Elon 91, Lipscomb 86
NASHVILLE, TENN. - The Elon men's basketball team shot a blistering 59 percent from three-point land and managed to stave off a late-game Lipscomb rally to knock off the host Bisons, 91-86, giving coach Matt Matheny his first win as a head coach on Saturday evening at Allen Arena. Sophomores Drew Spradlin and Josh Bonney turned in career performances, each surpassing the 20-point mark for the first time while wearing the maroon and gold.
Bonney netted a team-high 24 points on 9-of-16 from the field, while Spradlin drained 6-of-9 from long range for 24 points. Senior forward Adam Constantine posted the third double-double of his career, scoring 15 points and leading the team with 12 rebounds. Lipscomb big men Brandon Brown and Adnan Hodzic combined for 52 points, each scoring 26 points apiece. Point guard Josh Slater added 17 points and a game-high 13 boards.
"I couldn't be happier or prouder of the 15 guys in our locker room right now and the effort they gave," commented Matheny. "Like any team, we made mistakes, but we competed and battled out play after play and were fortunate to come out with the win."
A one-handed follow by Constantine gave the Phoenix its largest lead of the night at 74-61 with 5:52 remaining in the contest. The teams traded buckets before the Bisons went on a 9-0 run to cut the Elon advantage to four, 76-72, with under four minutes to play.
Spradlin answered on the next trip down the floor, connecting one of his six triples to put Elon back up seven, 79-72. The lead hovered around six points until Lipscomb's Slater sliced the lead in half, 87-84, with 35 seconds showing on the clock. Bonney and Spradlin were perfect from the line in the final minute as Elon closed out the win.
Elon shot 57.6 percent of its field goal attempts in the final half, connecting on 66.7 percent from downtown.
Lipscomb jumped out to a 16-7 lead behind the strength of nine straight points by Brown. A Spradlin long ball ended the run and sparked an 11-0 Phoenix run that included three Spradlin triples as the Phoenix took an 18-16 advantage at the 12:59 mark.
The lead changed hands seven more times in the opening half, before a Chris Long three-pointer and a lay-in by Carter gave Elon a five-point lead, 39-34, with under three minutes remaining before the break. The Phoenix maintained the advantage and closed out the half up three, 41-38.
The win was Elon's first in a season opener since 2005. The Bisons had never lost the first game of the season in Allen Arena, holding a mark of 8-0 in season openers at Allen.
The Phoenix will have a quick turnaround as it will challenge Charlotte on Monday night at 9:30 p.m., in the 2009 Dick's Sporting Goods Season Tip-Off Tournament at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Western Carolina 65, St. Catherine 41
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina men's basketball (1-0) opened the 2009-10 season with a 65-41 win over St. Catherine College (0-1) Saturday in front of a crowd of 1,925 in the Ramsey Center.
Leading by just seven points, 27-20, at the half, Western Carolina shot a scorching 50 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from St. Catherine College. Overall, the Catamounts shot 41.8 percent from the field while the Patriots were just 25 percent from the field.
The Catamounts went on a 21-6 run in the first eight minutes of the second half to put distance between themselves and St. Catherine. The run was capped off by a lay-up by junior Blake Gallagher. Western Carolina built its largest lead of the game, 24 points, off a tip-in by Kendall Russell after a missed free throw by redshirt freshman Sam Smithson.
Western Carolina forced 25 St. Catherine College turnovers and won the rebounding advantage with 40 to the Patriots 35. The Catamounts also had 11 team steals and was led by Mike Williams with four swipes. WCU went to the free throw line just 10 times and connected on six. St. Catherine College made it to the charity stripe 27 times and hit 17.
The Catamounts were paced by Brandon Giles and Kendall Russell who each had 12 points. Senior Jake Robinson followed with nine points. St. Catherine College was led by Ervin Williams with 17 points.
