APPALACHIAN STATE 87, VANDERBILT 79 (OT)
GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO --- Behind a breakout performance from Donte Minter (Salisbury, N.C.), Appalachian State University men’s basketball claimed the 2006 San Juan Shootout championship with an 87-79 overtime victory against Vanderbilt on Thursday at Mario Morales Coliseum.
Playing in just his fifth game in the Black and Gold since transferring from Virginia, Minter poured in a game-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field to lead Appalachian to its first regular-season tournament title since winning the 1988 Toledo MVP Holiday Classic.
D.J. Thompson and Jeremy Clayton chipped in with 15 and 11 points, respectively, as the Mountaineers shot .508 from the field (33-of-65) and .824 from the free-throw line (14-of-17). Clayton also added a team-high 11 assists for his sixth double-double of the season while Thompson finished one assist shy of the rare, points-assits double-double.
With three-straight victories in the “51st State,” Appalachian (10-3) extended its winning streak to five games, it’s longest since reeling off seven-consecutive wins in 2005. Cranford was named to the all-tournament team while Thompson and Minter shared co-MVP honors.
Derrick Byars led five scorers in double-figures for Vanderbilt (8-4) with 18 points. The victory was Appalachian’s first in 18 all-time meetings versus current members of the Southeastern Conference. All 10 of the Mountaineers that stepped on the floor recorded points and nine grabbed at least one rebound with ASU dominating Vanderbilt on the boards, 41-28.
Appalachian found itself down, 40-38, at halftime but quickly tied the contest in the opening minutes of the half before taking a three-point, 54-51, lead on a Cranford three-pointer followed by two of Minter’s five free throws with nine minutes left in the contest. From there, the lead would change hands three times until Cranford put ASU up three, 71-68, on a three-pointer with 1:38 on the clock. However, Vanderbilt’s Alex Gordon answered 30 seconds later with a three-pointer of your own. ASU missed both its shots from the field in the final minute while the Commodores missed their own to force the extra period.
Minter owned the overtime period, scoring five of ASU’s first six points, including a three-point play to give the Apps a 77-73 lead with three minutes left in the period. The Commodores pulled within two, but then a Thompson jumper, followed by a Clayton layup following a Vanderbilt turnover to put the Mountaineers up six, 81-75, with just over a minute to play. The Commodores’s Dan Cage hit a jumper with just under a minute to play to cut the lead to four, but were forced to foul to stop the clock in the final minutes. ASU’s strong free-throw shooting in the final minutes came through again as the Apps sank all six of their attempts in the final minutes to earn the win.
The Mountaineers will take nearly a week off from competition to celebrate the holiday before returning to action on December 30 at VCU. Tipoff in Richmond, Va. is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
DAVIDSON 83, OHIO 74
TEMPE, ARIZ. ? Boris Meno recorded his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Davidson Wildcats to their sixth straight victory as they defeated Ohio University, 83-74, Thursday evening at Wells Fargo Arena to advance to the championship of the ASU Sleep America Classic. Enjoying its longest streak since the 2004-05 season, Davidson improves to 10-3 on the campaign. The Bobcats fall to 6-3 overall.
Meno, a junior from Paris, France, was one of four Wildcats to finish in double figures as he connected on 7-of-16 from the floor, including a pair of threes, in 36 minutes of action. Freshman guard Stephen Curry led Davidson in scoring for the seventh time this season with 19 points. Fellow backcourt mate Jason Richards added 18 with eight assists and drilled all 10 of his attempts from the charity stripe, while Thomas Sander pitched in 13 points.
For the second consecutive outing the Wildcats hit 14 treys, nine of which came in the first 20 minutes of action. Davidson only shot 39.1 percent (27-of-69) overall, but held Ohio to a season-low 37.1 percent (26-of-70). The Bobcats entered the contest shooting an even 50 percent in their first eight games. The Wildcats also made the most of their opportunities from the free throw line missing, just one of their 16 tries (.938).
Curry drained one of his four three-pointers on the night just 15 seconds into the contest. After another trey by Richards two minutes later, Ohio would never have a possession in which they could tie the score. The ’Cats extended the lead to as many as 13 on two occasions during the opening half before settling for an 11-point edge at the break, 42-31, after a driving layup by Richards with four seconds on the clock.
