DAVIDSON 86, ELON 61
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Andrew Lovedale and Thomas Sander each recorded double-doubles and finished with career highs in both points and rebounds to lead Davidson to an 86-61 victory over Elon on Friday evening at Belk Arena. The Wildcats improve to 5-3 on the season and 10-5 in SoCon openers under Coach Bob McKillop, while the Phoenix fall to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Lovedale, a sophomore from Benin City, Nigeria, hit 7-of-11 attempts from the floor to score 16 points, breaking his previous career-best of nine that was set in the Wildcats last outing at Duke. The 6-8 forward also grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end of the floor.
The second Wildcat to drop at least 30 points on an opponent this season, Sander finished with just that, drilling 10 shots from the floor including a pair from downtown. The native of Cincinnati, Ohio, also pulled down a personal-best 14 boards.
Davidson entered the evening leading the conference in rebounding margin, and did nothing to hurt its cause outrebounding the Phoenix by an impressive count of 55-27.
Behind 10 early points from both Lovedale and Sander, Davidson raced out to a 25-6 advantage. Lovedale started the scoring with a tip-in and Sander ended the streak with a bucket from long range at the 9:55 mark. The Wildcats shot 54.5 percent (18-33) in the opening period and stretched their lead to as many as 25 on four separate occasions before heading to the locker room up 45-22.
William Archambault led three Davidson players in double figures at the half with 11 points including three trifectas, while Lovedale recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds prior to the break.
Elon connected on just 26.9 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes with 15 of its 22 points coming from behind the three-point arc.
The Phoenix came out firing in the second half and cut the deficit to just seven, 55-48, on a Chris Chalko three-pointer with 12:46 remaining, but Davidson quickly responded with a 23-7 run over the next eight minutes of action and never looked back.
Archambault and Stephen Curry also passed the 10-point mark with 16 and 11, respectively, while Jason Richards dished out 10 assists for the Wildcats. Curry also added six steals and five assists from his backcourt position.
Three Elon players finished with double figure scoring performances led by Brett James’ career-high 23 points, which included five baskets from deep.
The Wildcats shot 47.1 percent (33-70) overall and knocked down 8-of-24 from long range for a clip of 33.3 percent. Elon canned 12 three-pointers, but only managed a shooting percentage of 37.3 percent (22-59) from the field.
Davidson returns to action in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Southern Conference foe UNC Greensboro on Monday, Dec. 4. The Phoenix will be back on the hardwood at the same time as they travel to face High Point from the Big South.
APPALACHAIN STATE 68, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 57
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- Appalachian State men's basketball opened up an 18-point first-half lead and then staved off a late College of Charleston rally to win both teams' Southern Conference opener, 68-57, at Kresse Arena Saturday evening.
D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C.) led all scorers with 19 points in the win while Demetrius Scott added 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Junior Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C.) notched his third double-double of the season and eighth of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
David Lawrence paced the Cougars with 16 points in the losing effort as the Cougars shot just 36 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range. Appalachian converted 42 percent of its shots to improve to 4-2 on the season. CofC falls to 3-5 with its third-straight loss.
Two minutes into the contest CofC held a 5-2 advantage but that would be its final lead of the evening as three unanswered three-pointers started a 20-2 ASU run in which the Apps scored nine points off CofC turnovers to lead, 22-7, with 11 minutes left in the half. Half of ASU’s points in the opening half came via turnovers as ASU’s gritty defense forced the Cougars into 12 of their 17 turnovers in the first half.
Appalachian continued to build on its lead, using a 7-0 run to build its largest lead of the evening at 36-18 with 2:30 left before intermission. The Cougars scored six unanswered points to close out the half and carry a 38-24 deficit into halftime.
ASU maintained its double-digit lead until eight minutes remained in the second half when a brief 5-0 run from the Cougars cut the lead to seven, 52-45. CofC stayed within 10 points until the final moments of the contest, but never got closer than five as the Apps made seven of their eight free-throw attempts down the stretch to escape the Cougars’ home court with their first win since December 12, 1959.
The Mountaineers will have little time to celebrate their win over the preseason South Division favorite as they stay in the Lowcountry to face The Citadel on Monday evening at 7:05 p.m.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 59, WINSTON-SALEM STATE 49
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Senior Donte Gennie scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and the Georgia Southern defense held Winston-Salem State below 50 points for the second time this season in the Eagles’ 59-49 win Saturday night at the Gaines Center.
Junior Louis Graham scored 14 points and added eight rebounds for Georgia Southern (4-2). Gennie and junior Dwayne Foreman had four assists each.
The Rams (1-10) had three in double figures: Brian Fisher (12), Jamal Durham (12) and Darius Floyd (10).
GSU led by 10 at the break and scored six of the first eight points of the second half, all by Gennie, who hit two 3-pointers and another jumper.
The uneventful second half saw Georgia Southern lead by no fewer than 10 points.
Up 7-4, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run, started by a ?3’ from Gennie and finished by a jumper from Foreman.
