wofford broke the previous school record of 16 three-pointers made in a game that was set against Toccoa Falls on Feb. 19, 2003. Freshman Marcus Jackson hit the record-tying trey with 2:29 to play in the game to put Wofford up 83-42. Jackson’s trey with 1:25 remaining broke the previous mark. Matt Estep added a three with 39 seconds left to seal the final score.
Wofford will next play at Clemson on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
South Florida 72, Georgia Southern 66
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- James Holmes scored 24 points to lead South Florida to a 72-66 win over Georgia Southern in the third place game of the Price Cutter Classic at Missouri State University on Saturday.
South Florida (3-2) watched its 32-30 lead disappear quickly after Georgia Southern (4-4) opened the second half with a 6-2 run and took the lead of for the first time in the half at 36-34.
Georgia Southern trailed 57-49 before going on a 10-0 run to go ahead 59-57 with 6:07 left.
But two straight scores by McHugh Mattis and a 3-pointer by Holmes gave USF a 64-61 lead with 3:50 lead that held up through the rest of the game.
Georgia Southern had a chance to tie the game at 67 with 1:07 left, but Elton Nesbitt missed the first of two free throws and Holmes responded with a three-point play to put South Florida up 70-66 with 40 seconds left.
Mattis finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for USF. Melvin Buckley had 12 points.
Nesbitt had 22 points for Georgia Southern and Donte Gennie had 13.
Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 72, College of Charleston 58
GREENSBORO, NC ? Kyle Hines led the way with 18 points and 21 rebounds as UNC Greensboro won its Southern Conference opener, 72-58, over College of Charleston at Fleming Gymnasium on Saturday night.
Hines 21 rebounds were the most by a player in 17 seasons of play at Fleming Gymnasium and a UNCG Division I era record. It was the most by a Spartan since 1973 and the first 20-rebound game since Verdell Ellis did it on February 20, 1988 against Greensboro College. Back then, UNCG was an NCAA Division III member.
The previous arena record was held by Middle Tennessee State’s Napolean Rhodes. It also marked just the fifth time a Spartan eclipsed the 20-rebound mark, joining Ellis and Bruce Shaw, who did it three times in the early 1970’s.
UNCG (4-3, 1-0) went 10:04 between field goals with a halftime intermission in the midst of the drought and saw all but two points of a 20-point advantage dissipate. However, a 12-0 run midway through the second half, opened the lead back up and put the Spartans on their way to their fourth win of the season and their first over the Cougars since 2001-02.
Dontaye Draper led College of Charleston (2-2, 0-1) with 17 points. Ricky Hickman added 15 points for UNCG and Bart Tooms chipped in with 11.
“It’s a big win; a conference game this early that you can win is big,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “We rebounded very well tonight, particularly Kyle. We stressed that when we came back from South Carolina (for Thursday’s practice). I thought we got tired late. We didn’t finish the way I would like, but that happens with a young squad.
“We had a 20-point lead and had trouble holding on to it, but that happens. I think we’ve done that in each of our wins (lost a lead) and that shows good character, particularly with a young squad like we have.”
The game opened with the Spartans hot, and the Cougars not. The Spartans held College of Charleston without a field goal for the first six minutes to open the contest. The Cougars missed their first eight shots from the field and continued to struggle after that. The stingy defense, combined with better than 50 percent shooting from the field, helped UNCG to a 19-4 lead nine minutes in.
UNCG freshman Everson Simmons knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing with 7:31 to go in the first half to push the margin to 20, 28-8. But that would be UNCG’s last field goal of the first half and the Cougars began to chip away from there. The Spartans got sloppy, turning the ball over six times in the next four minutes, and College of Charleston scored nine straight points to cut it to 28-17. That is as close as they would get in the first half as UNCG took a 33-19 lead into the locker room.
Draper scored the first five points of the second half and 10 points total in a 15-3 run over the first four minutes of the second half that pulled College of Charleston within two, 36-34. The Spartans ran off 12 straight points, however, to push the lead back to 14 with 10:30 to play. After that, the Cougars never got closer than seven.
Lost in everything was Hines’ 500th career point. Achieving it in just his 36th career game, he is the fastest to do it in UNCG’s Division I era. Jay Joseph, UNCG’s all-time leading scorer, scored 500 in 39 career games.
UNCG returns to action on Tuesday night when the Spartans take on East Carolina in Greenville.
Story courtesy of Davidson sports information
Davidson 102, Appalachian State 69
BOONE, N.C. ? Davidson held Appalachian State without a field goal over the first 10:13 of the second half and cruised to a 102-69 victory over the Mountaineers in the conference opener for both teams Saturday evening at the Holmes Center.
The triumph was the Wildcats 25th straight in Southern Conference regular-season play as they improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league competition. Appalachian State suffered its first home loss since January last season falling to 3-3 on the campaign.
Brendan Winters led five Wildcats in double figures with 19 points, including five buckets from beyond the arc. Both Thomas Sander and Jason Morton contributed 16 points off the bench, while Ian Johnson finished with his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards. Kenny Grant added 11 points and six assists for Davidson.
Trailing 10-7 just over four minutes into the contest, Davidson went on a 29-10 streak to grab a commanding 36-20 lead, forcing Appalachian State to burn its first 30-second timeout. Appalachian State responded with an 11-2 run of its own, capped off by a Nathan Cranford trey to make it a seven-point game (38-31), but couldn’t inch closer as the Wildcats stretched their lead to as many as 19 and went into the break leading, 50-33.
