APPALACHIAN STATE 87, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 84
BOONE, N.C. - D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C.) continued to torment Georgia Southern, scoring a game-high 27 points to lead Appalachian State University men’s basketball to an 87-84 victory over the visiting Eagles Saturday night.
With the win, ASU improved to 3-0 in the Southern Conference and 7-3 overall. The 3-0 conference start is the best since the 2002-03 team started 4-0. Georgia Southern falls to 6-4 overall and 0-1 in the league. Dwayne Foreman paced the Eagles with 19 points while Louis Graham notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Thompson’s 27 points came on a subpar night from the field but an excellent evening at the free-throw line as all 10 of his second-half points came via free throws. Thompson finished the evening 12-of-14 at line with four assists and five steals. In addition, his three three-pointers moved him into third all-time at ASU with 212 career three-pointers.
The Mountaineers had three other players in double-figures, including Demetrius Scott (Orlando, Fla.) with a season-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Jeremy Clatyon (Greensboro, N.C.) and Nate Cranford (Harrisburg, N.C.) each finished with 13 points.
The first 13 minutes of the game saw a closely contested battle with four ties before the Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to take a 38-29 lead on one of Scott’s three, three-point plays of the evening with six minutes left in the half. The Eagles answered back with 6-0 run of their own to cut into the lead, however, ASU countered with nine unanswered points to take a 12-point, 47-35, lead into halftime.
Appalachian maintained its double-digit lead for the first four minutes of the second half until the Eagles slowly began to whittle away at the lead and cut to as few as five, 58-53, with 13 minutes left on a three-point play from Foreman. ASU’s lead stayed at five or more until GSU went on a one-minute long, 9-0, run staring at 5:12 to cut the ASU lead to one, 77-76. Donte Gennie scored five of his 18 points during that span.
ASU responded with a Doug McLaughlin-Williams (Reston, Va.) layup, followed by a critical three-pointer from Cranford to stretch the lead back out to six, 82-76 with 1:25 left to play. GSU, which only had one timeout remaining, was forced to foul in the final minute and Thompson made five of his six attempts down the stretch to preserve the victory.
ASU’s free-throw shooting proved to be crucial in the contest as the Apps shot a season-best 84 percent from the line on 32 attempts in a foul-riddled contest saw 54 combined fouls whistled on the two teams.
Appalachian will board a airliner less than 12 hours after the conclusion of tonight’s game to travel to Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout beginning on December 19 with a 5 p.m. game versus Virginia in San Juan. The game will be a homecoming for ASU’s two native Puerto Ricans, Ryann Abraham (Mayaguez) and Eduardo Bermudez (Bayamon). The Mountaineers will continue the three-day event on December 20 versus either UCF or Utah, followed by a December 21 contest against an opponent to be determined.
SAN DIEGO 81, FURMAN 70
SAN DIEGO, CALIF --- The San Diego Toreros shot 60% from the field and converted 17-of-22 free throw attempts in the second half to stretch their winning streak to six games with an 81-70 victory over Furman Saturday afternoon at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Furman shot 59.1% (13-22) in the first half to grab a 35-33 lead at intermission, but the Toreros opened the second half on a 9-0 run and never relinquished the lead. Gyno Pomare scored 15 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes as San Diego began the half on an 18-5 spurt to take a 51-40 lead with 13:47 remaining.
Furman twice trimmed the advantage to six, including 69-63 with 3:06 left.
Three Toreros combined to sink 10-of-12 free throws in the final 2:31 to extend the margin to as many as 14 on their way to the 81-70 win.
Brandon Johnson led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 at the foul line. Ross DeRogatis scored 12 and Chris Lewis added 11 to join Johnson and Pomare in double digits.
USD hit 15-of-25 shots in the second half and finished 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the field. The Toreros totaled a 41-28 edge on the boards and shot 73.1% (19-26) from the charity stripe.
Moussa Diagne netted 16 points and Gerad Punch scored a career-high 15 to lead the Paladins. Stanley Jones and Eric Webb each contributed 10 points. Furman shot 47.1% (24-51) from the floor, but just 59.1% (13-22) from the foul line.
With the loss, Furman fell to 5-5 while San Diego improved to 8-4 on the season. The Paladins return to action at 11:00 p.m. PT Tuesday when they travel to Berkeley, Calif., to face California.
Arnold Gore Leads Cats With 15 points in Debut
DAYTON 66, WESTERN CAROLINA 55
DAYTON, OHIO --- A six minute drought in the first half ? which led to a 14-0 run by Dayton ? allowed the homestanding Flyers to hand Western Carolina a 66-55 loss Saturday night at the UD Arena, ending a four-game Catamount road swing. Dayton (9-1) won its seventh straight and was led by Brian Roberts’ double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds).
Western Carolina (4-4) was led by junior Arnold Gore, who missed the first seven games of the season due to NCAA transfer rules. The forward scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. The Catamounts additionally got 12 points from Kyle Greathouse. The senior guard, playing before a large contingency of his fans from Lancaster, Ohio, made four 3-pointers to give him 174 treys for his career to tie current NBA star Kevin Martin for third on the WCU all-time list.
Gore’s contribution came early, scoring Western’s first points of the game, as well as the first points of the game overall. Three-pointers by Greathouse and Brigham Waginger, as well as a pair of layups by Nick Aldridge would put Western up seven (15-8) with 10:29 left in the first half. However, the Catamounts would not score again until a 3-pointer by Antonio Russell at the 4:13 mark. Over the span, the Flyers went on a 14-0 run to take a lead (22-15) they would not relinquish the remainder of the contest. Down 11 inside the final minute before intermission, Western’s Jake Robinson was fouled and made two free throws to make the score 33-24 at the break.
