UNC GREENSBORO 77, WOFFORD 54
GREENSBORO, NC ? Ricky Hickman scored 21 points and Ben Stywall grabbed 11 rebounds as UNC Greensboro opened Southern Conference play with a 77-54 win over Wofford Monday night at Fleming Gymnasium.
The loss dropped Wofford to 4-3 on the season and 0-1 in SoCon play. UNCG improved to 2-4, 1-0.
The Terriers played all but the opening minute without starting point guard Drew Gibson. Gibson, who had missed the last two games with a pulled hamstring, started the game but signaled to head coach Mike Young that he needed to come out of the game just 1:12 into the first half.
The Terriers hung with UNCG through the first 10 minutes of the game. Eric Marshall hit a pair of free throws with 6:50 to play in the half to pull the Terriers within one at 19-18. But the Spartans went on an 18-1 run to open up a 37-19 lead before Junior Salters drained a three-pointer with 40 seconds left before the half.
Wofford trailed 39-22 at intermission and UNCG opened the second half with a field goal and a free throw from Ricky Hickman and a three-pointer by Kevin Oleksiak to take a 45-22 lead. Matt Estep’s three-pointer with 18:09 remaining in the game ended an 11:15 streak where the Terriers made just one field goal.
UNCG’s lead would grow to as many as 31 points at 63-32 with 12:10 to play in the game.
“I thought that when Drew came out, I could sense a deflated feeling from our team,” said Young. “When he went down, it took some air out of us.”
Marshall and Tyler Whatley each finished with a team-high 11 points. Junior Salters finished with 10.
UNCG’s Kyle Hines, the preseason SoCon player of the year, scored 13 points and finished with six rebounds.
Wofford will return to action Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when the Terriers host Western Carolina in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
APPALACHIAN STATE 84, CAMPBELL 71
BOONE, N.C. --- Twenty-eight points from D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C.) and the seventh career double-double from Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C.) lifted ASU past visiting Campbell, 84-71 Monday night at the Holmes Center.
Thompson shot 7-of-12 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line to help ASU overcome a one-point halftime deficit. His 28 points was five shy of a career high while his 10 free throws and eight rebounds matched a career high to help ASU improve to 3-2. Campbell falls to 3-2 with its second-straight loss.
Clayton?s double-double came by virtue of 10 rebounds (four offensive) and 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. Campbell had four players in double figures with Ruell Pringle leading the way with 13 points. Ledell Eackles trailed closely with 12 points and a game-high eight steals.
Appalachian found itself down, 35-36, at halftime, but opened the second half on a tear, going on a 10-1 run to open the half and take a 45-37 lead in the first four minutes of the stanza. Thompson scored four the points during that run with the other six coming via three-point plays from Clayton and Demetrius Scott, who finished with 12 points and five assists.
The Camels battled back to cut the margin to three, 48-45, just a minute later, but Thompson rallied the troops again with two three-pointers over the next four minutes followed by a Kellen Brand (High Point, N.C.) layup to re-establish ASU?s lead at 10 points, 58-48, with 10 minutes to play.
ASU?s lead would dip into single digits only four times the remainder of the game and the Camels never got closer than eight points as the Mountaineers went 12-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final five minutes of the contest to thwart any comeback aspirations possessed by the Camels. For the game, ASU shot 79 percent for the free-throw line, its best performance since shooting 80 percent (8-of-10) against Marshall last season on January 4.
The Mountaineers limited Campbell to just 35 percent shooting in the second half after the Camels shot 48 percent in the opening half. ASU shot at a consistent 42 percent clip all evening. The Apps also made three more three-points shots and 10 more free-throws.
The win was ASU?s final tune-up before beginning conference play at the College of Charleston on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.
SOUTH CAROLINA 74, THE CITADEL 59
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Forward Dominique Archie had 16 points and eight rebounds, and guard Tre’ Kelley added 15 as South Carolina defeated The Citadel 74-59 in front of 3,802 fans at McAlister Field House on Monday night.
