Temple 70, College of Charleston 65
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Dionte Christmas scored 26 points while Lavoy Allen pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds as Temple held off College of Charleston, 70-65, before 2,532 in second round action in the Charleston Classic at Carolina First Arena on Saturday.
The Owls (2-0) advanced to Sunday’s championship game and will take on the winner of tonight’s Clemson/TCU game at 4:00. Charleston (1-1) will play the loser at 6:30.
Christmas scored 15 points in the second half points including a pair of free throws with eight seconds to give Temple a 67-63 lead. Christmas finished 7-of-16 from the floor and was 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
The Owls outscored the Cougars by 14 (17-3) at the free throw line and held a 47-27 margin in the rebounding department.
Charleston, which trailed by 13 points with just under 10 minutes left, got 15 points off the bench from Marcus Hammond. Hammond equaled his career-high with five 3-pointers. Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott paced the Cougars with nine rebounds each.
Ryan Brooks and Ramone Moore added 11 points each for Temple. Andrew Goudelock had 13 points for the Cougars.
West Virginia 92, Elon 47
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Da'Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff scored 19 points apiece to lead West Virginia to a 92-47 win over Elon on Saturday night in the season opener for both schools.
Elon pulled within nine points after Josh Bonny made two free throws with 17:13 remaining in the second half. But the Mountaineers went on an 18-4 run over the next 4:57 to put the game away.
Adam Constantine and Brett James scored 12 points each for Elon.
The Mountaineers, who never trailed in the game, led 38-27 at halftime. West Virginia outscored the Phoenix by a 54-20 advantage in the second half. West Virginia shot 58.6 percent (34-for-58) from the field, while Elon only managed to shoot 36.4 percent (16-for-44).
(14) Tennessee 114, Chattanooga 75
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tyler Smith had 21 points and five assists and No. 14 Tennessee defeated Chattanooga 114-75 on Saturday night.
Chattanooga's only lead came off two free throws by Khalil Hartwell to put the Mocs up 8-7 with 16:22 left in the first half.
J.P. Prince, who was questionable for the game because of an injured shoulder, came off the bench to help ignite the Vols with a breakaway layup that gave Tennessee a 9-8 lead. The Vols went on a 12-0 run, helped by five points from Bobby Maze.
Tennessee (1-0) entered halftime with a 60-37 lead.
Tennessee freshman Scotty Hopson scored 17 points. Wayne Chism had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Tennessee scored 35 points off 24 turnovers by the Mocs (0-1). The Vols outrebounded the Mocs 42-30 and scored 62 points in the paint.
Stephen McDowell scored 20 points for Chattanooga. Ty Patterson and Nicchaeus Doaks both added 16. Doaks grabbed nine rebounds.