Princeton 65, UNC Greensboro 50
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Dan Mavraides scored nine straight points to spark a 15-4 run by Princeton to close out the first half on the way to a 65-50 over UNC Greensboro on Sunday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Tigers (4-4) were paced by Ian Hummer, who had a game-high 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 from the stripe. Mavraides finished with 13 points.
Brandon Evans and Ben Stywall led the Spartans (2-6) with 14 points each. The two also led UNCG with seven rebounds apiece.
Despite a span of nearly five minutes without a bucket, the Tigers shot 50 percent from the floor (25-of-50) and committed a season-low nine turnovers. Princeton was just 4-of-19 from three-point range, but 21-of-31 inside the arc. Princeton also took advantage of 15 UNCG turnovers, holding a 17-2 advantage in points of turnovers.
Princeton led by 13 at the break following its 15-4 run and increased it to 16 at 40-24 early in the second half. The Spartans began to chip away midway through the half, however, holding Princeton without a field goal for 4:37. A Ben Stywall free throw with just over six minutes remaining capped a 6-0 spurt to pull UNCG to within 48-41.
The Spartans were never able to make it closer than seven points the rest of the afternoon, however. The Tigers went on an 11-2 run to regain control.
The Spartans began the game on a high note as Pete Brown slammed home the first basket of the afternoon. The two teams would stay close for most of the half. A layup by Evans with 7:26 remaining before intermission pulled UNCG to within 20-18, but Princeton would go on a run to close out the
half. UNCG's 22 points at the break made for its lowest opening half of the season.
Princeton outrebounded the Spartans 20-12 in the first half, which included only one offensive rebound for the home side. The Spartans had 25 offensive rebounds in their previous outing six days earlier against College of Charleston. The Tigers moved the ball all day in their patented offensive, recording assists on 19 of 25 field goals.
UNCG had 12 offensive rebounds in the second half, when it outrebounded the Tigers 21-9. But the Spartans were 1-for-9 from behind the arc in the second half and 2-for-14 on the afternoon.
The Spartans return to action on Friday as they hit the road to face Akron at 7 p.m.
Wake Forest 90, Elon 50
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Elon men's basketball team could not overcome the inside presence of host Wake Forest as five Demon Deacons scored in double figures to earn a 90-50 victory over the Phoenix on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. Wake Forest (6-2) scored 52 points in the paint and got a game-high 16 points from freshman Ari Stewart as the Deacons won their second straight contest. Elon, facing the first of two Atlantic Coast Conference opponents in the next five days, dropped to 3-7 on the season.
"This was a great opportunity for our team to be on the national stage," commented Phoenix first-year head coach Matt Matheny. "It is a learning opportunity for both our team and our program. We need to continue to learn how to overcome adversity."
Junior Chris Long led the Phoenix for the second consecutive game, coming off the bench to score 11 points on a perfect 7-of-7 afternoon from the free throw line. Drew Spradlin was the only other Elon player in double figures with 10 points in the contest.
After Wake Forest jumped out to a quick 8-2 advantage, a Devan Carter lay-in and a three-pointer by TJ Douglas closed the gap to one with 15:58 on the clock. Stewart netted nine points in a 17-6 Deacon run as the home team pushed the score to 25-13 over the next six minutes of action.
The Wake lead would grow to as many as 16 points before the Phoenix used a 9-0 spurt of its own to get within seven, 33-26, with just under three minutes to go before the half. Sophomore Daniel Watts gave good minutes off the bench in the stretch, scoring four of the nine Phoenix tallies. Unfortunately, Wake scored eight of the final 10 points in the half, including an Al-Farouq Aminu shot at the buzzer, to take a 41-28 lead into the break.
After Elon trimmed the lead to 11 in the early going of the final period, Wake Forest ripped off eight unanswered points to build a 19-point advantage with less than four minutes gone by in the half. The Deacons continued to build on their lead, taking advantage of its obvious size advantage as well as Elon's 12 second-half turnovers. Wake scored 18 points off miscues in the final 20 minutes, netting 34 points in the paint. The Demon Deacons dominated the glass, outrebounding the Phoenix, 53-27, and scoring 22 second-chance points.
For the game, Elon shot 31 percent from the field, compared to a 52.8 percent performance from Wake Forest.
The Phoenix will finish up final exams prior to playing the first of its final two games before the holiday break. Elon will make the short trip to Raleigh, N.C., to battle the NC State Wolfpack on Thursday, December 17 at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center.
No. 24 Clemson 82, Furman 53
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Senior Trevor Booker scored 25 points and added 14 rebounds to lead the 24th-ranked Clemson Tigers past Furman 82-53 in non-conference men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson scored 35 points off of 27 Furman turnovers and shot 53.8 percent (35-65) from the floor to notch its 27th consecutive victory over the Paladins and improve to 8-2 on the season. Furman, which fell to 5-3, connected on just 18-of-62 (.290) field goal attempts and was outscored 64-14 in the paint by its Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.
"We just did not do a good job," said Paladin head coach Jeff Jackson. "They did a great job today. The press got to us and they are just more physical than we are. Trevor Booker gave us issues inside. We just weren't as tough with the ball as we wanted to be. We play games like this to help us improve. It is good to come into an environment like this and I hope that it prepares us for the next game."
After Jordan Miller pulled Furman to within 15 points at 46-31 on a jumper with 16:06 remaining, the Tigers held the Paladins to only one field goal for over a seven-minute stretch while reeling off an a decisive 20-2 run, keyed by five points from freshman Devon Booker.
The younger Booker joined his brother in double figures with 11 points while guard Demontez Stitt added nine points, six assists and three steals. The Tigers made just 12-of-25 attempts from the foul line and held a 42-39 edge in rebounding, but became the first Furman opponent since Stetson on November 14, 1998, to fail to make a three-point basket against the Paladins as Clemson missed on all 10 of its long range attempts.
Furman connected on 8-of-21 three-point attempts and converted 9-of-13 trips to the charity stripe. Freshman Colin Reddick tallied 11 points and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds to go with a pair of steals. Miller totaled 11 points and five assists while Bryson Barnes added 10 points and six rebounds for Furman.
The Paladins buried four three-pointers in the opening eight minutes of the game and trailed just 27-21 with under seven minutes remaining in the first half before Clemson embarked on a 16-5 spurt to close the period and build a 43-26 margin entering intermission.
Furman returns home on Friday when it hosts instate rival South Carolina State on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.