Senior guard Donny McLendon had 17 points, including four from beyond the arc, to lead the Bulldogs while senior guard Kevin Hammack added 16 points and three steals. Senior forward J’Mel Everhart, who came into the contest leading the Southern Conference in rebounding, pulled down 14 boards to top everyone in the game as the Bulldogs outrebounded the Gamecocks 34-32.
“I was extremely proud of our team’s effort,” head coach Ed Conroy said. “I was not happy with our start, especially on the defensive end, but we came back and put ourselves in position to be competitive so I was very excited about that.”
The Gamecocks blocked seven of The Citadel’s shots, including five by forward Brandon Wallace who also added 10 points. After shooting 48 percent in the first half, South Carolina went 13-19 from the floor in the final 20 minutes for a blistering 68 percent. The Citadel shot 38 percent from the floor in the contest and went 8-19 from beyond the arc.
“We are becoming better and better shooters every day,” Conroy said. “We have some guys who are very capable of being good shooters, and although it’s been a problem spot for us from the free throw line and from the field in general so far this season, our guys are going to start knocking more shots down the more comfortable we get.”
After jumping out to an early 17-6 lead, the Gamecocks saw their lead slip away as a lay-up by junior forward Demetrious Nelson tied the game at 19 with 8:56 left in the first half. Forward Dwayne Day gave South Carolina the lead back with a three-pointer and the Gamecocks built their lead back up to eight after a lay-up by Archie made it 27-19 with 5:43 remaining until halftime. A 5-0 run by The Citadel cut the Gamecock lead to five as a lay-up by Hammack made it 27-22. That was as close as the Bulldogs would get until the break, however, as Archie hit a lay-up for the last points of the half with 31 seconds remaining to give South Carolina a 35-28 advantage going into the locker rooms.
Archie scored 12 of his points in the first half to lead the Gamecocks while Hammack scored nine to pace the Cadets. The Citadel came out of the locker room and cut the lead to four on a three-pointer by McLendon with 17:17 remaining in the contest. After expanding the lead back to 10 at 43-33, the Bulldogs eventually cut it back to a four-point game after a three-pointer by Hammack made it 45-41 with 14:06 remaining. Kelley hit a jumper to push the lead back to six, but sophomore guard Vytautas Valiulis made a layup with 12:43 left to make it 47-43. But that was as close as The Citadel would get as the Gamecocks went on a 9-2 run to push the advantage to 11 at 56-45 with 9:19 left in the game.
The Cadets scored the next two baskets as a layup by Hammack made it 56-49 with 6:32 left, but the Gamecocks scored the next five points to take control of the game for good.
The Bulldogs will play the third contest of their four-game homestand on Saturday at McAlister Field House as they host Army.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 61, MERCER 59
MACON, GA. --- Junior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and Georgia Southern won at Mercer for the first time since 2000, holding on for a 61-59 victory over Mercer Monday evening at the University Center.
Graham notched his second double-double of the season by adding a career-high 17 rebounds. He also set new personal-bests with three assists and four steals, and had three blocks.
He was joined in double figures by senior Donte Gennie (Tallahassee, Fla.) who totaled 16 points. Junior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) added a game-high eight assists.
The Eagles tallied 15 steals as a team and forced 20 turnovers. Mercer’s James Florence led all scorers with 19 points.
“Every time we come over here it’s (close),” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “The game’s important to both teams but they always get up to play us.”
Tied 29-29 at the half, GSU controlled the early going in the second half with a 10-4 run thanks to six from Graham and four from senior Jimmy Tobias (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).
The Eagles’ largest lead after that point was only five, on one occasion. Mercer battled back and took the lead with 6:29 remaining after four straight from Brian Pfoal.
A subsequent 1:32 scoreless drought by both teams was broken by a ?3’ from Gennie and a lay-in from Graham put GSU up by four, 55-51, with 3:56 remaining. Mercer answered with baskets by Florence to knot the score again but two Graham lay-ups sandwiched around a Mercer free throw gave the Eagles a three-point lead.
The game was tied for the final time on a trey by Mercer’s Ross Alacqua with 58 seconds left. Both teams had a chance to take the lead on their next possession, but a miss by Florence gave Georgia Southern the ball with 16 seconds left. Gennie converted a tough shot with 14 seconds on the clock and a ?3’ by Florence at the buzzer failed to draw rim.
