Georgia Southern 80, Troy 77
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern scored 50 points and shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the second half to defeat Troy 80-77 in the final game of the Legends Classic subregional at Hanner Fieldhouse Sunday (November 29) afternoon. An intense last two minutes saw six ties and seven lead changes, but a Willie Powers III jumper with two seconds left gave the Eagles a one-point lead 78-77, with Johntavious Rucker adding two free throws for insurance.
Powers, named the MVP of the tournament, had 16 points and seven rebounds versus the Trojans. Sophomore guard Ben Drayton III scored 13 of his 21 points in the second period and added three assists and two steals to his stat line.
Down by two at the half, 30-32, Georgia Southern started the second period with an 8-2 run to take a 38-36 lead. The Eagles built up a 10-point lead by the 7:27 mark, 63-53, but a layup by Antywan Jones and three pointers by Richard Delk and Trayce Macon brought the lead down to 63-31, Eagles, with 4:38 left to play. Two free throws and a layup by Johnson put the lead at six, 67-61, but Macon hit two free throws and Brandon Hazzard hit a trey off a Georgia Southern turnover for five points in only three seconds. Powers hit a jumper at 2:23 for a 69-66 Eagle lead, but Hazzard came right back with a three-pointer at the elbow to tie the score at 69-all at the 2:14 mark. It was the last field goal the Trojans would make.
Troy took a brief one-point lead off free throws by Delk, countered by a three-point play off a Spencer layup for a one-point Eagle margin. Macon hit two from the charity stripe to push the Trojans ahead, 73-72, until a persistent Drayton rebounded his own missed shot and hit a jumper with 1:16 remaining in the game, 74-73, Georgia Southern. Troy's Vernon Taylor hit two more free throws countered by two by Powers. Delk, back at the line, gave the Trojans their last lead 77-76 before Powers hit the game-winning jumper. With 1.4 seconds remaining, Troy had a play set, but Delk threw the Troy inbounds pass into the stands. Rucker hit two free throws to seal the victory.
"The benefits of our difficult schedule are beginning to show," said Eagles head coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "Last night, we had to grind it out against Arkansas-Fort Smith and because of that, today, everyone in our huddle believed we could win. Ben Drayton and Antonio Hanson really came through for us, Antonio hit a wall, but fought through it and I'm really proud of Ben, he's a big key to our success."
Senior guard Antonio Hanson extended his consecutive double-figures games to six with 14 points off three three-point field goals plus three assists and two steals. Senior guard Antoine Johnson added 10 points. Rory Spencer tied Powers for the team lead in rebounds with seven and went 5-5 from the free throw line for nine total points.
In the early game, Valparaiso shot 64.3 percent in the second half (18-28) and 57.4 percent for the game in its 86-74 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith. Cory Johnson led all scorers with 26 points, scoring 17 in the second period. Johnson made seven straight field goals after an early miss in the half. He was also the game-high rebounder with nine.
Powers, who averaged 20.3 points in the three games at Hanner Fieldhouse, was selected MVP of the tournament with Hanson also making the all-tournament team for Georgia Southern. Hanson had a 17.3 points-per-game average over the three games this weekend. Josh Simmons (Arkansas-Fort Smith) and Brandon Hazzard (Troy) and Brandon Wood (Valparaiso) completed the all-tournament picks.
Georgia Southern hits the road for seven of its next eight games, playing at College of Charleston Thursday, December 3 in a 7 p.m. game at the Carolina First Arena.
UNC Wilmington 86, Elon 56
ELON, N.C. - The Elon men's basketball team struggled from the field in the opening half and couldn't dig out of a 22-point hole as the Phoenix fell to the visiting UNC Wilmington Seahawks, 86-56, in non-conference action from Alumni Gym on Sunday night. Elon (2-5) was led by sophomore Terrance Birdette's 13 points, while UNCW (3-4) had five players score in double figures.
"I thought we had a great crowd tonight who stayed behind us the entire game," commented Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "Right now, it feels like we are playing with handcuffs - we are competing hard, but our guys are still learning the system which causes us to play tentatively. Because we play tentatively, when we make mistakes things can snowball. We need to be tougher when we face that adversity."