The lead remained at least five points for the first 11 minutes of the second stanza, despite the Wildcats not hitting one three-pointer after drilling nine in the first 20 minutes. But after the Bobcats’ Bubba Walther canned a three to get Ohio within four, 59-55, Davidson found its stroke from downtown. Each of the Wildcats’ next five scores came from behind the arc, including consecutive threes by Sander after Ohio twice cut the lead to two.
With 2:10 on the clock, Leon Williams laid in bucket to make the score 74-71. Richards remained cool in the final minutes, however, hitting all six of his free throw attempts to seal the victory.
Like Davidson, Ohio finished with four players in double digits, led by Jerome Tillman, who compiled a double-double of his own with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Walther and Whitney Davis each contributed 18, while Williams scored 12. Williams was the only player in the game to hit at least half his field goal attempts (5-of-6).
Behind Meno's game-high performance on the glass, Davidson held a decided advantage on the boards, 52-41.
The Wildcats have won all three meetings against Ohio, with the last game coming 31 years ago to the day. All-American and 13-year NBA veteran Dick Snyder, who was in attendance for tonight’s contest, scored 46 points on 20-of-26 shooting for the Wildcats in the 96-63 victory on Dec. 21, 1965.
Davidson will play tournament host Arizona State tomorrow at 2 p.m. (MST) / 4 p.m. (EST) in the championship of the annual event. Ohio and North Carolina A&T will meet in the consolation game 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Davidson-ASU game.
UNC GREENSBORO 79, ST. PETER’S 58
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Ricky Hickman finished with a game-high 28 points and Kyle Hines added his 26th career double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead UNC Greensboro to a 79-58 win over Saint Peter’s in men’s basketball action Thursday night at Fleming Gym.
On his way to his 22nd career 20-point game, Hickman scored 12 of his points in the first 12:10 as UNCG (4-6) used a 24-0 run to break the game wide open. The win was UNCG’s fourth in its last six games.
Hickman, a senior from Winston-Salem, NC, also became the 31st player in school history to grab 300 career rebounds, while Hines topped the 600-rebound mark for his career. Hines, who scored in double figures for the 31st straight game to extend his school record, also moved into fourth place on the Southern Conference’s career blocks list at 215. The junior from Sicklerville, NJ is already UNCG’s career record holder.
Saint Peter’s (3-7) got 20 points from Kevin Spann and 17 points from Raul Orta. The Peacocks got to within eight in the second half after trailing by as many as 25 in the first half. But UNCG pulled away late for the easy win.
“I think sometimes in college basketball, you can get up by a big number of points almost too early because it becomes difficult to sustain,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “But we changed some defenses on them in the second half, took them out of their rhythm and eventually stretched the lead back out again.”
The Spartans used a 24-0 run midway through that first half to take an 8-7 game and turn it into a 32-7 rout. Hickman had 10 of the 24 in the run, which saw the Peacocks go scoreless for eight minutes. The Peacocks missed 16 of their first 18 shots from the floor to open the game.
The Peacocks scored seven of the next 10 points to get the margin under 20, 33-14, after a deep three-pointer by Raul Orta with five minutes to play in the first half.
Saint Peter’s then cut it to 14 just before half as Todd Sowell scored the last six points before the intermission, cutting the UNCG lead to 40-26 at the break. That trend continued to open the second half as Saint Peter’s scored the first four points of the second half. Buckets by Spann and Sowell cut the margin to 10, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout just 46 second into the half.
After two Dwayne Johnson free throws, Spain knocked down a three-pointer to cut the margin to single-digits for the first time since the 11:45 mark of the first half. Spain cut it to eight on the next possession, connecting on three free throws after Hickman scored on a backdoor lay-up on the other end.
But that would be as close as the Peacocks would get as UNCG would eventually stretch the lead back to 21, starting with a 10-3 run to push it back to 54-39. Later, a 10-1 run would run the lead back to 20 after Saint Peter’s got back to within 11. Saint Peter’s would not get within a dozen the rest of the way.
UNCG will return to action on Saturday when it faces Delaware for a 2 pm match-up.
CHATTANOOGA 91, KING 50
CHATTANOOGA, TENN.?Tyler Troupe and Nicchaeus Doaks combined to make 18-of-20 field goals Thursday in Chattanooga’s men’s basketball rout of King College, 91-50.