Two free throws from Jimmy Tobias put GSU on top 21-12 with 8:43 remaining, but WSSU whittled the lead down to four, 21-17, at the 7:32 mark and kept the Eagles in their sights, never trailing by more than six for the next five and a half minutes.
A lay-up by David Moore got the Rams to within 29-25 with 3:04 to play in the half, but Georgia Southern held the opposition to no points the rest of the period.
Senior Diogo Salazar hit two inside shots within 23 seconds of each other, and junior Matt Fields’ tip-in with one second left sent the Eagles to the locker room up 10, 35-25.
Graham led the team with eight points at the half, despite not playing the last 6:56 due to foul trouble.
Georgia Southern completes the two-game sweep of Winston-Salem State having defeated the Rams 70-41 a week ago in Statesboro.
Next up for the Eagles is the Drake Regency Challenge in Des Moines, Iowa. GSU begins play Friday vs. Northern Illinois.
UNC ASHEVILLE 75, FURMAN 67
Greenville, S.C. - Vincent James came off of the bench to pour in 22 points as UNC Asheville rallied past Furman 75-67 in men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.
The Bulldogs, who outscored Furman 41-28 in the second half, erased a three point deficit and opened up a six point lead with a 9-0 run late in the second period. Trailing 62-59, James drove to the basket for short jumper and converted the three-point play at the foul line before draining a jumper in the paint to give the Bulldogs a 64-62 lead with 5:35 remaining. Brett Warner converted a put back on an offensive rebound and Bryan Smithson scored on a driving layup to extend the lead to 68-62 with 2:46 left.
After a Gerad Punch basket, UNCA pushed the run to 14-2 by connecting on 5-of-6 attempts at the charity strip in the final minute to up the lead to 73-64. Furman scored just five points in the final six minutes of play and converted only two field goal attempts in the final 7:45.
"I thought we were not emotionally where we needed to be today and did not think we handled the success of the Vanderbilt win very well," said Furman coach Jeff Jackson. "Our defensive intensity was not at the level it needed to be and we missed a total of 45 shots tonight on the offensive end."
Furman managed to shoot just 32.8% (22-67) from the field, including only 8-of-27 beyond the arc. The Paladins were 10-of-33 from the floor in the second half. UNC Asheville shot 49.2% (30-61) from the field on the strength of a 16-of-28 (57.1%) effort in the second half.
Furman raced out to a 7-2 lead in the first half with dunks from Moussa Diagne and Stanley Jones. The Paladins led 26-15 with 7:45 left in the first half and maintained a 10 point advantage at 32-22 with just 3:16 left in the period. The Bulldogs rallied to trim the deficit to 39-34 as Reid Augst buried a three-pointer from deep in the left corner at the buzzer. Furman opened up a 52-44 second half lead before an 8-0 UNCA run tied the game with 11:34 remaining.
James hit 10-of-15 shots from the floor and converted 2-of-3 free throws to lead the Bulldogs. Smithson finished with 13 points and K.J.. Garland added 12 points and six rebounds.
Eric Webb tallied 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from long range and 3-for-4 at the foul line. Diagne totaled 12 points while Punch notched 12 points and six boards. Leading scoring Robby Bostain grabbed 10 rebounds for Furman, but was held to a season-low four points.
The Bulldogs (3-4) outscored Furman 42-22 in the paint. The UNCA bench scored 35 points while Furman's bench chipped in 15 points in the loss.
UNCA is back in action Monday when it travels to Charlotte for an 8:30 p.m. contest. Furman (4-3) continues its three-game homestand hosting USC Aiken at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Timmons Arena.
XAVIER 95, WESTERN CAROLINA 61
CINCINNATI, OHIO --- Xavier, ranked as high as 27th in the Associated Press men's basketball poll, took a 17-point lead at halftime and cruised to a 95-61 victory over Western Carolina Saturday afternoon at the Cintas Center. The Musketeers, led by Justin Doellman's 18 points and Justin Cage's double-double, improve to 6-1, while the Catamounts fall to 4-2.
Western was led by junior Antonio Russell, who scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. The Tampa product scored 11 of his 20 in the second half, with those 11 points helping towards the Cats' first 15 of the second half.
Two of the keys to victory for the Musketeers were Xavier holding a 51-26 rebound advantage and Xavier holding Western, who was averaging 10 3-pointers per game coming in to the contest, to just 8-of-31 (25.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Catamounts struck first as Lancaster, Ohio, native Kyle Greathouse had a steal and a layup. The senior later hit a 3-pointer giving WCU an early 5-3 lead. However, Drew Lavender hit jumper in the paint and Doellman made two free throws to put Xavier up two (7-5) and never looked back.
Western would keep its deficit in single digits midway through the first half, getting as close as six down (17-11) on a Stan Johnson put back. Xavier answered with a 10-1 run to go up 15. The Catamount kept battling, working their deficit down to seven (28-21) on a Russell 3-pointer with 9:07 left in the first half. Russell later hit a jumper in the paint to make the score 32-23 at the 7:51 mark. After a media timeout, Xavier ended the first half on a 14-6 run and took a 46-29 lead at the break.
