SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for December 20, 2007
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 82, ASBURY 51
STATESBORO, GA. --- Thirteen different players scored for Georgia Southern who used a 43-19 halftime advantage to cruise 82-51 over No. 25 Asbury Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
GSU heads into the Christmas break with an 8-2 record, the program’s best start since the 1985-86 season. Asbury, a member of NAIA Division II, drops to 9-4.
“I told our guys after the game I was really proud of what they’ve accomplished this first semester,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price.
“We’re 8-2 and there’s no doubt we should be 9-1. We let one get away on Saturday. (It was) a pretty positive first semester and we’ve got to keep the momentum going.”
Senior Anthony Marshall (Lake Worth, Fla.) and freshman Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) led the GSU offense with 11 points apiece. No other player scored in double-figures.
A balanced rebounding effort saw Georgia Southern win the battle of the boards 48-31. All 15 Eagle players who suited up saw game action.
“It’s good to give everybody an opportunity to play in some games - guys that work hard everyday in practice,” said Price. “A lot of those guys we’re preparing to get better for the future and some of them for this season. It’s important that everybody got a chance to play.”
Georgia Southern shot a season-high 83.3% (10-for-12) from the free throw line, one game after hitting just five of 13 in a three-point loss to Florida Saturday.
“I thought (our free throw percentage) was important,” said Price. “Those are more of a mental thing and a confidence thing and I told some folks that it would be important to shoot the ball well from the free throw line. It was good to see us make our free throws.”
GSU used a 25-4 run mid-way through the first half to stretch open a 10-7 game into a 35-11 rout. The Eagles forced six turnovers during that stretch and 24 overall.
“I thought (our defense) was really good,” said Price. “The press really pulled the game away in the first half. It was 12-7 when we went to the press and they really struggled with it. Our defensive rebounding has been good all year. We need to keep it that way.”
Asbury’s Brett Johnson led all scorers with 18 and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Georgia Southern returns to action Dec. 28 at the Flint Hills Resources/Islander Invitational hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
PENNSYLVANIA 67, ELON 64
PHILADELPHIA, PA. ? Tyler Bernardini netted 23 points, including Penn’s final nine points of the game, to lift the Quakers to a 67-64 victory over the visiting Elon Phoenix in non-conference men’s basketball action from the historic Palestra on Thursday night. The game was close throughout and featured two ties and eight lead changes over the 40 minutes of hard-fought action.
The Quakers (4-7) scored the first four points of the contest before building a 9-4 advantage just under four minutes into the game. The Phoenix (5-6) worked to erase the deficit, battling back to knot the score at 13-13 on one of three TJ Douglas three-point buckets with 12:17 to play in the first half. Harrison Gaines’ layup put Penn back on top by two and the Quakers again gained a four-point cushion when Kevin Egee put it in from inside the paint.
That deficit was promptly erased when, on consecutive possessions, Chris Long drained a three and then nailed a jumper to put the Phoenix on top for the first time at 18-17 with 8:39 to play in the period. Another Douglas trey pushed Elon’s edge to 21-17 before Penn fought back to take a 22-21 lead on Jack Eggleston’s jumper with 6:32 showing on the clock. Montell Watson’s jumper the next time down the floor put Elon back on top and the teams would trade the lead back and forth on each of the next two possessions.
The Phoenix built its largest lead of the night by using a 7-0 run to turn a 25-23 Penn lead into a 30-25 advantage of its own. The run saw Douglas hit a three to start and Watson added a jumper and a driving layup with 3:49 to go in the stanza.
Penn fought back to tie the score for the second time in the period when Conor Tucker’s first of two free throws moved the score to 34-34. The second from the charity stripe put the Quakers on top with 16 seconds showing before the Phoenix came down and saw Adam Constantine put in a jumper with two ticks left to give Elon a 36-35 halftime lead.
Brian Waters scored on the first possession of the second half to build Elon’s edge to 38-35 before Penn went on a 17-4 run over an 8:48 span to build a 52-42 lead with 9:31 to play. That was the largest lead of the night for the Quakers.
Elon rallied back and went on an 8-0 run of its own to close within two at 52-50 following a Brett James jumper with 6:45 to go. Penn pushed back, however, and reestablished a seven-point advantage with 2:22 to play on an old-fashioned three-point play from Bernardini.
Again the Phoenix chipped away and closed the gap to three at 64-61 on a thundering dunk from James with 1:44 left. Two Bernardini free throws moved the score to 66-61 before Watson drained a three-point bucket cutting the Elon deficit to 66-64 with just five seconds remaining. A 1-for-2 performance at the line from Bernardini built the margin back to three with five seconds left before Watson’s desperation attempt missed short, ending the game.
The Quakers converted 13 Elon turnovers into 23 points while the Phoenix was able to muster only nine markers off of 10 Penn miscues.
Elon shot 46.6 percent from the floor only to see Penn connect at a 51.0 percent clip from the field.
