Samford 57, McNeese State 52
LAKE CHARLES, La. --- The Samford University basketball team picked up its first road victory of the 2008-09 campaign and snapped a seven-game road losing streak on Tuesday as the Bulldogs earned a dramatic 57-52 win against the McNeese State Cowboys at Burton Coliseum.
In the win, Samford (5-5) tied its best road shooting performance of the season and finished with a 50 percent mark from the field. The Bulldogs ended the game shooting 21-of-42 from the floor and 11-of-24 from 3-point range. Prior to Tuesday’s win, Samford’s best road outing of the year was also a 50-percent mark against Belmont.
The Bulldogs finished with three players scoring in double figures and were paced offensively by both Andy King and Josh Bedwell. King and Bedwell tallied 14 points apiece, while Josh Davis added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
Bedwell was also 4-of-7 from 3-point range and knocked down three of his triples in the second half. Samford’s 6-foot sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., scored nine of the Bulldogs’ final 14 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 in the final period.
King, Samford’s 6-foot-8 center from Omaha, Neb., was 4-for-8 from the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs’ sophomore only played 19 minutes in the game, but finished with two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
With the loss, McNeese State (5-6) dropped its first home game of the 2008-09 season and fell to 4-1 when playing in Burton Coliseum. The Cowboys’ John Pichon led the team with 18 points and scored 10-straight points for McNeese State down the stretch.
Pichon, the Cowboys’ 6-foot-6 senior from Slidell, La., was 7-of-11 from the field Tuesday, but committed a game-high five turnovers.
McNeese State’s Diego Kapelan, the team’s leading scorer heading into the contest, finished with 14 points on a 5-of-16 performance from the floor. Kapelan, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, scored 12 of his 14 points from 3-point range.
Following Bedwell’s third 3-point basket in a four-minute span, Samford took a game-high 10-point lead, 53-43, with 3:56 remaining.
After the final media timeout of the game, McNeese State’s Pichon scored eight of his 10-straight points and trimmed the Bulldogs’ advantage to 53-51. Then, with 1:15 left in the contest, Samford’s Bryan Friday scored on a double-clutch layup with the shot clock nearing expiration to extend the lead to 55-51.
On the Cowboys’ next possession, Elbryan Neal knocked down a free throw with 14 seconds left to make the score 55-52. Samford’s King then put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs their decisive 57-52 advantage.
Tuesday’s game was Samford’s final regular-season non-conference matchup of the year. With the victory, Samford earned a 5-4 mark in non-conference games, securing its first winning record since 1999.
Samford shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the first half of play and took a 27-26 advantage into halftime. The Bulldogs knocked down five 3-point baskets in the opening period and turned in a 41.2 percentage from beyond the arc.
Davis and King were both 2-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half and helped lead Samford with three players scoring six points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Freshman center Friday also tallied six points in the first half.
The Bulldogs trailed the Cowboys 14-12 with 7:58 to play in the opening period when Samford caught fire for a 12-0 run. During the stretch, the Bulldogs’ Matthew Friday scored four points and Bedwell and Jim Griffin both added layups. Samford used the run to take a 24-14 lead with 5:24 remaining in the half.
McNeese State used nine first-half points from Kapelan to trim the Bulldogs’ first-half lead to 27-26. All nine of Kapelan’s points came from 3-point range.
Samford’s Bryan Friday finished Tuesday’s game with seven points, while younger brother Matthew Friday added six. Davis and Trey Montgomery both paced the Bulldogs with five rebounds apiece.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs resume Southern Conference play with a road game against the Davidson Wildcats to be held in Davidson, N.C. Samford’s first SoCon matchup of the 2009 calendar year will be at the Wildcats’ Belk Arena (5,223).
Appalachian State 112, Milligan 47
BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State University men's basketball set a new Holmes Center record and set a season scoring high in the largest margin of victory in school history with a 112-47 victory over Milligan on Tuesday night.
The teams traded scores for the first few possessions before the Mountaineers took advantage of eight-straight Milligan misfires to jump out to a 15-4 lead five minutes into the game. Milligan (8-4) shot just 23.4 percent from the floor in the game, as the Mountaineers (5-4) pulled in a season-best 58 rebounds, with 46 coming off of Buffalo misses.
The Apps needed just 17 minutes to match the team's season high of nine three-pointers when Jeremi Booth hit his first of three on the night to push the advantage to 54-18.
ASU used the early momentum to put together one of the most complete halves of the season, as the team shot 60.7 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from beyond the arc and 89.5 percent from the free-throw line, while committing just 4 turnovers in the first.
Donald Sims was perfect from downtown as he sank all five attempts and a pair of free throws for 17 points in only 11 minutes - all in the first half - while Ryann Abraham added 13 points and a pair of assists before the intermission.
Abraham ended the night with 17 points of his own on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with a season-high nine assists over 18 minutes on the floor.
The 61 points marked the most scored by the Apps in a first half this season, surpassing the 51 posted in the opener at UNC Wilmington. Conversely, MC's 19 were the fewest allowed by Appalachian this season. The previous mark came against Campbell, which was limited to 24 points in the opening stanza in a 79-66 setback last month.
Booth again triggered a milestone in the second half, as his trey from the right corner with five minutes remaining on the clock put the team over the century mark for the second time this season and the first time at home since January 15, 2007 in a 100-91 win against Western Carolina.