Western Carolina returns to action Wednesday on the road in Austin, Texas facing the University of Texas at 9 p.m. as part of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
Wisconsin-Green Bay 70, Samford 68
KENT, Ohio --- With his team trailing by two points, 70-68, with mere seconds remaining, Samford's Trey Montgomery attempted a last-second, game-tying runner from eight feet out against the Green Bay Phoenix on the second day of the 2009 Hispanic College Fund Classic. The Bulldogs' leading scorer Saturday didn't miss many shots en route to a team-high 20 points, but Montgomery's buzzer-beater rimmed out in a hard-fought 70-68 loss at the Memorial Athletic Convocation (M.A.C.) Center.
Saturday's two-point defeat marked the second-straight day that Samford (0-2) mounted a late comeback that fell just short in this weekend's tournament. On Friday, the Bulldogs' squared off against the homestanding Kent State Golden Flashes and lost by three points, 69-66.
Green Bay (1-1) picked up its first win of the season Saturday. On Friday, the Phoenix was defeated by UAB, 68-56. Samford and UAB will square off for the first time in 26 years Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST), in the teams' final game of the 2009 Hispanic College Funds Classic.
With only 6:51 remaining Saturday, Samford trailed Green Bay by nine points, 60-51. The Bulldogs were then able to use four-straight points from Andy King and six points from Trey Montgomery to trim the Phoenix's lead to 69-66 with 1:25 remaining.
Samford, which stymied Green Bay's offensive attack with its 1-3-1 defense down the stretch, then used a steal by Montgomery and a free throw by the Bulldogs' Destrehan, La., native to cut their deficit to one point, 69-68, with 39 seconds remaining.
Green Bay added a late free throw from Seth Evans to extend its lead to 70-68 before Samford's final possession of the game.
After Evans missed his second free throw, the Bulldogs moved the ball down court with 20 seconds remaining. Samford worked through its offense for about 10 seconds then found Montgomery on the right flank. He dribbled quickly to his left, crossed over to his right, then seamlessly hesitated and faded to his right for an eight-foot jumper.
Montgomery's buzzer-beating attempt hit the backboard first then found the right side of the rim and bounced off.
Despite missing the game's final shot, Montgomery finished 7-of-11 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. He ended Saturday's contest with a season-high 20 points.
Samford's Josh Davis followed with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. The Bulldogs' junior from Lubbock, Texas, knocked down 5-of-7 attempts from 3-point range.
As a team, Samford shot 52.6 percent from beyond the arc, turning in a 10-for-19 performance from downtown. In two games this season, the Bulldogs are shooting at a 47.6 clip from 3-point range.
Even with Samford's prowess from downtown, the Bulldogs' performance was topped by Green Bay's 12-of-21 night for a 57.1 percentage.
The Phoenix was paced offensively by three players scoring in double figures. Rahmon Fletcher led the way with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, while Troy Cotton added 18 points on a 7-of-12 performance from the floor. Cotton knocked down a team-high four 3-point field goals Saturday. Green Bay's Cotton and Evans both added an additional three 3-pointers apiece.
Despite a seven-minute scoring draught midway through the first half, Samford only trailed Green Bay 35-30 at the intermission. The Bulldogs' Davis tallied 13 opening-period points, including an NBA-range 3-pointer with the shot clock running out late in the half. He finished the first 20 minutes of play with three 3-point baskets.
Samford's Montgomery added seven points in the first half of play.
Green Bay was buoyed in the opening period by Cotton. The Phoenix's shooting guard finished the first half with 13 points, including 10-straight midway through the period.
To open Saturday's game, Green Bay jumped out to an early 8-2 lead behind a put-back layup from Randy Berry and back-to-back 3-pointers from Cotton and Fletcher. Samford then bounced back to take a 13-10 lead with 15:13 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs were paced early by 3-point baskets from Montgomery, King, Davis and John Peterson.
Samford shot 53.8 percent from the field in the opening half and knocked down six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Bulldogs' King tallied 10 points, four assists and three rebounds Saturday, while Peterson finished with seven points in only 14 minutes of play. Sophomore Jeffrey Merritt added six points, three rebounds and a pair of assists, while Bryan Friday registered four points and Kaylin Johnson finished with two.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against cross-town rival UAB for the first time in over 26 years here at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio. The UAB Blazers currently own a 3-0 all-time record against the Bulldogs.
