Davidson 81, Eastern Michigan 77
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, Davidson rallied to win its season opener against Eastern Michigan, 81-77, in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge hosted by the University of Michigan. The young Wildcat squad overcame 32 turnovers with four players scoring in double figures, led by junior Thomas Sander with a career-high 19 points.
Trailing 10-7, Eastern Michigan took advantage of a 5:44 Wildcat scoring drought with a 16-0 run capped off by a Jesse Bunkley trey to grab a 23-10 lead with 11:08 left in the opening period. The Eagles continued their hot-shooting in the first half pushing the margin to as many as 17 thanks to Bunkley’s third bucket from downtown in the stanza. In the first 20 minutes of action, EMU knocked down eight three-pointers and turned 18 Davidson miscues into 21 points to make it a 44-28 contest at the break.
The Wildcats wasted little time cutting into the 16-point halftime deficit as they opened the second half with an 18-4 streak to trail only by two, 48-46, but Eastern Michigan responded again with a small spurt to extend its lead back to double-digits, 60-50.
With just over six minutes left, Davidson ran off eight unanswered thanks to a Stephen Curry three and five consecutive points from Boris Meno to make it a two-point contest once again. After the two teams traded buckets over the next 1:20, the Wildcats finally tied the contest on a Meno putback and had a chance to grab the lead as he was fouled in the process just prior to the final media stoppage, but Meno missed the freebie.
Out of the timeout, Carlos Medlock put the Eagles back in front with a layup, but it was all Wildcats from then on, as Curry nailed back-to-back buckets from long range to give Davidson a 70-66 advantage, its first since the opening minutes. The Eagles got to within one on a pair of Craig Cashen free throws, but couldn’t inch closer as the ’Cats went on a 9-1 run to stretch the lead to their largest of the night, 78-70, with 40 ticks to go.
Wildcat guard Jason Richards finished with a career-high 17 points and dished out eight assists, while Meno finished with his third double-double in a Davidson uniform recording 12 points and 10 boards. Curry was the other ?Cat to go for double-digits scoring 15 in his first collegiate contest.
Medlock, the MAC’s newcomer of the year in 2005-06, led three Eastern Michigan players in double figures with a game-high 23 points. Bunkley added 12, all on three-pointers and Devon Dumes contributed 11 off the bench in 27 minutes of action.
Davidson’s Andrew Lovedale led all players with a career-best 12 boards, and helped the Wildcats to a 44-34 margin on the glass.
The Wildcats finished the evening at 45.3 percent (24-53), including seven buckets from long range and knocked down 26 of their 36 attempts from the charity stripe.
After shooting a blistering 53.6 percent in the opening half, EMU managed just a 31.4 percentage from the floor in the final period to finish 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) for the game. The Eagles nailed 11 baskets from beyond the arc and hit 66.7 percent of their attempts from the line.
The two teams forced each other into a combined 58 turnovers on the evening.
This evening's come back was the Wildcats biggest since rallying from 19 points down against The Citadel in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament a year ago.
Davidson will continue its appearance in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge tomorrow at 4 p.m. as they battle event host Michigan before concluding the tournament with Central Connecticut State on Sunday. Eastern Michigan and CCSU will play the 2 p.m. contest prior to the Wildcats’ affair with the Wolverines.
The Citadel 79, Ohio Valley 58
Charleston, S.C. ? Senior guard Donny McLendon led all scorers with 20 points and senior forward J’Mel Everhart registered his first double-double of the season in the first game as The Citadel basketball team knocked off Ohio Valley, 79-58, in the season opener and head coach Ed Conroy’s Bulldog debut at McAlister Field House Friday night.
After seven double-doubles last season, Everhart needed only one game to notch his first one of 2006-07 as he scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. McLendon went 7-14 from the field and hit three three-pointers while Vytautus Valiulis also broke into double figures in scoring with 10 points. Nate Cozart led the Fighting Scots with 13 points.
Leading by only six at halftime after shooting 36 percent, the Bulldogs stormed out of the locker room to score the first 12 points of the second half to open up an 18-point lead.
“It wasn’t so much about making adjustments at halftime as it was reminding them about the original game plan,” Conroy said. “They came out a little tight so I tried to calm them down at halftime, and they came out and played well in the second half.”
After McLendon hit a three to tie the game at 3 and score the first points of the season for the Bulldogs, Everhart threw down a thunderous dunk on a backdoor pass from senior guard Kevin Hammack much to the delight of the home crowd to give the Bulldogs their first lead at 7-5. The game stayed within three points until The Citadel took a six-point lead at 16-10 on a jumper by McLendon.
After the Fighting Scots got back to within two at 18-16, McLendon hit another one from beyond the arc with 8:17 left in the first half to make it a 21-16 Bulldogs lead. The Dogs opened up their largest advantage after a layup by McLendon made it 24-17 and freshman forward Bryan Streeter extended the lead to 26-18 with another layup. Valiulis hit a three-pointer to make it 29-20 with 4:21 left in the half. Ohio Valley cut the lead to four at 31-27, but a layup by Everhart off a missed free throw just before the horn gave the Bulldogs a 33-27 halftime advantage.