Davidson finished the first half shooting 50 percent from the field, including 7-of-14 from downtown. The Wildcats were led at the intermission by Winters and Sanders who recorded 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Wildcats held ASU without a field goal in the second half until the 9:47 mark when Jeremy Harper scored on a layup. Appalachian State opened the second frame 0-for-15 from the floor and went almost 11 minutes dating back to the first half without a bucket.
A strong performance on the defensive end of the floor allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead to as many as 36 points (75-39) before Harper’s layup.
Cranford led Appalachian State with a 14 points, while P.L. Henderson also finished in double digits scoring 11 points.
The Wildcats finished the evening shooting 50.7 percent (34-of-67) including 13 buckets from long range and held ASU to just 21-of-64 (32.8 percent) from the field. Davidson concluded the contest with a 44-36 edge on the glass and continued its strong performance from the charity stripe, converting its first 21 foul shots before missing its final two.
Davidson returns to action Wednesday, Dec. 7 when it hosts Missouri from the Big 12 Conference. The 8 p.m. match-up with the Tigers will be televised on the Metro Sports Network. Appalachian State will begin a six-game trip away from home Tuesday at Tennessee.
Story courtesy of Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 80, UNC Asheville 64
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina set a school record by making 14 3-pointers, including 10 in the first half, and five Catamounts scored in double figures to defeat mountain rival UNC Asheville 80-64 Saturday night at the Ramsey Activity Center. The previous WCU record for 3-pointers in a game was 12, which had been done on six occasions.
Antonio Russell led all scorers with 20 points, making 8-of-9 at the line and 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while Corey Muirhead provide a spark off the bench, scoring 18 points with six rebounds and a career-high six assists. The 6-6 senior made 6-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc, and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. However, Western’s main gun from long range was junior Kyle Greathouse, who was 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Not only was it a good night for the Catamount players, but first-year Western Carolina head coach Larry Hunter picked up career win 514 (with just 229 losses) in this his 26th year as a head coach. Already 13th among active NCAA Division I coaches in wins, he moves into a tie for 97th on the NCAA all-time, all classification list with a minimum of 10 years as head coach at an NCAA Division I school. Ironically, he ties former Catamount head coach Jim Gudger for the spot, along with longtime Evansville coach Arad McCutchen. (Gudger, who coached all of WCU’s four All-Americans and led the Cats to the 1963 NAIA championship game, was 311-222 in 19 years at WCU (1950-69) and was 203-229 at Texas A&M Commerce from 1970-83.)
Although Western (5-5) struck first with an Eric Wilson 3-pointer to start the game, the Bulldogs (0-4) jumped out to an early five-point lead (11-6) on a Reid Augst layup at the 14:19 mark. Western answered with an 8-2 run, capped by a Greathouse 3-pointer, to take a 14-13 lead, an advantage the Cats would not relinquish the remainder of the evening. With Western clinging to a seven-point lead at the 6:15 mark, the Catamounts went on a 14-4 over the next five minutes, including 3’s from Greathouse and Wilson, to take its largest lead of the first half, 17 points (43-26), with 1:38 remaining before the break. The Bulldogs answered with a Joey Harrell layup and a 3-pointer by Omar Collington at the buzzer to provide the 43-31 halftime score.
UNCA built on its momentum from the first half to start the second, as Joseph Barber scored the first five points of the second period and Chad Mohn added two more, making the score 43-38 and forcing a WCU timeout. Catamount senior David Berghoefer got his team back on track with a layup. Barber responded with a jumper in the lane to keep it a five-point game. However, the Cats made another run, this time a 13-4 spurt, thanks to four points by Berghoefer and a pair of 3’s by Russell to go up 14 points. UNCA’s Brett Warner answered with a jumper at the 12:30 mark to cut the Bulldog deficit to 12, but that is as close as they would get the remainder of the contest.
Western did allow UNCA to shoot 48.9 percent from the field. However, the Bulldogs were just 6-of-18 (.333) from 3-point range. The Catamounts, on the other hand, shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 54.4 in the second half, and were 53.8 percent (14-of-26) for the game from beyond the arc. Western also out-rebounded UNCA, 29-22.
In addition to Russell, Muirhead and Greathouse, Western was led by Berghoefer’s 13 points and seven rebounds, while Wilson added 11 points. Jared Outing came off the bench to register six rebounds with two assists and two steals.
The Bulldogs were led by Barber’s 14 points, followed by Harrell’s 12 points and Reid’s 10. Mohn, who scored eight points and had five assists, led the Bulldogs with five rebounds, while Oliver Holmes dished out six assists.
Western Carolina will return to action next Wednesday (Dec. 7) to face the 20th-ranked Maryland Terrapins in College Park. Tipoff is set for 8:00 pm.
North Texas 83, Chattanooga 76
DENTON, Texas (AP) - Kendrick Davis scored 20 points and Michael Sturns added 19 as North Texas rallied in the second half to beat Chattanooga 83-76 Saturday night.
The Mean Green (2-2) trailed 42-35 at halftime but outscored Chattanooga 48-34 in the second half.
Chattanooga (1-5) made 7 of 13 3-pointers in the first half but cooled off after halftime, making just 3 of 10.
Davis was 6-of-16 from the field but made all six of his free throws. Sturns was 7-of-12, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Keddric Mays was one of four Chattanooga players in double figures with 19 points. He was joined by Alphonso Pugh (12), Nicchaeus Doaks (11) and Charles Anderson (10). Pugh had 11 rebounds.
Jeffrey Simpson had 9 points and 11 rebounds for North Texas.