Davidson 90, College of New Jersey 49
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Jake Cohen's career-high 23 points and Steve Rossiter's double-double led Davidson basketball to a 90-49 win over The College of New Jersey on Thursday night in John M. Belk Arena.
Cohen hit 11-of-19 attempts from the field, pulled in four rebounds and blocked four shots. Rossiter recorded 12 points and 11 rebounds while adding four assists and two steals. He was 4-of-8 from the field and hit both 3-point attempts.
Bryant Barr and JP Kuhlman also scored in double-figures. Barr totaled 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-8 from outside the arc. Kuhlman tallied 13 points, going 5-of-10 from the field and sinking 3-of-5 treys, while setting career-highs in assists (10) and steals (4).
The final 41-point margin was the largest lead the 'Cats held. Davidson finished the game shooting 52.2 percent, including 14-of-32 3-point attempts. Davidson held TCNJ without a field goal from 8:57-3:13 (5:44) in the second half as the Lions shot 28 percent from the floor for the game.
TCNJ had two score in double figures as Aaron Syvertson scored 20 points and Jay Frank scored 13 and added four assists. TCNJ pulled to within 26 points 3:54 into the second half, but Dan Nelms scored the next three buckets to extend the 'Cats lead. He finished with with a perfect night shooting, hitting three attempts from the field and a free throw to score seven points in just eight minutes on the court.
The 'Cats tallied 33 assists on 36 field goals. Brendan McKillop and Nik Cochran followed Kuhlman in the category with five each. Ben Allison also recorded a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
Three players scored in double-figures in the first half as the Wildcats shot 59.5 percent overall and hit 9-of-18 3-pointers. Barr and Cohen each had 13 points and were perfect inside the arc, while Kuhlman had 10 points and seven assists. Barr gave the 'Cats a 54-23 edge at halftime after sinking his third trey of the game, giving the 'Cats their largest lead to that point.
The Wildcats held the lead for the entire game as Rossiter opened the contest with a 3-pointer. Davidson extended its lead to seven less than two minutes in on a 3-pointer from Will Archambault, but TCNJ hung with the 'Cats as a 3-pointer from Syvertson trimmed Davidson's advantage to just 15-11. The 'Cats defense then held TCNJ without a field goal for 4:26 as Davidson extended its cushion to 29-12. McKillop, Archambault, Kuhlman and Barr all sank three-balls to key the run.
Appalachian State 113, Milligan 91
BOONE, N.C. - Donald Sims scored 23 points and Kellen Brand added 19 as Appalachian State University men's basketball defeated Milligan, 113-91, on Thursday evening.
The Mountaineers raced out to a 23-4 lead in the game's first four minutes before the squad put on cruise control and allowed Milligan to pull back within 10 points at 43-33 with five minutes to play in the half.
From there, Isaac Butts scored four of ASU's next 12 points as the home team held a 56-41 advantage at the break.
Seven Apps combined to shoot 8-for-15 from downtown in the half, and the squad shot 57.9 percent from the field, compared to 40.6 for the Buffaloes.
The game was never in doubt in the second half, as the Apps pushed the advantage to as many as 25 points after the intermission.
For the game, Appalachian managed a 56.9 field goal percentage, which was the second-highest of the season behind the team's last game at Wofford, where the Apps posted a 64.3 mark.
Appalachian finished the game with a season-high 16 three-pointers, which was just one shy of matching the program record.
All five starters reached double-figure points for ASU as Butts added 17, Jeremi Booth scored 14 and Andre Williamson notched his first-career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Behind Williamson's 13 boards, Butts grabbed seven and Nathan Healy pulled down five rebounds in just seven minutes as the Apps held a 43-36 advantage on the glass.
Marcus Wright led the ASU bench, which scored 30 points on the night, with seven points and a pair of assists. A.J. Highsmith added a pair of treys for six points to go along with three boards and Tyler Webb added five points and two rebounds.
