College of Charleston 72, SIU-Edwardsville 66
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Andrew Goudelock scored 17 points and Jermaine Johnson added 16 points including the go-ahead bucket with 3:30 remaining lifting the College of Charleston to a 72-66 win over SIU-Edwardsville before 4,200 in opening round action of the 2008 Charleston Classic. It was Charleston’s first game in its new Carolina First Arena.
Charleston (1-0) takes on Temple at 2:00 on Saturday. SIU-Edwardsville (0-1) plays East Tennessee State at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Johnson, who was 7-for-10 from the floor, hit a shot in the lane that gave the Cougars the lead for good at 66-65 on an assist from Dustin Scott (Jamestown, S.C.).
Charleston, which built a 34-31 lead at intermission, opened the second half with a 7-0 run capped by Goudelock’s jumper for a 41-31 advantage with 16:41 remaining.
SIU-Edwardsville answered with a 29-14 run to take a 60-58 lead with 7:45 left. Charleston, which forced 24 turnovers, outscored the visiting Cougars 14-6 the rest of the way to earn the win.
Antwaine Wiggins and Jeremy Simmons added 11 and 10 points each, respectively for Charleston. Johnson pulled down a game-high seven rebounds for the Cougars.
SIU-Edwardsville got a game-high 21 points off the bench from Mark Yelovich and 19 points from Barry Wellington.
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UConn 81, Western Carolina 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Hasheem Thabeet scored 23 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead No. 2 Connecticut to a season-opening 81-55 win Friday over Western Carolina.
The 7-foot-3 junior, who towered at least 7 inches over any defender for the Catamounts, also blocked five shots. He was 7-of-11 from the field, with most of his attempts from inside 5 feet.
Jerome Dyson also scored 23 points for the Huskies, and Jeff Adrien added 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Huskies extended their winning streak at Gampel Pavilion to 46 games in November and December, dating to the opening of the arena in 1990. UConn is 19-4 in season openers under coach Jim Calhoun.
Brandon Giles led Western Carolina with 16 points. UConn's A.J Price was ejected from the game in the second half after punching Western Carolina's Joey Parker in the stomach as the two were battling for position. He did not score.
The Citadel 81, Grace Bible 72
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Four players scored in double-figures to lead the Bulldogs past Grace Bible with an 81-72 victory to open the season. Daniel Eykyn recorded a career-high of 13 points. Demetrius Nelson led the Bulldogs with 18 points, followed by Cameron Wells with 15. Zach Urbanus scored 13 points and led the Bulldogs with four assists.
Allen Durham led Grace Bible with a game-high 26 points. The Tiger had three players score in double-figures. Paul Nelson had 19 points and Ryan Krombeen had 13 points. Cory Jamieson led the Tigers with six assists.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first after Austin Dahn nailed a 3-pointer from the corner. The Tigers answered with a layup by Durham to earn a spot on the scoreboard. A jumper by Wells extended the lead to three, followed by a shot by Nelson. The Tigers would end the Bulldogs’ 4-0 run with a layup by Durham.
The Citadel continued to stay ahead, staying in front for the entire first half. The Tigers managed to jump ahead on one occasion after a 3-pointer by Brandon Clahassey put the Tigers up, 27-26. The Bulldogs quickly responded with a layup by Nelson to take back the lead. The Citadel stayed on top and went into halftime with a five-point lead.
At the half, the Bulldogs led the Tigers, 38-33. Nelson and Dahn led the Bulldogs with eight points apiece. Durham was already in double-figures with 11 points.
In the second half, the Bulldogs began to build confidence. Eykyn scored eight of his 13 points in the second half. The Tigers came out of the break and hit a 3-pointer to cut the Bulldog lead to two. Urbanus hit a jumper to put the Bulldogs up by four, but the Tigers refused to go away. With 15:31 left in the half, Jamieson fired a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 45-44 lead. Wells quickly responded with a layup to regain the lead.
The Bulldogs stayed in control until a foul by Jonathan Brick put Jamieson on the foul line. Jamieson nailed both free throws to give the Tigers their final lead of the game. Nelson scored off a layup at 12:51 to put the Bulldogs back on top. Eykyn solidified a Bulldog victory, scoring all eight of his second half points in the last 2:30. His two free throws with 0:18 left sealed the victory for the Bulldogs.
Cosmo Morabbi played 19 minutes and had five points in his first collegiate game. John Brown recorded two points, one block and two boards in his first collegiate game. Brown earned the first start of his career.
