CHATTANOOGA 97, BEREA 63
CHATTANOOGA, TENN.--After five consecutive road games, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team gave the hometown fans a treat Thursday night, blitzing visiting Berea 97-63 at McKenzie Arena.
After trailing 8-7 with 15:50 left in the first half, Chattanooga held Berea to six points over the next 13:28 to take a commanding 48-14 lead. Chattanooga forced 17 first-half turnovers while only making two.
Senior Keddric Mays scored 14 of his team-leading 17 points in the half, and was 5-of-10 from three-point range. Tyler Troupe electrified the crowd with three dunks in a two minute stretch and recorded the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked a career-high three shots.
“I thought in the first half we did some very good things defensively” said Chattanooga head coach John Shulman. “Human nature is to let up after leading by 31 at halftime. Great teams don’t do that. We have some work to do defensively to get where we want to be.”
Freshman Matt Gywnne, making his first career start, added 10 points and five boards. Marcus Watts rounded out the Chattanooga players in double figures with 13.
Thirteen players saw action for the Mocs (4-3) and all scored. Chattanooga shot 47.9 percent from the floor, while holding the Mountaineers (4-7) to 34.9 percent shooting.
The Mocs will be in action again Tuesday when they will face Kentucky at Louisville’s Freedom Hall. The game will be carried live on Fox Sports South in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee.
HAMPTON 71, UNC GREENSBORO 64
HAMPTON, VA. ? Hampton University got 22 points from Michael Freeman and 20 points by Rashad West to upend UNC Greensboro, 71-64, in men’s basketball action on Thursday night.
Junior guard Kevin Oleksiak and junior forward Kyle Hines led the Spartans (2-5) with 19 points each. For Hines, it was his 28th consecutive game in double figures to set a school record. The loss snapped UNCG’s two-game winning streak.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Hampton (2-6) and was their first against UNCG in four meetings.
Hampton came out with 2-2-1 three-quarter court pressure to try to take UNCG out of its offensive flow. It worked at the outset as Hampton ran off nine straight points to open the game. Once the Spartans settled down against the scrambling defense, they went on an 8-2 run to get right back into the game. By the 13:30 mark, a steal and lay-up by Oleksiak tied the game, 17-17. Coming off of a season-high 16 points in Monday’s win over Wofford, Oleksiak finished the first half with 11 points.
The game remained tight throughout the remainder of the first half with neither team able to open up a lead of more than four points. A put back by Kyle Hines at the buzzer knotted the game up, 32-32, at the intermission.
After UNCG scored the first five points of the second half, Hampton went out on a 14-3 run, causing havoc at times with its pressure defense once again. The spurt opened up a 46-40 Pirate lead with 13 minutes to play.
Things didn’t get much better for UNCG at the 5:17 mark when Ricky Hickman fouled out and the Pirates stretched the lead to 12 in the process. After making one of two at the foul line, Hampton chased down a tipped rebound, ran the shot clock down and then got a three-pointer from the right corner by Demario Mattox from the right corner to take a 62-50 lead.
The Spartans made things interesting in the final minute. With some full court pressure of their own, they forced a few turnovers and got back to within five in the final minute. With 29.2 seconds left, Kendall Toney fouled Hampton’s Demario Mattox. Mattox knocked down both free throws to get the margin back to seven. Ben Stywall cut it to five. After Freeman made one of two at the line, UNCG’s Dwayne Johnson drove down to cut it to four. West then missed one of two, but the Spartans misfired on their next possession and the threat was ended.
UNCG returns to action on Monday when it hosts Davidson for a Southern Conference match-up at 7 pm.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 84, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 80 (OT)
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- Donnell Covington’s 25 points and Chris Moore’s nine points in overtime lifted Charleston Southern to an emotional overtime victory over the College of Charleston, 84-80, before 3,886 at the North Charleston Coliseum on Thursday.
Donnell Covington’s 25 points and Chris Moore’s nine points in overtime lifted Charleston Southern to an emotional overtime victory over the College of Charleston, 84-80, before 3,886 at the North Charleston Coliseum on Thursday.
With the win, Charleston Southern improved to 5-3. Charleston stands at 3-4.
Covington led the Buccaneers in scoring and notched seven assists in the victory. Giedrius Knysas and Moore each scored 16 points for Charleston Southern. Overall, the Buccaneers shot over 52% from the field, including making five of six shots in the overtime period. CSU also outrebounded CofC, 45-32.
Senior David Lawrence and freshman Tony White, Jr. each led the Cougars in scoring with 18 points each. White, Jr.’s effort included a career-high in points scored, field goals made (7) and rebounds (5). Sophomore Jermaine Johnson had his fifth double-figure scoring game of the young season with 17 points. Lawrence and Johnson each had five rebounds.
Overall, CofC shot over 42% from the field, converted on five out of eight three-point field goals attempts and made five out of eight free throws.
The teams traded baskets through the beginning of the game, with the Cougars holding their largest first-half lead, 11-5, with 14:09 left after a lay-up by senior Philip McCandies. CSU took a five-point lead with 10 seconds left in the half, but a lay-up by White, Jr. at the buzzer made the score, 31-28, in favor of the Buccaneers.
CofC took advantage of the halftime break and a lay-up by Johnson, through an assist by McCandies, gave the Cougars an eight-point lead, 58-50, with 7:20 left in regulation. CSU made a valiant comeback and a field goal by Knysas with 18 seconds left tied the score, 64-64. Senior Dontaye Draper attempted a three-point shot with two seconds left, but the shot just rimmed out and the game went into overtime.
Draper scored the first points of the overtime period with a three-pointer within six seconds to give the Cougars the lead, 67-64. Covington responded with a three-pointer nine seconds later to tie the score for CSU. Senior Renardo Dickerson hit a three-pointer for CofC with six seconds left in overtime make the score, 82-80, in favor of CSU. However, Covington converted two free throw attempts with four seconds left in overtime to seal the victory for the Buccaneers.
CofC returns to action on Dec. 2 in its first SoCon game of the season against Appalachian State at the John Kresse Arena. The contest begins at 6 p.m.