MISSOURI 81, DAVIDSON 75
COLUMBIA, MO. --- Matt Lawrence scored a game-high 22 points and the Missouri Tigers forced 28 turnovers as they held off Davidson 81-75 in men?s basketball action Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. The victory over the Wildcats was Missouri?s first in three tries as its remains unbeaten improving to 5-0 overall. Davidson falls to 3-2 on the young season.
Lawrence drilled six of the Tigers? eight baskets from downtown to lead three Mizzou players in double figures. Stephon Hannah contributed 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and had six steals, while Leo Lyons added 18 points in
29 minutes off the bench for the Tigers.
For the third consecutive outing the Wildcats had four individuals in double digits. William Archambault (17) and fellow freshman Stephen Curry (16) combined for 33 points to pace Davidson offensively. Thomas Sander and Jason Richards recorded 12 and 10, respectively.
After the two teams traded buckets during the opening 2:30 of the contest, back-to-back treys by Lawrence sparked a 14-2 Missouri run forcing the Wildcats to burn a 30 second timeout down 19-7. Out of the stoppage, Davidson answered with a lengthy spurt of its own capped off by two of Archambault?s five long range jumpers to cut the deficit to 29-27 with just under three minutes left in the first.
Down 34-31 at the break, the Cats raced out of the locker room with a 12-4 streak to grab a 43-38 lead, their first since the 18:06 mark in the opening half. Mizzou wasted little time tying the score before the two teams battled back-and-forth over the next nine minutes of action to find themselves deadlocked (64-64) for a sixth and final time.
Three straight makes from the charity stripe gave the Tigers a lead that they would never relinquish. Davidson closed to within one on several occasions, but couldn?t overcome nine Missouri free throws in the closing minutes.
Davidson concluded its third affair with Mizzou in as many years shooting
45.6 percent (26-57) from the field and 11-of-25 from deep for 44.0 percent.
The Tigers shot just under the Wildcat total with a finishing clip of 44.8 percent overall and just 33.3 percent from three-point range, but only committed 15 miscues and tallied 14 steals.
Despite the setback, Davidson controlled the glass convincingly for the second consecutive outing with a 40-29 edge. The Wildcats? Boris Meno led all players with 11 boards.
Missouri made the most of the Wildcat mistakes turning them into 25 points on the other end.
Davidson will quickly return to the hardwood in a 7 p.m. contest against Colby on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Belk Arena. Missouri continues its nine-game homestand with a 6 p.m. contest against S. F. Austin on Nov. 25.
FURMAN 63, BOWLING GREEN 59
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO - Eric Webb and Gerad Punch each buried a pair of free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Furman hold off Bowling Green 63-59 before 1,109 fans at Anderson Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio, Sunday afternoon.
Furman led by 12 points with 7:47 remaining, but Bowling Green's Martin Samarco keyed a 10-0 Falcons' run to cut the lead to 55-53 with 4:16 left. After trading two pointers, Eric Marschall tipped back a Samarco miss with 2:35 remaining to tie the game for the first time all night.
Following three straight free throws by the Paladins, Samarco converted a short pull-up jumper from the right baseline and drew the foul with eight seconds left. Samarco missed the free throw after a Furman time out, and Punch sunk two free throws after being fouled to put Furman ahead 62-59 with seven seconds on the clock.
Jadee Jones committed a foul as soon as the Falcons brought the ball in the front court. Ryne Hamblet missed both shots at the charity stripe, and Alex Opacic grabbed the rebound to seal the victory for Furman who led wire to wire..
"Our seniors really stepped up big for us tonight. It is as simple as that," said Furman head coach Jeff Jackson. "They make things easier on us by handling game situations real well and playing with a lot of savvy."
"Anytime you are on the road, no matter who you are playing, you can expect the home team to make a comeback," said Jackson "We were able to score a few baskets to keep our heads above water down the stretch."
Furman jumped out to a 29-20 halftime lead behind Punch's three treys in the opening 20 minutes. Robby Bostain netted 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half while grabbing 10 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the season.
Samarco scored a game-high 27 on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 at the foul line for the Falcons. Bowling Green held Furman to 39.6% (19-48) from the field, but made 20-of-25 from the charity stripe. The Falcons shot 42% from the field, but just 2-of-12 from three-point range and 15-of-26 from the foul line. Webb scored 12 and
Punch added 11 to join Bostain in double figures.
Webb sunk two free throws early in the second half to become just the 36th payer in Paladin basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. He joins teammate Robby Bostain who achieved the feat last February.
Furman, 3-1 on the season, returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to North Dakota State for an 8:00 p.m. contest.
Notre Dame 74, The Citadel 50
SOUTH BEND, IND. - The Citadel's trip across America took another familiar turn in the heartland Sunday afternoon.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 21-3 lead in the first six minutes and had its way with the smaller Bulldogs in a 74-50 win at the Joyce Center.
The Bulldogs, on the middle of a five-game road trip, arrived in South Bend two days early and took in the atmosphere of a Notre Dame football game on Saturday. They still looked like spectators on the basketball floor.
The Citadel scored a meager 12 first-half points, just one more than the number of turnovers it committed in the first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs hit just five-of-23 field goal attempts and were outscored in the paint 24-4 as the bigger Irish ran up a 28-point lead by the break.
"A little bit flat, a little bit slow," was how guard Donny McLendon summed up his team's first half performance. "We couldn't execute on offense and our defense was really laid back. We really didn't come out like wanted. We wanted to be the aggressor tonight and we weren't."
The Citadel fell to 1-4, with three of those losses to teams in the top 35 of the Sagarin ratings. Notre Dame was led by freshman forward Luke Harangody's 18 points and won its second straight to improve to 3-1. Russell Carter added 14 for the Irish.
Citadel guard Vytautas Valiulus missed a layup off a backdoor cut to open the second half and J'mel Everhart missed the follow, causing coach Ed Conroy to throw the stat sheets he was holding to the floor in disgust - it was that kind of afternoon.
"I was not very pleased with how my basketball team came out and played in the first half," said Conroy. "We wanted to get into our press in the first half, but that's pretty hard to do when you only score five field goals."
McClendon led the Bulldogs with 16 points and Everhart scored 12, all in the second half. He led a modest 8-0 Bulldogs run early in the second, but five straight Irish points to answer pushed their lead to 30.
After Sunday's game, the Bulldogs left for Los Angeles to take on Southern Cal on Tuesday. They will finally have a home game this Friday against Asbury, after two weeks of playing on the road.
- Courtesy of Charleston Post & Courtier