The Bulldogs will travel to Richmond, Va. this weekend to face Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 4 p.m.
UNC Wilmington 108, Appalachian State 101 (OT)
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball never trailed in regulation after the opening minute but ultimately fell in overtime to UNC Wilmington in overtime, 108-101, Friday evening at Trask Coliseum.
Appalachian led by 14 points at halftime and 17 points with six minutes left in the contest before a 12-0 UNCW run cut the margin to five, 85-80, with 4:36 left to play on a three-pointer from Chad Tomko. Tomko finished the game with 27 points, 22 of them after halftime.
After cutting the lead to five, the Apps kept the Seahawks two possessions away until Tomko stole an errant pass at midcourt and streaked to the basket for a layup to pull within two points, 95-93 with 45 seconds left. Donald Sims extended the lead to three with a free throw 18 seconds later, but missed his second attempt which fell into Tomko's waiting hands and soon into the twine as he stepped up with a three-pointer to knot the game with 20 seconds left. ASU set up the offense to take the final shot, but Ryann Abraham's floater in the lane was off the mark to force the extra period.
The Mountaineers got up early in overtime on a pair of Eduardo Bermudez free throws, but the Seahawks tied the game twice before taking the lead for good at 103-100 on one of Johnny Wolf's five three-pointers on the evening. From there, UNCW made 5-of-6 free-throw attempts to seal the come-from behind victory.
Appalachian was done in by turnovers, especially at critical moments, with 28 miscues on the evening, 17 of them in the second half and overtime which the Seahawks converted into 29 points. The Apps dominated the glass, holding a 56-33 advantage in rebounds with Isaac Butts and Josh Hunter each collecting a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards apiece. Sims led five Mountaineers in double-figures with 24 points, but UNCW had three players Tomko (27), Wolf (27) and Dominique Lacy (25) with 20-point outings.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 19-8 lead in the first eight minutes of the opening half thanks to strong defense and excellent rebounding. UNCW gradually closed that margin until the Apps briefly employed a full-court press and forced turnovers on three of the Seahawks next four possessions to run their lead out to 31-18 with 7:34 left in the half.
A trio of three-pointers from Sims and Brand gave ASU a 17-point, 43-26, lead with just under five minutes on the clock, however UNCW had a late flurry that included a three-point play from Darion Jeralds with less than a second left for the 51-37 halftime score.
UNCW pulled within 10 in the opening minutes of the second half but the Apps answered by running their lead out to a game-high 18 points twice, the last coming on a pair of free throws from Donald Sims before the Seahawks began their comeback efforts.
The Apps will try to rebound from the hard loss on Wednesday when they open up the home slate against Charlotte at 7 p.m. The game will also be broadcast live from the Holmes Center on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).
Georgia Southern 96, Reinhardt 61
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern beat Reinhardt 96-61, extending their home-opening win streak to 28 games. The Eagles were led by Antonio Hanson, who scored 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting. GSU also extended their non-conference home winning streak to 25, a run that dates back to 2002.
Tyler Troupe contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles (2-1). Georgia Southern shot 65.4% (17-for-26) from the floor in the first half and 59.3% (35-for-59) for the game. The Eagles had four players score in double figures.
Mario Mason scored 14 points to lead Reinhardt (1-2). Reinhardt trailed 20-18 with 11:36 to play in the first half, but GSU scored the next five points and reeled off a 12-2 run. The Eagles finished the half on a 12-2 spurt to lead 44-26 at the break.
Belmont 78, Samford 60
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- In its 2008-09 season opener, the Samford University basketball team was hampered by 24 turnovers in a 78-60 loss on the road against the Belmont Bruins at the Curb Event Center.
“Belmont’s a very good team, but if we turn the ball over 24 times, we’re not going to beat anybody,” said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. “I was disappointed in the turnovers, especially because our guards turned the ball over 18 times. Defensively, I thought we played well, but the turnovers helped them to a lot of easy points.”
In the loss, Samford (0-1) was led in scoring by junior guard Trey Montgomery. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-4 floor general finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Montgomery also pulled down three rebounds and grabbed three steals.
Also scoring in double figures for Samford was sophomore guard Josh Bedwell. The Bulldogs’ sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and knocked down a deep 3-point basket in the first half.
“I thought that we had some guys play well, but we need to be a lot better,” Tillette said. “Belmont did a good job of limiting our shots. We only had 34 attempts tonight and only 11 of those were 3-pointers, but that’s something we need to deal with. When they take away our threes we need to do a better job of cutting and getting to the goal.”