Birdette, who had scored a combined 22 points in his career prior to this season, has now scored 24 points over the last two games. The guard also picked up five rebounds, three on the offensive glass. Sophomore Josh Bonney, who was forced to the bench in the opening minute of the game due to foul trouble, scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Senior Adam Constantine added 12 points for the Phoenix. Senior TJ Douglas grabbed a career-best 11 boards, including five on the offensive end of the floor. Elon pulled down 21 offensive boards in the contest.
Seahawk center John Fields hit 7-of-9 field goals for 14 points, while also leading the squad with nine rebounds. Montez Downey came off the bench to add 14 tallies in 18 minutes of action. Dominique Lacy (12), Chad Tomko (12) and Johnny Wolf (10) also scored in double figures for the visitors.
UNC Wilmington never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the game. Elon battled back to make it 8-6 on the strength of back-to-back jumpers by Drew Spradlin. Four straight points by Fields stretched the Seahawk lead back to six, but layups by Constantine and Chris Long kept the Phoenix close at 12-10 with 11:30 remaining in the first half.
Two Downey three-pointers were the bookends on a 22-4 Seahawk run, lifting UNCW to a 34-14 advantage with just under six minutes to play before the break. Elon managed to score four quick points, but the Seahawks earned the final three buckets of the half and took a 40-18 lead into the locker room.
Elon shot a dismal 25 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, compared to a 50 percent effort by UNC Wilmington. The Phoenix did not hit a triple in the first half for the first time this year.
UNC Wilmington outscored Elon 12-4 over the first three minutes of the final half, opening up a 52-22 advantage at the 17:03 mark. Bonney was quick to make his presence know when he returned to the floor, scoring five of the next seven in a Phoenix run, but the damage was already done. A Bonney three ball with 8:13 on the clock pulled Elon within 21, but the Phoenix would get no closer.
The Seahawks were dominant in the paint, netting 48 points in the lane compared to 26 by the Phoenix. Elon shot 33.3 percent for the contest while UNCW connected on 53.7 percent from the field, including 7-of-13 (53.8) from beyond the arc.
Elon opens up Southern Conference play as well as begins a four-game road stretch when the Phoenix heads to Birmingham, Ala., to battle the Samford Bulldogs on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 8:30 p.m. (EST).
The Citadel 67, Central Connecticut State 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior Zach Urbanus exploded with seven 3-pointers, tying a career-high, to lead The Citadel to a 67-53 victory over Central Connecticut State and conclude the CollegeInsider.com Skip Prosser Invitational. Urbanus, who tied his mark of seven treys against Chattanooga on Dec. 1, 2007, led the team with 23 points. Teammate Cameron Wells also reached double figures, 14 points, and established a career-high nine assists. Sophomore Cosmo Morabbi rounded out double-digit scorers with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, both tying career bests.
"Our backcourt had a sensational night," said head coach Ed Conroy. "Zach obviously kept us in it early on with his three-point shot. Cameron had as good a day as ever playmaking against the zone defense. He did a sensational job of getting into the paint, even though they were zoning and trying to keep him out of the paint and finding open shooters. Cosmo (Morabbi) and Zach really benefited from Cameron's playmaking."
The Citadel improved to 5-3 overall and was sparked by the play of its bench that accounted for 21 points. Junior Matt Clark played a significant role with five points and six rebounds, five on the offensive glass. Teammate Mike Groselle chipped in four points in 12 minutes of action. Joe Wolfinger finished with a quiet seven points and five rebounds. Wells' seven caroms provided a 35-28 edge in the rebounding category for the Bulldogs. As a unit, The Citadel hit 26-of-57 shots (45.6%), knocking down 13-of-26 in the second half. Behind Urbanus and Morabbi marksmanship from beyond the arc the Bulldogs finished 13-for-34 (38.2%).
After leading 35-33 at the break, the Blue Devils struggled from the field in the second half where they managed to hit 7-of-19 (36.8%) shots. Robby Ptacek finished as the only CCSU player in double figures with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Ptacek streaked out to 15 points by halftime but was held in check by Conroy's defense in the second half.
Trailing 41-40 with 14:03 remaining in the game, Urbanus buried a three-pointer to give The Citadel a lead that they would not relinquish. The host Bulldogs were recognized with three all-tournament selections including Wells, Urbanus and Wolfinger. Central Connecticut State (1-3) garnered two selections, Ptacek and Shemik Thompson. Thompson missed Sunday's game due to an injury.
The Bulldogs move into Southern Conference play on Thursday when they host Davidson College at McAlister Field House at 7:05 p.m.