McLendon went 5-9 from the floor and 2-4 beyond the arc to lead all first half scorers with 14. Everhart finished the opening 20 minutes with 8 points and 10 rebounds. Forward James Wallace led the Fighting Scots with seven points in the first half.
Everhart brought the house down again with two monstrous dunks to start the second half, opening up a 10-point lead for The Citadel at 37-27. A McLendon layup made it a 39-27 advantage for the Bulldogs with 18:05 left in the contest.
Two straight baskets by junior forward Demetrius Nelson and two free throws by Hammack gave The Citadel their biggest lead at 45-27. Ohio Valley was able to trim the lead to 13 at 48-35, but the Bulldogs were able to put the game away and a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jonathan Brick made it a 58-37 advantage with 11:20 left. Valiulis converted a three-point play to give The Citadel a 75-51 lead with 4:41 left for their biggest advantage of the contest.
The Citadel will now head to Big Ten country as they face Michigan State on Sunday in East Lansing, Mich. and Iowa on Monday in Iowa City, Iowa. Both contests can be followed on the airwaves on CNN Radio 1450 AM and live audio will be available on Bulldog Insider at www.CitadelSports.com. They will also be broadcasted on ESPN Regional
NC State 54, Wofford 45
RALEIGH, NC ? North Carolina State came from behind to defeat Wofford 92-88 Friday night at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
Wofford built a nine-point halftime lead at 54-45 as the Terriers sank 11 three-point field goals in the first half. The Terriers led for the great majority of the game until the Wolfpack took their first lead with just over six minutes to play in the game.
The game was tied at 76 and 85 in the closing minutes of the game. The Terriers led 87-85 before NC State’s Ben McCauley scored on a tip-in to tie the game at 87. Wofford’s Tyler Whatley was fouled and made one of two free throws to put the Terriers on top 88-87.
NC State’s Engin Atsur scored on an over-the-shoulder lay-up with 42 seconds remaining that put the Pack on top 89-88.
Wofford called timeout with 28 seconds left. Shane Nichols had a 3-point attempt blocked with 17 seconds remaining and Eric Marshall committed a foul. NC State’s Brandon Costner made one of two free throws for a 90-88 advantage.
Marshall missed a 3-point attempt with seven seconds left that would have put the Terriers in front by one. Atsur provided the final margin by making a pair of free throws with two seconds left.
The Terriers made 16 three-pointers, the second-most field goals in a game by Wofford.
Four Terriers scored in double figures led by Drew Gibson and Eric Marshall with 18 apiece. Matt O’Connor scored a career-high 17 while Shane Nichols added 15 on five 3-pointers.
“We did some great things and we made a lot of shots but we had a deficient effort on the defensive end,”
said head coach Mike Young. “We gave up too many easy baskets.
“Our effort was impeccable,” continued Young. “We made some mistakes that we have to shore up but we’ll figure it out.”
Wofford will host Erskine in its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Georgia Tech 83, Elon 49
ATLANTA, Ga. ? Freshmen Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young had impressive debuts for No. 23 Georgia Tech, combining for 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in an 83-49 victory over Elon on Friday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Crittenton led the Jackets with 17 points while Young added 15 and Lewis Clinch contributed 14. Crittenton also recorded five assists and two steals. Ra’Sean Dickey led Georgia Tech in rebounding with eight boards while Jeremis
Smith grabbed seven and Young pulled in six, including four offensive grabs. The Yellow Jackets shot 51.6 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three-point range.
LeVonn Jordan led Elon with 15 points and Chris Chalko added 13. Chalko, Brett James and Adam Constantine each posted five rebounds while Jordan and Scott Grable grabbed four a piece. Brian Waters led the team with five assists. Elon posted a 33.3 field goal percentage and a 20.0 three-point field goal mark.
The Yellow Jackets took an early four-point lead at 8-4 with 15:36 left to play in the first half. The Jackets then used a 13-6 run to take its first double-digit lead at 21-10 on a dunk from Smith with 9:19 remaining. Georgia Tech scored nine of the next 11 points to take an 18-point 30-12 lead with 5:30 left in the half. Elon cut it to 15 at 30-15 with 4:32 remaining after a layup by Constantine and a free throw from Jordan. Georgia Tech pushed the lead to 21 at 38-17 on a layup by Young with 1:46 remaining before a jumper and a dunk from Jordan cut the lead to 17 at 38-21 heading into the intermission.
Georgia Tech scored the first three points out of halftime to take a 20-point 41-21 lead less than a minute into the second stanza. The Yellow Jackets maintained a 20-point advantage before a 14-3 run, capped by a Mario West layup at 6:16, gave Georgia Tech a 32-point lead at 73-41. The Jackets would maintain that distance for the remainder of the game and lead by as much as 35 at 79-44 with 3:31 left to play.
Elon opens its home slate on Tuesday, Nov. 14 in a 7 p.m. tilt with Montreat.