Belmont (1-0) attempted 30 shots from beyond the arc and made 13 for a 43.3 percentage from long range.
The Bruins finished the game with three players in double figures and were led in scoring by senior guard Andy Wicke. Belmont’s native of Hendersonville, Tenn., only scored two points in the first half, but tallied 12 down the stretch to pace the Bruins. Wicke turned in a 3-for-4 performance from the field and a 6-of-6 mark from the charity stripe.
Also scoring in double figures for the Bruins were Shane Dansby and Keaton Belcher. Dansby was 4-for-10 from the field, while Belcher knocked down 3-ofr-5 three-point attempts.
“Belmont shot the ball very well tonight, but they were able to get a lot of wide open looks in transition,” Tillette said. “They are a very good basketball team and they have a lot of good shooters. They had 12 steals and we had 24 turnovers and that’s definitely not a good combination for us, so we’ll have to regroup and be ready to play Monday.”
Samford finished Friday’s game with 11 players scoring at least two points. Josh Davis tallied eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, while Jim Griffin followed with seven, all of which came from the free-throw line.
Early in the second half, the Bulldogs’ Curtis West drove through the lane for a running layup to cut the Bruins’ lead to eight points, 39-31, with 17:04 to play. Belmont’s lead remained around the 12-14 point range until Wicke scored five-straight to give the Bruins a 57-37 advantage with 12:24 to go.
With 1:24 remaining, Samford’s Griffin knocked down a pair of free throws to move within 15 points of Belmont at 74-59.
“I don’t know if it was first-game jitters or what, but I was really disappointed in a lot of our guys that we expect to play a lot of minutes,” said Tillette. “Actually, our younger guys came in and played pretty well. Right now, we know it’s a long season, so we’ll take tomorrow off, but come back Sunday and get better.”
Samford true freshmen Kaylin Johnson and Jeffrey Merritt both scored the first points of their collegiate careers Monday. Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer from the left flank late in the second half, while Merritt drained a turnaround 6-footer the first time he touched the ball.
Despite a sloppy first half of play, Samford used a late 6-0 run to move within 33-24 of Belmont at the intermission. Bedwell led the Bulldogs with eight first-half points, while both Friday and Davis added four points apiece in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Belmont finished the first half with four players scoring six points each. The Bruins were led in the opening period by Dansby, Alex Renfroe, Belcher and Matthew Dotson.
After a free throw from Murray State transfer Dansby, Belmont took its largest lead of the first half, 21-8, with 7:22 remaining in the stanza. During the 14-3 run, the Bruins’ Belcher knocked down two-straight 3-point baskets.
Late in the first half, Samford’s Bedwell knocked down a deep 3-point basket and then hit five-straight free throws. After a wide open layup from Davis, the Bulldogs trimmed the Bruins lead to 33-24 with 16.1 seconds remaining in the half.
Samford committed 13 turnovers in the opening period and shot 43.8 percent from the field. Belmont turned the ball over eight times in the first half, but shot 40 percent (6-fo-15) from beyond the arc.
Samford alumnus and current standout cornerback for the Tennessee Titans, Cortland Finnegan, was in attendance at Friday night’s game. During the game, Finnegan sat next to country music star and Belmont fan, Vince Gill.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7 p.m., as the Bulldogs welcome the Spring Hill College Badgers to the Pete Hanna Center for a non-conference matchup. The game will be Samford’s home-opener of the 2008-09 campaign.
Charlotte 77, UNC Greensboro 59
CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? An 8-0 run late in the first half broke open a tight game and Charlotte went on from there for a 77-59 win over UNC Greensboro in the men’s basketball season opener for both teams at Halton Arena on Friday night.
It was the first meeting between the schools in 12 years and just the second in the last 38. Both teams overcame slow starts in their shooting, but it was Charlotte that got the better result. THe 49ers were 18-for-38 from the field after an 8-0 run late in the half gave them a 30-17 lead.
“We did a pretty good job with them in the first half, keeping them in a half court game,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “We didn’t do as good of a job in the second half, I thought, and that really hurt us.”
Lamont Mack had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead four 49ers in double-figures. An’Juan Wilderness chipped in 15 points.
Junior Mikko Koivisto led UNCG with 12 points, including three 3-pointers to extend his streak to 25 straight games with a trey. Sophomore Landon Clement had a career-high 11 points for the Spartans.