Josh Hunter contributed his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 boards while Isaac Butts just missed his seventh double-double with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, 11 boards and a pair of blocks.
Freshman Donterious Hughes scored a career-high eleven points while Booth added a season-best 11 points. Both players came off the bench, which accounted for 58 points, compared to 13 for the Milligan non-starters.
ASU finished the night with season bests in field goal percentage (57.1), assists (27), blocks (6) and fewest points allowed (47). The team fell just two treys shy of the school record of 17 three-pointers and matched the third-highest scoring output in school history.
The previous largest margin of victory came with a similar score as Appalachian defeated Tennessee Weslayan 112-48 exactly nine years ago.
The Apps open the new year with a trip to Texas on January 2 at 8:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
Maryland 76, Elon 50
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Despite a season-high 14 points from TJ Douglas, the Elon Phoenix found itself on the short end of a 76-50 decision against the Maryland Terrapins in men's basketball action on Tuesday night. Maryland, now 61-5 in non-league games at the Comcast Center, improved to 10-2 on the season. Elon saw its three-game winning streak snapped and now sits at 4-5 on the year.
The Terps opened the game with back-to-back buckets from Landon Milbourne and Greivis Vasquez to grab a 4-0 lead before Douglas drained a three from the top of the arc to pull the Phoenix within one 1:35 into the game.
On its next possession, Elon grabbed a 5-4 lead thanks to an Ola Atoyebi layup. Just over a minute later Maryland went back on top with an Adrian Bowie layup.
Douglas followed with a layup of his own before knocking down another trey to give the Phoenix a 10-6 lead with 14:50 to go in the opening half. After a Vasquez jumper, Brett James threw down a dunk to keep the four-point margin.
At that point Maryland went on an 11-0 run over beginning with an Eric Hayes jumper at the 12:32 mark and ending with a Braxton Dupree layup with 8:08 to play in the stanza. The run put the Terps on top 19-12. The run was snapped when Josh Bonney hit a three with 7:48 to go.
The Phoenix stayed close, keeping its deficit to under 10 points until Milbourne hit a jumper with 4:32 to play which put Maryland up 28-18. The Terp edge grew to as many as 16 points when Milbourne sank a jumper at the 2:14 mark before Elon closed the gap to 11 points on a traditional three-point play from Atoyebi with 1:06 to play. Maryland would sink two free throws to hold a 36-23 lead at the break.
Dave Neal hit two buckets for Maryland to open the final 20 minutes of play before Devan Carter put in back-to-back reverse layups to kick-start a 10-0 Elon run which pulled the Phoenix to within seven at 40-33 with 15:28 to play. During tat run, Chris Long added four points from the line and James added two on a layup.
Neal ended the Maryland drought with a three at the 14:52 mark before Vasquez turned an Elon turnover into another trey. Following an Elon miss, Vasquez came down and drained yet another from long range to virtually erase the Phoenix run.
Two Monty Sanders free throws on the ensuing possession pulled Elon back to within 14 at 49-35, but the Phoenix would claw no closer.
Along with Douglas' team-high 14 points, James added 11 markers for the Phoenix. James now has 1,050 point for his career, ranking 25th on the program's all-time scoring chart. Atoyebi finished with a game-high 11 rebounds while Long passed for four assists.
Elon made just eight field goals in the opening 20 minutes, equaling its season low in the first half of play for the season.
Vasquez ended the night with a game-high 17 points while Milbourne added 14 to the Terp total. Neal collected 10 caroms. Vasquez also recorded eight assists.
Elon returns home to take on Navy on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.
Chattanooga 99, Niagara 84
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Behind a career-high 38 points and school-record tying nine three-pointers from Stephen McDowell, the Chattanooga men’s basketball team defeated Niagara 99-84 Tuesday in the final game of the 2008 Dr Pepper Classic. The win gives the Mocs its second straight win as UTC improves to 4-8 while the Purple Eagles drop to 10-3.
McDowell was a much needed sparkplug for the Mocs, who have occasionally struggled in the early stages of contests this season. The senior connected with three threes in the first six minutes and seven total treys in the first half.
McDowell was not the only Moc with a career performance on Tuesday night as senior Khalil Hartwell had a career high 20 points and Nicchaeus Doaks brought down a career-best 17 rebounds. Doaks also scored in double-figures with 18 for his sixth double-double of the season. Keyron Sheard chipped in 12 points, one shy of his season-high.
As a team the Mocs shot a season-high 57.1 percent, going 32-of-56 from the field. In addition to its hot shooting, UTC controlled the boards as the Mocs outrebounded Niagara 47-31 in the contest.
At the break, the Mocs’ lead was only three at 43-40. The Mocs sizzled the nets shooting 66.7 percent from the field in the second half, while controlling the boards with a 24-11 advantage over the final 20 minutes.
In the beginning of the second half Niagara quickly snatched the lead from the Mocs as the Purple Eagles scored two quick buckets to go up 44-43 with 19:09 remaining. That would be the last time Niagara led in the contest as a Kevin Goffney jumper but UTC up to stay.
From that point, the Mocs would begin to slowly expand its lead and led by as many as 21. Chattanooga’s big men, Doaks and Hartwell, were huge for UTC, putting in 14 and 15, respectively, in the half.
The Mocs will now be off for the rest of 2008 before the team resumes its Southern Conference schedule with a road matchup at Georgia Southern on Jan. 3. Tip off is slated for 5:30 p.m. from Statesboro, Ga.