The Musketeers built on that momentum to start the second half with a 16-6 run to take a 27-point lead and put the game out of reach.
Greathouse joined Russell in double figures, scoring 10 points. He made two 3-pointers to give him 167 for his career, now needing just seven more treys to tie current NBA star Kevin Martin for third on Western Carolina's all-time list. Brigham Waginger added eight points and four assists, while Jake Robinson chipped in seven points.
For Xavier, Doellman's 20 points helped him eclipse to 1,000-point barrier for his career and Cage had 10 points and 10 rebounds to get his double-double. Also leading the Musketeers were Josh Duncan (11 points) and Johnny Wolf (11 points).
While Western did suffer the setback today, this season's 4-2 is still the teams best since the 1991-92 season and marks just the ninth time since 1970, a span of 37 years, that Western has at least four wins in its first six contests.
Western will have a week off but will stay on the road, returning to action next Saturday (Dec. 9 at Gardner-Webb. Tip-off in Boiling Springs, N.C., is set for 7:00 pm. The Catamounts will play the fourth of its four-game road swing, returning to Ohio Dec. 16 (Saturday) to face the University of Dayton.
ARMY 63, THE CITADEL 55
Charleston, S.C. ? Guard Jarell Brown had 23 points as Army withstood a furious run to start the second half by The Citadel to defeat the Bulldogs 63-55 in basketball action at McAlister Field House on Saturday afternoon. Brown hit four from beyond the arc while teammate and guard Matt Bell hit two from long range and added 17 points for the Black Knights.
Senior guard Donny McLendon went 8-14 from the field and 3-8 from behind the three-point line to score 20 and lead the Bulldogs. It marked the third time this season that McLendon has scored 20 or more. Senior forward J’Mel Everhart scored 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds for The Citadel. Army shot 49 percent from the field for the contest as opposed to The Citadel’s 33 percent.
The Bulldogs started the second half with a 13-0 explosion after trailing by eight at halftime and had a 46-38 lead with 12:34 left, but Army ended the game with a 27-9 run to walk away with the road victory. “First and foremost, my hat goes off to Army, they played a great game,” head coach Ed Conroy said. “We came at them with a heck of a run to start the second half and they responded like winners.” The two teams found themselves tied at seven at the first media timeout with 13:47 remaining in the first half, and the squads battled back and forth for most of the first 20 minutes.
A three-pointer by sophomore guard Chris Diasparra gave The Citadel their biggest lead of the half at 19-15 with 8:43 left until halftime, but the Black Knights quickly went on an 8-2 run, capped off on a three-point play by Bell. Senior guard Kevin Hammack hit one from beyond the arc to halt the run and give the Bulldogs the lead back at 24-23 with 4:17 left in the half, but Brown hit a three-pointer of his own to reclaim the advantage for the Black Knights at 26-24.
Army extended to their biggest advantage after a four-point play by Bell made it 30-24 with 2:23 left until halftime. Brown drilled a jumper just before the first half buzzer and Army went into the locker room with a 32-24 lead. Brown scored 11 to lead both teams and Bell added 10 for the Black Knights in the first half. McLendon had seven points to pace the Bulldogs in the first 20 minutes.
MICHIGAN 83, WOFFORD 49
ANN ARBOR, MI ? Michigan’s Courtney Sims scored 19 points and the Wolverines made nine of 14 3-point field goal attempts in defeating Wofford 83-49 Saturday afternoon at Crisler Arena.
The 6-11 Sims made nine of 12 field goal attempts and grabbed seven rebounds in leading Michigan (8-1). Matt Estep scored 17 points to lead Wofford (4-5).
“I thought Michigan’s defense bothered us,” said head coach Mike Young. “They were as physical as any team I’ve seen at this level. We could’ve played our best game today and I don’t know that we could’ve mustered enough to get out of here with a win. I thought Michigan was pretty doggone good today.”
After Michigan scored the first basket of the game, Wofford’s Matt O’Connor hit a 3-pointer to give the Terriers a 3-2 lead. Sims then hit a pair of buckets inside and Ron Coleman hit two field goals including a 3-pointer to put the Wolverines in front 11-3.
The Terriers rallied back and trailed 29-18 with 6:35 remaining following a 3-pointer by Estep. But Michigan finished the half on a 14-0 run spurred by seven straight points from senior captain Lester Abram. UM led 43-18 at the half.
Michigan shot 62 percent from the floor in the game, converting on 34 of 55 field goal attempts. Coleman, Dion Harris and Jerret Smith each made two 3-pointers for UM in the game.
O’Connor finished with nine points for the Terriers on the strength of three 3-pointers. Estep and Emilio Lebolo each finished with a team-high three rebounds for Wofford.
Wofford will visit Clemson on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7:30.