East Tennessee State 62, Appalachian State 58
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Kellen Brand knocked down a three-pointer to help Appalachian State University men's basketball erase a six-point second-half deficit, but East Tennessee State rallied back to take its season opener, 62-58, on Saturday at the Memorial Center.
Those points put Brand over the 1,000 mark for his career, and the senior went on to score eight in the game. The Mountaineers (1-1) were led by 14 points from Donald Sims, who sank all six of his free throw attempts on the night.
The Apps found themselves trailing by five points with eight minutes to play but pulled even and took a lead just two minutes later, thanks to a trey by Nathan Healy, followed by three free throws.
An Andre Williamson layup then extended the lead to three points at 53-50 with just under five minutes to play before ETSU rallied to take the lead for good. The comeback was fueled by seven-straight points over the next two minutes.
Down 57-53 with two-and-a-half to play, Ryann Abraham converted a three-point play to pull the Apps within one.
The next possession essentially decided the game, however, as Isaac Butts was whistled for an intentional foul while attempting to block a shot in the paint.
ETSU's Justin Tubbs sank both free throws to give the Bucs another three-point advantage in the final minute, as well as another
possession.
Brand gave the Mountaineers one final chance in the game as he swiped a steal with 30 seconds on the clock. He converted a fast break layup to bring the score to 59-58, but the home squad sank three of its final four foul shots to ice the game.
Butts grabbed six first-half rebounds and led the squad in rebounds for a second-straight game with 12. The big man also swatted three of Appalachian's four blocks.
In just his second collegiate contest, Healy was the team's second-leading scorer with 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting and 5-of-6 free throws.
The Apps shot 40.9 percent from the field as the lead changed hands nine times. Neither team led by more than six points in the game and turnovers handcuffed the ASU offense, as the squad turned the ball over 25 times compared to ETSU's 20.
Tubbs was one of three Buccaneers in double figures, as Adam Solazzo led the squad with 13 off the bench.
The Mountaineers return home on Tuesday to host Lees-McRae at 7 p.m.
#10 Butler 73, Davidson 62
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Preseason All-American Gordon Hayward led all players with 17 points as No. 10 Butler topped Davidson 73-62 in both teams' season opener Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Ben Allison led the Wildcats (0-1) with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Brendan McKillop posted 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Steve Rossiter collected nine points and five rebounds, while freshmen JP Kuhlman and Jake Cohen came off the bench to score nine and eight points, respectively. Kuhlman added a game-high six assists.
Hayward had eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (1-0), while Willie Veasley scored 15 points. Matt Howard and Shawn Vanzant each scored 10 points.
The Wildcats trailed 54-48 with 12:48 to play after a fastbreak layup by Howard, but used a 10-2 run to take a 58-56 lead with 9:39 remaining. Cohen ignited the spurt with a layup, while McKillop and Kuhlman capped it with consecutive 3-pointers.
But Davidson went cold and did not score again until Kuhlman's pull-up jumper with 2:13 to play. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs used their ball control offense to score 12 straight points and open a 68-58 cushion. Hayward scored five points during the run. Butler went 3-for-4 from the foul line, and Howard added a layup in the last 1:46 to seal the win.
Trailing 6-5 early, Davidson used a 15-4 run to open a 20-10 cushion with 8:32 left in the first half. McKillop started the spurt with consecutive 3-pointers, and Will Archambault added a trifecta.
The 'Cats still led by 10 with 2:36 left in the half, but Butler closed the frame by outscoring Davidson 14-2. The run included two 3-pointers by Veasley and a pair of free throws from Hayward with two seconds left.
Davidson heads to Charleston Thursday, Nov. 19, for three games in the Charleston Classic. The Wildcats meet South Florida in their first game of the tournament at 7 p.m. in Carolina First Arena.