“It was a close game but I’m proud of our guys for finding a way to win a defensive-type game,” said Price. “I left our upperclassmen in the last four minutes and said ?It’s your game to win’ and we did.”
Graham and Gennie combined to score the team’s final 13 points of the contest, spanning the last 7:19. Prior to Gennie’s game-winning shot, Graham hit three-straight shots.
“I thought we had to get the ball inside because we were shooting so poorly and I thought Louis came up huge,” Price added. “He made some big baskets and some huge rebounds. We have to get it done in there if we’re not shooting from the perimeter, but it is a team thing and we have to find a way to make shots. We were getting open but we just weren’t knocking them down.”
Georgia Southern dominated the first four minutes and the last four minutes of the first half, but in between it was all Mercer.
The Eagles jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind four points from junior Ryan Hynes (Paso Robles, Calif.) and a ?3’ from Gennie. Hynes started and finished the run with a lay-up.
The Bears took over from there, rallying with seven straight points to tie the contest, then following two Tobias free throws, reeled off nine more points for a 17-11 lead.
Lay-ups from Gennie and Graham cut the deficit to two, but a trifecta by Alacqua and a jumper from Shaddean Aaron gave the Bears their biggest lead of the game, 25-15.
GSU went to work on Mercer’s nine-point advantage (26-17), starting with a Gennie 3-pointer, then a thunderous dunk from sophomore Anthony Marshall (Lake Worth, Fla.) off an alley-oop pass from the hands of Foreman.
Mercer answered with a free throw, but a 7-0 run put the Eagles back on top, 29-27. Freshman Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) capped the rally with a rainbow ?3’ from the right-wing.
“We have to find a way to score better and we did it in the first half out of our defense,” said Price. “We started pressing and the press really helped us get going offensively and get some easy baskets. We’re just missing so many open shots and that’s very unlike our team. We’ve always been a high-powered offensive team and we’re not making shots.”
The Eagles return to action Saturday, completing the home-and-home series with a road contest at Winston-Salem State. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.
WESTERN CAROLINA 117, TOCCOA FALLS 58
CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- Western Carolina had six players score in double figures, including junior guard Antonio Russell tying a career-high with 26 points, as the Catamounts (3-1) cruised to a 117-58 victory Monday night over Toccoa Falls (4-5) in the Ramsey Activity Center. Russell was joined in double figures by Jake Robinson (17), Nick Aldridge (14), Kyle Greathouse (12), Stan Johnson (12) and Brigham Waginger (11).
Russell only missed five total shot attempts, making 10-of-14 from the field (including 2-of-3 from 3-point range) and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Robinson's 17 points were a season high for the freshman on the young season. He added six rebounds while making 6-of-8 shots from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Aldridge accounted for four of WCU's 20 steals, a total which ties a record in the Ramsey Center. (WCU also had 20 steals in a win over Tennessee Wesleyan to open the 2001-02 season.)
Off the opening tip, Aldridge scored on a layup just 10 seconds into the game to spur Western's 7-0 run to start the game. Western would eventually build its advantage to 20-4 after four points in the paint by Stan Johnson and a Robinson 3-pointer. Toccoa Falls' John Rychener, who scored 14 points on the night, answered with a 3-pointer to cut the Eagles' deficit to 13, but that is as close as they would get the remainder of the contest.
By the end of the first half, which ended with Western leading 57-24, all 10 Catamounts had scored at least two points and eight had pulled down at least two rebounds. The Catamounts shot 49 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but were just 3-of-11 from 3-point range.
Western ended the game shooting 56.8 percent from the field, thanks to making 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half. The Catamounts also held a 52-29 advantage on the boards with Brandon Giles, Negus McKenna and Johnson each collecting eight.
For the Eagles, Rychener connected on 5-of-9 shots from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Ryan Terry added eight rebounds and four assists, while Paul Mallalieu contributed five assists off the bench.
Western Carolina will return to action in two nights (Wednesday - Nov. 29), playing at Wofford in the Catamounts' 2006-07 Southern Conference opener. Tipoff in Spartanburg is set for 7:00 pm.