Men’s Basketball Recaps for November 15, 2007
APPALACHIAN STATE 81, LIPSCOMB 58
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ? Freshman Donald Sims (Gaffney, S.C./Fork Union) scored 20 points on 6-o-f-8 shooting to lead Appalachian State University men's basketball to an 81-58 win over Lipscomb in the opening game of the First Shot Exempt Tournament at Middle Tennessee State. Sims' running mate on the perimeter, Eduardo Bermudez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) scored 16 points and had four steals.
Inside, Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C./Ben L. Smith) had his 15th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Appalachian (1-1). Lipscomb (0-3) was paced by Thomas Rfaff's 14 points.
The Mountaineers shot 49 percent from the field and the defense limited the Bisons to 35 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers, 14 of them coming on steals.
Appalachian opened the game with a 9-point, 12-3 lead seven minutes into the game. However, the Bisons outscored ASU 19-9 over the next eight minutes to take a 22-21 lead with five minutes left in the stanza. Not fazed by the sudden charge, the Apps closed out the half on a 15-5 run to take a 36-27 lead into intermission. Sims had nine of his points during that closing run to re-assert ASU's control of the contest.
The Mountaineers continued to methodically add to their lead in the second half, going up by as many as 25 points with five minutes left, a margin that was for the large part, retained for the remainder of the contest as Fancher got additional playing time for many of the reserves
ASU held a two-rebound, 41-39, margin on the glass, but had 16 second-chance points to the Bisons' five. In addition to Clayton's 10 boards, Donte Minter (Salisbury, N.C./Virginia) hauled in six misses and was a defensive presence with three blocks to complement his two assists out of the post.
Appalachian will continue play in the First Shot Exempt Tournament on Friday afternoon when they face San Jose State at 5 p.m. CST at MTSU's Murphy Center.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 74, THE CITADEL 47
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Guard Daniel Hackett scored 21 points, going 9-12 from the field, as Southern Cal defeated The Citadel 74-47 before a raucous crowd of 4,023 at McAlister Field House on Thursday night. Hackett hit two from beyond the arc as USC shot 57 percent from the floor, including 6-13 on three-pointers, and held the Bulldogs to 32 percent shooting for the game.
In the first road game of his collegiate career, heralded freshman guard O.J. Mayo added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Trojans as he went 6-12 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc. “I thought USC really improved since their first game and they are starting to come together,” head coach Ed Conroy said. “O.J. is a tremendous player and for his second collegiate game I think he has adjusted well to their team concept.”
Senior center Demetrius Nelson led the Cadets with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward Austin Dahn scored 10 for the Bulldogs and hit two from beyond the arc. The pressure defense of The Citadel forced 20 USC turnovers and seemed to rattle the young Trojans at times, which kept the Bulldogs within striking distance most of the game and the Corps of Cadets cheering. “The Corps was fantastic tonight,” Conroy said. “All week there was a buzz around campus, and the buzz continued tonight. They really gave us a lift. We are better than we were a week ago and will continue to improve as our freshmen gain more experience,” Conroy said. “We have to be patient with these freshmen and there will be ups and downs as they grow and develop.” The Trojans hit their first four shots of the contest and started the game on a 9-2 run, led by Hackett’s five points. With the score 14-2 with 11:49 remaining in the first half, Hackett added to the USC advantage with five straight points on a three-pointer from the corner followed by a steal and breakaway dunk to make it 19-2. After a three-pointer by Mayo,
The Citadel ended a 20-0 run with a free throw by freshman forward Matt Clark to make it 22-3. A jumper from the baseline by Nelson with 6:58 left in the first half gave The Citadel their first field goal of the night after missing their first 15 from the floor. A three-pointer by Dahn brought a roar from the Cadets in the stands and made it 22-8, and two running layups by junior guard Jon Brick gave
The Citadel a 10-2 run and cut the Trojan advantage to 24-12 with 4:20 remaining until halftime. Another jumper by Nelson made the score 30-17, and after a steal of the inbound pass by Clark the Trojans were called for goaltending on the layup by Clark which made it a 30-19 USC lead. But the Trojans scored the last four points of the half, and Hackett ended a tremendous first half with a jumper from the wing as time expired to give USC a 34-19 lead heading into the locker rooms.
Hackett led all scorers with 14 points in the first half as he went 6-7 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc. The Trojans as a team shot 60% from the floor while the Bulldogs went 7-27 from the field in the first half. Nelson led The Citadel with six first half points. A three-pointer by freshman guard Cameron Wells halted a 10-3 USC run to begin the second half and cut the deficit to 44-25. The Bulldogs then ran off seven straight points, five of them by Nelson, to make it a 44-32 game. But a layup by Hackett gave the Trojans a 14-point lead once again, and Mayo hit one from beyond the arc to give USC a 49-32 advantage with 13:29 left.
A three-pointer by Dahn from the corner cut the USC lead to 53-40 with 8:25 remaining, and a layup by Nelson made it 54-42. But USC went on a 14-0 run to put the game away. After two free throws by guard Dwight Lewis, another big three-pointer by Mayo again extended the Trojan lead to 17 at 59-42 with 6:01 left. The lead was extended to 68-42 on two free throws by Lewis, and the Trojans won their first game of the 2007-08 season by a final of 74-47. The Citadel will hit the road to take on Penn on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
ARKANSAS 75, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 49
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - Patrick Beverly scored 16 points while Vincent Hunter added six points and a game-high 10 rebounds as No. 18 Arkansas downed the College of Charleston, 75-49, in opening round action in the O'Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU Puerto Rico Tipoff before 1,567 on Thursday.
The Cougars, who fell to 0-2, take on Temple in second round play at 8:00 on Friday. Arkansas is 2-0.
Charleston, which fell behind 16-2, used a 23-12 run to cut the Razorbacks' lead to 28-25 late in the first half.
Dustin Scott led Charleston with 12 points while Antwaine Wiggins added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.