The Phoenix did edge the Quakers on the boards, grabbing 32 rebounds to 28 for Penn.
James led the Phoenix by equaling his season-high with 14 points. Watson chipped in with 13 and Ola Atoyebi, Elon’s leading scorer entering the contest, added 11 points ? all in the second half. Douglas had a career night, establishing new career-highs in points (nine), rebounds (a team-high seven), field goals made (three), three-point field goals made (three) and assists (two).
Along with Bernardini’s 23 points, Penn’s Brian Grandieri added 13 points and led all players with eight rebounds.
Elon will play one more game before breaking for the Christmas holiday. The Phoenix visits Virginia for a 2 p.m. tip on Saturday afternoon. That game will be televised on CSN.
WASHINGTON STATE 67, THE CITADEL 45
SEATTLE, WASH. ? The Citadel Basketball (4-6, 0-2 SoCon) fought hard against a tough Washington State team in the Cougar Hardwood Classic but would come up short 67-45. The Bulldogs seemed a little overwhelmed playing in front of 12,471 fans in Seattle’s Key Arena. The Dogs did, however, get good production from freshmen guards Cameron Wells and ZachUrbanus as they both finished the night with 14 points.
The Bulldogs allowed the Cougars to jump out to an early lead by way of 13 unanswered points. However, the Bulldogs came charging back with a 13 point run of their own to tie the game. The Cougars regained the lead, but the Dogs kept the score close as the two teams battled back and forth. Washington State then used a stingy defense and a patient offensive attack to build a 15 point lead going into the half.
Freshman guard Zach Urbanus had a nice first half as he connected on key three pointers in transition. Urbanus led the Bulldog offense scoring eight points in the first-half, while the Cougars were led by Aron Baynes who had an impressive first-half of his own scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 boards.
“We did some good things early that kept us in the game,” said Bulldog Head Coach Ed Conroy. “Our guys were a little timid, but Wells and Urbanus stepped up to make some nice shots that gave our team some confidence.”
Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs’ Wells picked up his game scoring the next eight points for the Dogs. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Cougars picked up their defense and jumped out to a commanding 32 point lead. The Cougars frustrated the Bulldogs by blocking six shots in the second-half and scoring a lot from mismatches in the paint. The Dogs would not go down with out a fight though as Urbanus knocked down a pair of three point baskets and Wells converted on some mid-range jump shots, as well as shooting 4-4 from the free-throw line.
The Bulldogs fought hard down the stretch, closing the deficit to 22, but it wasn’t enough as the Cougars defeated the Bulldogs 67-45.
The Citadel shot an uncharacteristic 33.3 percent from the field but converted all free-throws. Wells and Urbanus finished out the game with 14 points each while Wells and Matt Clark had four boards each. Washington State’s Aron Baynes finished the night with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“Coach Bennett does a great job with his guy in preparation,” said Conroy. “We were very impressed with Baynes, and when they get the lead they are very poised and make good decisions. We are trying to build our program and I was proud of the way our guys handled the tough environment. I feel that we found a lot of things tonight that will help us in January and February.”
The Bulldogs will be back in action New Year’s Eve Monday, Dec. 31 when they host Cornell College in McAlister Field House. Bulldog fans can catch the live action through an audio and video stream on www.CitadelSports.com through Bulldog Insider and on CNN 1450 with the voice of the Bulldogs, Robby Robinson. For more information on Bulldog Basketball or The Citadel Athletics, go to www.CitadelSports.com.
NORTHERN ARIZONA 68, FURMAN 56
LOGAN, UTAH -- Nathan Geiser buried seven three-pointers and tallied a game-high 23 points to guide Northern Arizona past Furman 68-56 Thursday evening in the Gossner Foods Classic at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Lumberjacks (8-4) opened the second half on a 25-10 run to erase a 29-27 Paladin lead at the half and claim a 52-39 advantage with under eight minutes remaining. Geiser connected on 5-of-7 three-point attempts in the second half as the Lumberjacks outscored Furman 41-27 over the final 20 minutes.
Furman shot 46.2% from the field in the first half and led by as many as five points before settling for a two-point cushion at the break. The Paladins held NAU to just 38.0% from the field for the game, but the Lumberjacks drained 22-of-33 free throws to go with Geisers second half three-point splurge.
Furman converted on 22-of-50 field goal attempts, but just 5-of-13 free throws and 7-of-22 attempts beyond the arc. Freshman Bobby Austin led Furman with 12 points and eight rebounds while Alex Opacic added 10 points. Noah States came off of the bench to total seven points and seven boards.
Point guard Josh Wilson joined Geiser in double figures with 12 points. Kyle Landry added eight points and a game-high 11 boards for NAU.
Furman (0-9) will play at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time Friday in the consolation game against the loser of tonight’s Utah State versus Utah Valley match-up. Northern Arizona will face the winner at 10:05 p.m.