“Tonight was the first college game for quite a few of our guys,” said Koivisto of his team that saw six Spartans play in the first Division I contest. “I am sure there were some nerves out there, no question. But the good thing is that it is behind them now. I am sure they will all feel more comfortable when we get back home and play on Monday.”
After Charlotte jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, the Spartans gained their footing. A Mikko Koivisto trey from the left wing pulled the Spartans back to within 11-9 as the game turned five minutes old.
The Spartans hung around for a while, mainly keeping it close with a tenacious defense. The 49ers shot near 20 percent for a good portion of the first half from the floor, but eight straight points broke the game open, 30-17, with 4:03 left in the opening half. That margin held there into the intermission with Charlotte holding a 40-27 lead.
With the score at 48-34 with 14 minutes to play, Charlotte ran off eight straight to open up a 22-point lead with 11:59 to go. Wilderness scored four of the eight in the spurt.
UNCG cut the deficit back to 14 with a 10-2 run of its own, capped off by a Kendall Toney three-pointer. But that is as close as UNCG would come down the stretch.
The Spartans return to action Monday for their home opener, hosting Webber International for a 7 pm tip.
(20) Davidson 107, Guilford 83
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Stephen Curry tallied 29 points, 10 assists and nine steals to lead Davidson to a 107-83 men's basketball victory before a sellout crowd of 5,223 in its season opener at Belk Arena Friday night.
Andrew Lovedale matched a career high with 16 points to go along with five rebounds as four Wildcats (1-0) scored in double figures. Brendan McKillop netted a career-high 14 points, while Bryant Barr scored 11. Max Paulhus Gosselin registered eight steals to go along with nine points.
Clay Henson led Guilford with 21 points, and Gabriel Lowder finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Tyler Sanborn collected 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Rhett Bonner netted 13 points.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, and the Quakers hit 52 percent from long range (12-for-23). Turnovers were the difference as Davidson had a school record 25 steals as a team and forced 39 Guilford turnovers. The Wildcats outscored the Quakers 55-12 in points off turnovers.
Davidson extended a 12-point halftime lead to 31 points with a 22-5 run through the first 9:14 of the second half. Curry capped the run with a conventional three-point play that made the score 80-49. The margin would grow to as many as 39 points on Will Archambault's 3-pointer that made the score 94-55 with 8:16 to go.
The first half was up-and-down with plenty of good shooting on both sides. The Wildcats shot 54 percent from the field and Curry, Barr and McKillop combined to make eight from long distance. Guilford shot 48 percent from the floor and shot 8-for-16 from downtown.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 14-5 advantage, capped by a Curry steal at half court and pull-up 3-pointer 3:48 into the contest. Davidson extended the cushion to 18 points, its largest of the half, on a Curry 4-point play. He drained a 3-pointer from the corner, was fouled and made the free throw for a 45-27 advantage with 5:16 to play.
The Quakers used a 13-6 run to chip away at the lead, and Henson's 3-pointer made the margin 51-41 with 3:18 remaining.
Davidson returns to action when the Wildcats travel to Norman, Okla., to take on James Madison in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Monday. The game is set to start at 6:30 p.m. (EST).
Furman 67, Emory 51
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Jordan Miller poured in a game-high 22 points and Alex Opacic added 14 to lead Furman past NCAA Division III Emory University 67-51 in the season opener Friday evening at Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
With the game knotted at 32-32 and just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Furman began a 13-2 run highlighted by seven points from Miller to open up a 45-34 lead with 15:38 to go in the game. The Paladins outscored the Eagles 31-19 over the final 20 minutes while holding Emory to 28.0% (7-25) shooting from the floor in the second half.
"It was a good game for us, especially defensively and on the boards," said Furman coach Jeff Jackson. "We've got to do a better job taking care of the ball. I thought we were probably trying too hard early -- a little too anxious, but overall okay for the season opener."
Furman managed a 37-23 edge in rebounding and shot 54.5% (24-44) from the field and 72.2% (13-18) from the foul line for the night. Miller added six rebounds and four assists to go with his 22 points while Opacic snatched a game-high seven rebounds.
Emory, who shot just 34.6% from the floor, was led by Dan Curtin's 18 points on 4-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc. Forward Anthony Fernandez chipped in with 11 points for the Eagles.
Furman begins a four-game road trip on Monday when it visits Charleston Southern for a 7:30 p.m. game at the CSU Fieldhouse.