Georgia Southern 59, UAB 57
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- Georgia Southern seniors Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) combined for 22 of the team’s 34 points in the second half to lead the Eagles to a 59-57 victory over UAB Saturday at day two of the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach.
The win improves GSU’s mark to 2-1 on the season while UAB falls to 2-2.
Georgia Southern held the Blazers to just 30.5 percent shooting on the game, including 26.9 percent in the second half alone.
“It was just a great defensive effort by our team,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We haven’t been known to be a grind-it-out type of team and win a lot of games by scoring 59 points, but maybe that’s the identity of our team this year. This is two straight games we’ve had close games, we’ve played so well down the stretch, the last minute and a half we had to get stops and we got stops. That was the key to the game.”
The Eagles held the Blazers scoreless for 4:42 late in the second half allowing GSU to turn a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead. UAB missed 10 straight shots from both the field and the free throw line.
Georgia Southern made up all but two of those points from the free throw line. GSU’s last field goal of the game came at the 5:47 mark. After freshman Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) hit a jumper, the Eagles made 11 of their next 12 shots from the line.
“It wasn’t by design to not score a field goal, but it was by design to get to the line,” said Price. “That speaks so much for our defense. We don’t score a field goal in the final five minutes and we still win the game. We got stops when we had to get them.”
Twelve of Foreman’s team-high 17 points came in the second half. He also dished out four assists and had two steals.
Graham notched his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds, to go along with five blocks, tying his career high, which is second-best in school history.
“[Foreman] ran the team like a composed senior and that’s what he is,” Price said. “Dwayne knows he’s expected to do that. I thought he had great composure down the stretch. Our seniors played fantastic. Louis Graham [has had] two tremendous games ? warrior-like games inside ? just banging and pounding inside. Thirteen rebounds and five blocks against UAB is pretty impressive. I thought our seniors played really well.”
It was a slow start for the Eagles who didn’t score their first point until Foreman hit a 3-pointer 3:33 into the contest.
UAB suffered a scoring drought of its own getting just a free throw from Walter Sharpe over a 5:34 stretch mid-way through the half which allowed GSU to pull within two, 23-21, after being down 11 at the 10:22 mark.
But the Blazers finished the half on an 8-2 run, getting two free throws with 0.7 seconds on the clock to go into halftime up 33-25.
“We had a horrible last 30 seconds on the first half,” said Price. “It’s a four-point game and we give up a turnover and a silly foul with one second to go. I knew we played a good half and we felt pretty good actually, outside of the last 30 seconds, that it was a winnable game for us if we continued to defend.”
Sharpe led all players with 20 points. Robert Vaden added 18 on 4-of-10 shooting from 3-point land.
Georgia Southern completes play in the Glenn Wilkes Classic Sunday against Stetson at 6 p.m.
Appalachian State 84, Middle Tennessee State 79
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ? Appalachian State University men's basketball shot a blistering 68.4 percent from the field and staved off a late Middle Tennessee rally to claim an 84-79 victory in the final game of the First Shot Exempt Tournament Saturday evening. Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C./Ben L. Smith) led all scorers with 15 points as one of five Mountaineers in double figures.
Kellen Brand (High Point, N.C./Andrews) scored 13 points, while Doug McLaughlin-Williams (Reston, Va./South Lakes) had 12 points on four three-pointers, including a pair during a critical 10-0 ASU run. Donte Minter (Salisbury, Va.) and Eduardo Bermudez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) each had 11 points.
The Blue Raiders (1-2) were paced by Kevin Kanaskie's 14 points. Hudson Theryn finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds as the squad shot 43 percent in the loss and took 29 more shots than the Mountaineers (2-2) from the floor.
ASU led by as many as nine points in the opening half, but MTSU trimmed that margin to four, 35-31, at halftime despite ASU shooting 77.8 percent in the opening half.
MTSU needed 4:47 in the second half to take a 43-41 lead and the teams traded baskets for the next 7:33 until ASU started its 10-0 run that would give it a 13-point, 71-58 lead with 6:03 left to play. McLaughlin-Williams scored six of ASU's points on three-pointers during the spurt and Clayton added the other four with a jumper and a pair of free throws.