The Catamounts built on that to start the second half as Aldridge made a layup 12 seconds into the second half as WCU opened the period with a 7-3 run to trim its deficit to three (36-33). Western suffered through another scoring drought, not putting points on the board over the next five minutes. However, the Catamount defense kept Dayton within range with the Flyers only taking an 11-point lead with 10 minutes to go. Later, Robinson made a break away layup to put WCU within seven (46-39) but would get no closer.
Dayton would push its lead to as many as 15 twice, but a string of missed free throws down the stretch allowed Western a chance to make the game interesting. However, after a nice defensive stop by Western, Dayton would get an offensive rebound and basket to help seal the victory.
For Western, Aldridge pulled down seven rebounds with Negus McKenna adding eight points, six boards and three assists. Russell was held to just five points, but he dished out four assists. In addition to Roberts’ double-double, Dayton was led by Norman Plummer (15 points) and Marcus Johnson (13 points).
Western Carolina will turn around to host The Citadel Monday (Dec. 18). The game not only snaps WCU’s four-game road swing, but will be Western’s first home Southern Conference game of the season. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm.
NOTRE DAME 94, ELON 63
NOTRE DAME, IND.- Russell Carter scored 21 points and Rob Kurz had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 21 Notre Dame to its seventh straight victory, 94-63 over Elon on Saturday night.
The Irish (8-1), coming off consecutive wins over ranked teams, jumped to a 10-0 lead in the opening two minutes and the Phoenix (1-7) never threatened.
The Irish grabbed control by outrebounding the Phoenix 11-1 early, opening a 26-11 lead on two free throws by Luke Zeller with 12:26 left in the half. The Irish extended the lead to 44-22 when Randy Ayers scored on a 14-foot jumper with 3:32 left, and led 47-27 at halftime.
Elon opened the second half with a three pointer by Jon Ogolo to cut the lead back to 17 at 47-30, but the Irish posted the next eight points to go up 25 at 55-30. The Phoenix chip away at the lead and cut it to 18, 62-44, on a jumper by Scott Grable with 12:48 on the clock. Notre Dame pushed the lead to 34 at 92-58 on a pair of free throws by Joe Harden with 2:18 left and finished the game with the 31-point advantage, 94-63.
The Irish went 30-of-38 from the free throw line, while Elon was just 7-of-9. Notre Dame scored 23 points off rebounds while Elon, which had 30 boards, scored just 10 off rebounds.
Zeller had 14 points and Luke Harangody added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Irish, who had a season-high 55 rebounds.
Devan Carter led Elon with 14 points and Chris Chalko, a native of South Bend, added 12. Adam Constantine led the Phoenix with six rebounds and Grable grabbed five boards, including four of the offensive end.
Elon returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 21 at home against Wofford. Notre Dame hosts Portland on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
AUBURN 86, WOFFORD 76
AUBURN, ALA. ? Two years ago, Wofford came into Beard-Eaves Coliseum and walked away with a victory over the Auburn Tigers. On Saturday, the Terriers thought they might repeat that scenario. Tied at 71 with just under four minutes remaining, things looked good for Wofford.
But Auburn outscored the Terriers 15-5 over the final 3:34 of the game and escaped with an 86-76 win.
“Two years ago we were in worse shape, down 15,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “We came in here and could have, should have won the basketball game. But because we gave them too many easy baskets on the defensive end, we didn’t.”
Wofford tied the game for the eighth and final time with 3:59 left to play when Eric Marshall drained a 3-pointer to knot the game at 71. Quantez Robertson gave the Tigers a 74-71 lead with a 3-pointer with 3:34 remaining. Drew Gibson, seeing his most extensive action since pulling a hamstring nearly a month ago, missed a 3-pointer to tie and Auburn grabbed the rebound. Josh Dollard hit a pair of free throws to give Auburn a five-point lead with 3:04 left.
Corey Godzinski pulled the Terriers back within two at 76-74 with his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 2:41 to play. Dollard and Matt O’Connor traded layups as the Tigers held a 78-76 lead with two minutes remaining. Robertson hit another three and after Wofford missed from beyond the arc, Auburn rebounded and was fouled. Dwayne Reed hit the first of two free throws with 1:05 left to give the Tigers an 82-76 advantage. Reed missed the second but Auburn was able to grab the rebound and Dollard and Reed followed with dunks to account for the 86-76 final score.
The Terriers were down eight at the half, 44-38 but outscored Auburn 15-7 to start the second half and tie the game at 51. A layup by Tyler Whatley and a Godzinski triple gave Wofford a 56-51 lead. The Terriers would build as much as a seven-point lead on two occasions, the last at 60-53 with 9:52 remaining. The Tigers tied the game at 60, 62, 64 and 66 before taking a 69-66 lead on a three-point play by Rasheem Barrett.
Barrett led Auburn with 19 points including five 3-pointers. Kovortney Robertson and Barrett each grabbed eight rebounds.
Marshall led Wofford with 17 points while Gibson finished with 14 and Godzinski scored a career-high 14. Junior Salters added 13 points for Wofford.
The Terriers are now 4-7 and will return to Southern Conference play on Wednesday when they visit Elon.
Auburn improved to 8-3 on the season.