Troupe was a perfect 10-for-10, including several spectacular dunks, and finished with a career-high 21 points. Doaks made 8-of-10 shots and scored 16 points in 16 minutes of action.
The Mocs shot 59.5 percent in the first half and eased to a 53-26 halftime lead.
The Tornado (8-7) grabbed a 6-5 lead 3:24 into the game on a Clarence Smith layup. UTC took the lead for good when Marcus Watts’ dunk made it 10-8 at 15:47 of the first half, and the Mocs scored 16 consecutive points, including eight from Kevin Bridgewaters, to pull ahead 26-11 at the 10:45 mark.
UTC’s largest lead in the first half was 41-14 at the 5:18 mark, and the Tornado did not surpass the 20-point plateau until 3:13 remained in the opening half.
The Mocs (6-6) opened the second half with an 11-2 spurt to push the margin to 64-28 with 14:05 to play. The lead never dipped below 32 points after that
UTC had not held an opponent to 50 points or less since a 64-50 Southern Conference win over Appalachian State Feb. 20 of last season.
Every Moc played at least six minutes, including walkons Zach Ferrell and Nathan England, who saw 12 and 11 minutes of action respectively. Ferrell scored three points, while England contributed two points, three rebounds and two assists.
Keddric Mays was also in double figures for the Mocs with 11 points, and Bridgewaters added 10. Troupe led all players with 11 rebounds, one short of tying his career best. Ricky Hood and Casey Long pulled down eight rebounds apiece, and Long netted nine points.
King College shot 33.3 percent from the floor for the game and committed 21 turnovers. They were outrebounded 50-28.
Torrington Cox led the Tornado with 24 points and 10 boards and was the only King player to score in double digits.
The Mocs will take a break for the Christmas holidays, return to campus the evening of Dec. 26 and host the annual Dr Pepper Classic Dec. 29 and 30 at the McKenzie Arena.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 82, WESTERN CAROLINA 75
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? After Western Carolina’s Negus McKenna hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 70-70 with 3:28 to trim a 10-point deficit, the College of Charleston’s David Lawrence came back with a 3-pointer and free throw for a four-point play to lead the Cougars (6-6, 2-1 Southern Conference) to an 82-75 victory Thursday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.
The Catamounts (5-5, 2-1 Southern Conference) fell its 10-point deficit after Charleston center Josh Jackson hit a jumper in the paint off one of Dante Draper’s seven assists. During Western’s charge, Jake Robinson hit two 3-pointers and McKenna hit his to tie the game. However, Lawrence, who finished with 17 points, made his trey and free throw as the Cougars would make 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
After Lawrence converted his four-point play, Robinson answered with a 3-pointer, getting WCU to within one (74-73). Lawrence then stuck the dagger in Western’s heart once again on the ensuing possession with his third trey of the night. Western could not answer and Draper would sink two free throws with 54 seconds left for a six-point Cougar lead. Up five with 20 seconds left, Draper, who was 8-of-10 at the line for the night, sealed with game with two more free throws.
In a game otherwise fairly even statistically, one anomaly was Charleston making 16-of-22 from the free throw line, including the 6-of-8 inside the final minute, while Western was just 6-of-6 for the contest.
In addition to Lawrence’s 17 points, he grabbed nine rebounds. Charleston also got 17 points from Jermaine Johnson, 16 from Draper and 13 from Josh Jackson. Jackson, who is 6-8 and 255, was particularly effective in the second half against a smaller Catamount roster as the junior was 5-of-5 from the field, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the frame.
Western was led by Antonio Russell, who scored a game-high 19 points, committing zero turnovers in 39 minutes of play. The Catamounts also got a spark from their bench as Robinson made 5-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, to score 13 points and McKenna chipped in 11 with six rebounds. Junior Arnold Gore continued to play well for WCU, registering his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle with six lead changes and no team leading by more than nine, which was Charleston’s cushion at halftime (47-38) after a Johnson layup.
The second half began with Charleston taking control early as Johnson converted a layup to give the Cougars an 11-point lead. The Catamounts would eventually work its deficit down to five (53-48) thanks to a 3-pointer from Russell and a Gore offensive rebound and layup, forcing a Charleston timeout. The Cougars would settle down and keep WCU in check over the next five minutes. However, Marcus Hammond hit two free throws and Jackson made his jumper in the paint to put CofC up 10 with 7:46 to go, setting up the exciting finish.