The Apps extended their lead to as many as 15 with 2:13 left on a set of Donald Sims (Gaffney, S.C./Fork Union) free throws. However, the home squad did not go down without a fight, pulling within five, 80-75, on a three-pointer with 38 seconds left. MTSU's comeback hopes forced it to foul in the waning seconds and Brand calmly drained four free throws in the final 30 seconds to preserve the win against head coach Houston Fancher's alma mater.
ASU will go for its third win of the season on Wednesday afternoon when it travels off the Mountain to face Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. at 2 p.m.
Elon 71, Georgia State 49
ELON, N.C. ? Behind a season-high 14 points from Ola Atoyebi and an Elon career-best 12 markers from Monty Sanders, the Elon Phoenix ran away with a 71-49 non-conference men’s basketball victory over the visiting Georgia State Panthers on Saturday night. Elon, which never trailed in the contest, also saw Montell Watson pour in a game-high 15 points to improve to 2-1 on the year. Georgia State now owns an 0-2 ledger on the young season.
Watson layed in the game’s first bucket with 18:25 to play in the first half and the Phoenix cruised to an 11-0 advantage when Brian Waters put in a layup with 16:12 to go in the stanza.
The Panthers closed to within five at 14-9 when Jihad Ali hit a jumper with 11:36 to go, but the Phoenix responded and used an 11-2 run to build its largest lead of the half at 25-11 after a Chris Long three with 7:40 showing on the clock. Georgia State never closed to within less than six for the remainder of the period and Elon led 34-24 at the break.
Elon blistered the nets at a 59.1 percent clip in the first half, sinking 13-of-22 shots from the field, while GSU hit just 8-of-25 attempts for a 32.0 percent mark.
The Phoenix advantage fluctuated between seven and nine points for the first four minutes of the second half before Elon went on an 18-2 run to turn a 40-31 lead into a 58-33 edge after Scott Grable hit a jumper on an assist from Atoyebi with 7:52 to play.
The Panthers never closed the gap to less than 20 points after that and the Phoenix established its largest advantage of the contest, 27 points, for the first of three times with 4:22 to go on two Sanders free throws that put the score at 65-38.
Elon shot over 50 percent from the floor for the second consecutive game, ending the night at 57.8 percent from the field. The 49 points scored by the Panthers were the fewest allowed by the Phoenix since surrendering 48 points on Jan. 21, 2006 against Western Carolina.
On the boards, Adam Constantine finished the night with eight rebounds for Elon while Atoyebi pulled in seven caroms.
Rashad Chase completed the game with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Georgia State attack. Leonard Mendez, who netted 22 points in a victory over Elon a year ago, was held to just six points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field.
Elon turned 22 Panther turnovers into 30 points and got 24 points off its bench compared to 15 points from the GSU reserves.
The Phoenix returns to the hardwood on Tue., Nov. 20 at Georgia. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m. Georgia State will visit Florida State that same night at 7 p.m.
St. Louis 83, Furman 69
ST LOUIS? A three-point Furman halftime lead dissolved for good on a layup by St. Louis seven-footer Bryce Husak with 11:39 to play, and the Paladins were unable to slow the Billiken offensive machine, falling 83-69 on the road Saturday night. With the loss, the Paladins drop to 0-3 on the year, while St. Louis improves to 4-1.
Furman took a 39-36 lead into halftime on the strength of 60% shooting (6-for-10) from three-point range in the first period. Justin Dehm led the first-period Paladin scorers with 10 points on four-for-four shooting from the floor and a two-for-two mark from beyond the arc, while Bobby Austin added seven with a three-for-three performance from the field. In addition to Dehm’s two treys, Austin, Tony Anderson, Noah States, and Alex Opacic all connected from three point range before the break.
A series of missed field goals early in the second half set the stage for the Billiken comeback, while SLU’s Kevin Lisch poured in 13 second period points, Husak equaled his first period 10-point output and Barry Eberhardt contributed nine. In addition, rebounds, which were tied at 11 at the half, tipped in favor of Saint Louis 23-10 in the second period. Tommie Liddell, who sat the entire first half, brought fresh legs and an eight-point seven rebound effort to the floor.
