Furman 83, Dartmouth 60
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Amu Saaka netted 22 points to pace three Paladins in double figures and Darryl Evans dished out a career-high 11 assists as Furman downed the Dartmouth Big Green, 83-60, before a crowd of 1,141 on Saturday evening on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
Furman shot 51.7 percent from the field, including 6-for-11 from three-point range, to overwhelm Dartmouth and begin a season 3-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 campaign.
Saaka, a junior from Decatur, Ga., scored eight of his game-high 22 points during a 19-6 Paladin run over the final seven minutes of the first half as Furman fashioned a 40-23 halftime lead after holding just a 21-17 cushion at the 7:05 mark. Sophomore Bryson Barnes, who totaled 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, sparked a 14-2 run early in the second half to increase the Paladins' margin to 61-33 at the 11:42 mark and Dartmouth never got closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
Guard Jordan Miller added 11 points and six assists to go with Evans' 11 dimes while Saaka and freshman Colin Reddick each grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
Guard Ronnie Dixon led the Big Green with 14 points while center Clive Weeden notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Riddle reached double figures with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Dartmouth shot just 35 percent from the field and only 3-for-13 beyond the arc. Furman forced the Big Green into 17 turnovers leading to 24 Paladin points. Dartmouth converted on 15-of-22 trips to the foul line and Furman made good on 15-of-21 attempts at the charity stripe. The Paladins held a 39-32 edge on the boards.
Furman hits the road for the first time this season when it travels to Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas, to face the Rice University Owls on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Jacksonville State 89, Georgia Southern 67
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State shot 71 percent in the second half to squash any chance of a comeback by the Georgia Southern men's basketball team as the Gamecocks won, 89-67. Five players on each side had in double figures in points with Trenton Marshall of Jacksonville State posting 19 points to lead all scorers. Senior guard Antontio Hanson, the Eagles' leading scorer in last year's meeting, had 18 points, with the Eagles getting 10 points each off the bench from Johntavious Rucker and Antoine Johnson.
After 14 minutes of back-and-forth scoring and six ties in the first half, Jacksonville State capitalized on a two-minute stretch with a 9-1 run to take a 26-18 lead. The Eagles responded a run of their own as Hanson and Willie Powers III each hit a three pointer and Rucker had a tip-in to bring the score to within two, 26-28. Two free throws by Powers knotted the score for the seventh time in the half at 28-28 before the Gamecocks' Nick Murphy hit the second of a two-shot foul for a 29-28 Jacksonville State lead at the break.
Rucker and Hanson each had two buckets in the first 4:32 of the second half as the Eagles were down by three, 36-39. A 16-1 Gamecock run over the next three and a half minutes put Georgia Southern at the wrong side of a 37-55 score. While almost everything Jacksonville State was throwing up was going in the basket, Georgia Southern struggled in comparison in the second period with 38.2 percent shooting from the field. Johnson had all of his 10 points in the last eight minutes of the game as the Eagles chipped away at the Jacksonville State lead. Three-point baskets by Hanson, Ben Drayton III and Powers countered the Gamecocks' 15 points off six baskets and one trey in the final 3:38, but the lead was too much to overcome.
Powers finished with 13 points and Rory Spencer had 10 to round out the Eagles scoring.
"Four games in nine days caught up with us tonight and we definitely weren't the same team that played in our first two scrimmages or our first three games," said Eagle Head Coach Charlton Young. "We are going to get home, get our legs under us and get this going back in the right direction."
Georgia Southern returns home to Hanner Fieldhouse for the first time in two weeks to play Valparaiso in the Legends Classic, Friday, Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The early game features Troy and Arkansas-Fort Smith with a 5 p.m. tip-off time.
Missouri State 72, The Citadel 65
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Joe Wolfinger scored a team-high 18 points and Cameron Wells netted 12 points, in a 72-55 loss to Missouri State at the Hispanic College Fund Challenge. Bears forward Kyle Weems scored a game-high 23 points in the game, leading the second half charge with 16 points.
Wolfinger knocked down 6-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range, while grabbing a team best seven caroms. Wells was successful on 5-of-12 shots from the floor and dished out three assists. Zach Urbanus capped off the Bulldogs leaders in points with eight. Urbanus hit a pair of three-point baskets to move to 158 in his career. The Citadel moves to 2-2 with the loss.
"We knew that Missouri State would be physical and Cameron (Wells) still finished with a good stat line," said head coach Ed Conroy. "He got an early foul in the second half that was a tough call. I was pleased with our team from a tempo standpoint and proud of our guys. It was difficult because we missed a lot of open looks in the first half. Our guys stayed tough, disciplined and managed to do all the things that we set out to do."
Weems, who found his range in the second half, was 8-for-14 in the game and 5-of-7 from the three-point line. He shared team-high rebounding honors, six, with Caleb Patterson. As a unit the Bears hit 18-of-29 shots in the second half, totaling 62.1%. Missouri State hit 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the 3-point line, in the second half, and tallied nine in the game. The Bears improve to 3-0 on the season.
The Bulldogs offense struggled in the first half, converting 8-of-23 shots from the field (34.8%), however the defense shined by holding the Bears to 30.8% (8-26) shooting. Each team was unable to find rhythm from beyond the arc with The Citadel hitting 3-for-11 (27.3%). Meanwhile, Missouri State managed to hit 2-of-7 (27.3%) from 3-point range. The Bears held a slim 26-25 lead heading into halftime coming on a Nafis Ricks free throw with 37 seconds left.
Trailing 22-14 with 5:56 remaining in the first half, a pair of Cosmo Morabbi free throws followed by a Wolfinger trey closed the gap to three points for the Bulldogs in just over a minute of action.
Missouri State held a 25-22 edge at the 1:40 mark when the Bulldogs Daniel Eykyn came off a screen to knock down a three-pointer and knot the game inside one minute to play.