“We played well the first half and for a stretch in the second, but in the last five minutes their maturity and savvy showed,” said second-year coach Jeff Jackson after the game. “I thought this was a far better performance than last time out at Clemson, but in the last few minutes we just did not make the decisions we needed to make to beat a team like this on their home court.”
The Paladin offensive effort was led by senior George Brozos’ 14 points, while Dehm contributed 13 and fellow freshman Austin totaled 10. Stanley Jones led rebounding with five, while Tony Anderson dished off a career-high eight assists.
The Billikens were paced on the night by Lisch’s 23 points, while Husak totaled 20, Eberhardt managed 15, and Luke Meyer tallied 11. Despite garnering 18 minutes ? all in the second period ? Liddell topped SLU rebounding, with seven.
The Paladins return to action on Friday, November 23, with a 7 p.m. home opener against Southern Conference foe Georgia Southern.
Missouri State 79, UNC Greensboro 52
SPRINGFIELD, MO ? Missouri State used a 24-7 run that closed out the first half and opened the second half to break open a tight game and defeat UNC Greensboro, 79-52, at the Hammons Center in the 2007 Price Cutter Classic on Saturday night.
In the loss, Kyle Hines set UNCG’s all-time career scoring record, surpassing Jay Joseph with 2:30 to play on a spin move in the paint. Hines finished the game with 12 points and now has 1,647 points for his career. He also extended his streak to 53 consecutive games scoring double figures, the longest current streak in the nation.
The Bears (2-1) did a good job of frustrating Hines for much of the night with their beefy front line. Missouri State did not allowing him to get an uncontested pass and keeping a body in front of him when he did touch the ball on the offensive end of the floor. As a result, Hines missed 13 of his first 15 shots from the floor. A career 58 percent shooter from the field, he finished the night just 5-for-20 from the floor.
Kevin Oleksiak added 11 points for UNCG, including the 100th three-pointer of his career. He is the 10t\h player in school history to achieve the milestone.
Meanwhile, Missouri State could do no wrong in the second half, opening the second half by scoring 17 of the first 20 points to blow the game wide open. The Bears shot 63 percent from the floor in the second half.
Deven Mitchell led Missouri State with a double-double, logging 24 points and 10 rebounds. Dale Lambert also had 20 points, while Drew Richards chipped in with 14 points on a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor.
The Spartans (2-1) played without starting point guard Dwayne Johnson. A three-year starter at point guard, Johnson suffered a concussion in a collision midway through the second half of Friday night’s win. His status is day-to-day.
“Give them credit,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “They did a good job on us tonight. They got physical with Kyle and made things difficult offensively.
On the defensive end, we went into a zone because Richards was hurting us and their guards knocked down shots. I did think our defensive effort at times was lacking, though.
“Not having Dwayne hurts. That’s the first time in three or four years we’ve played without him. We put two freshmen out there and it is a good learning experience for them. The result is not, certainly. You’d rather have a better result, but it will make them better to go through this and play that kind of minutes in that kind of environment.”
Missouri State took an early lead with a 9-2 run that gave the Bears an
11-8 advantage seven minutes in. The Spartans didn’t help their cause early on, either, committing seven turnovers and getting just eight field goal attempts in the game’s first 10 minutes. But UNCG was able to hang around by keeping the Bears off of the offensive glass.
For all of UNCG’s offensive sputters, however, Mikko Koivisto’s three-pointer from the left wing with 4:30 left in the opening half kept UNCG within a single point, 22-21. But the Bears closed out the half on a 9-4 spurt to take a 31-25 lead to the locker room.
The Bears opened the second half with a 17-3 run to open up their first double-digit lead of the game, which was eventually extended to 48-28 with 12:40 to play.
UNCG, which was trying to become 3-0 for the first time in 25 years, returns to the floor for its home opener next Saturday, playing host to USC Upstate in the 200th men’s basketball game played at Fleming Gym. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.