For the night, ASU connected on 15-of-20 foul shots, and its 25 assists were the most on the season, topping the squad's 22 against Morgan State last month. Booth led the team and matched a career best with five assists while Butts and Brand each added four.
Justin Sylvester led Milligan with 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting while his eight rebounds also led the Buffs. MC shot 41.7 percent from the floor and 36.1 from downtown.
The Mountaineers' 113 points broke a Holmes Center record of 112 points, which was last set in a win over Milligan on December 30, 2008.
The Mountaineers head north to take on Robert Morris on Saturday, December 19, at 7 p.m.
Evansville 75, Georgia Southern 58
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- After finishing final exams and being off for nine days, Evansville passed the test against Georgia Southern, winning 75-58 at Roberts Stadium. James Haarsma and Colt Ryan combined for 48 of the Aces points and Haarsma had a game-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Colby Wohlleb had 12 points off four three pointers and eight rebounds to lead the Eagles on both sides of the floor. Junior guard Willie Powers III had 11 points and seven assists, playing 39 minutes.
Down by eight at the break, 36-28, Georgia Southern had a 12-4 run to open the second half off four straight three-point baskets, two by Wohlleb and one each by Powers and Drayton to tie the score at 40. Haarsma had two baskets in the paint and a Ned Cox lay-in put the Aces lead back to six at 46-40 at 15:37.
Over next three and a half minutes the Aces would hold the Eagles to only three points while putting up seven. Johntavious Rucker scored a layup at 10:43 followed by a layup by Cameron Baskerville to get Georgia Southern within six again, 53-47.
Easy layups and whistles were hard to come by for the Eagles. Evansville took advantage of second chance opportunities and made the most of its defensive rebounds. A 10-2 Aces run put the lead back in double digits, 69-54. The Aces scored 30 points in the paint for the game and had only three turnovers in the second half.
It was a low scoring affair for the first 10 minutes with the two teams combining for only 21 points by the 11 minute mark of the first half. Georgia Southern shot 58 percent in the first period, slightly better than Turnovers, lost possessions put Evansville ahead 33-25. Colby three from the right elbow off a Spencer pass 33-28, but Ryan hit three just right of the top of the key for a 36-28 lead at halftime.
Evansville converted 13 times off 17 trips to the foul line in the first half, The Eagles hit only 3-8 from the charity stripe in the first half. The Aces hit 21-32 free throws for the game to the Eagles 8-16.
Georgia Southern travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia State for the first of the home-and-home series with the Panthers. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. at Georgia State Sports Arena.
NC State 79, Elon 76
RALEIGH, N.C. - Adam Constantine battled for a career-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds but the Elon men's basketball team came up just short, falling to North Carolina State, 79-76, in non-conference action at the RBC Center on Thursday night. The Phoenix (3-8) led by as many as 11 points in the contest and put itself in position to win the game in the closing minutes. The Pack's Tracy Smith and Dennis Horner each posted 20-plus point performances to help NC State move to 8-1 on the year.
"We came here to get better, be competitively tough for 40 minutes and to compete on the national stage," said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "We accomplished those two specific goals, but we want more out of this program. We wanted to win. I told our guys in the locker room that I was proud of them and this shows how good we can be. I told them I was proud, but far from content."
The Phoenix saw a six-point halftime lead turn into a one-point NC State advantage, 40-39, after the Pack opened the final period on a 7-0 run. Back-to-back Phoenix buckets put Elon back on top, 43-40, but the lead would change hands nine more times before the final horn.
With the score tied at 49 with 11:45 to play, sophomore Terrance Birdette scored five straight points to push the Phoenix advantage to 54-49 with 10:31 on the clock. Horner subbed in the game and quickly made his presence known, hitting a jumper and scoring back-to-back buckets off offensive rebounds, as State regained a one-point lead, 55-54.
TJ Douglas nailed a trey and Constantine added a jumper to put Elon back on top. Elon was able to maintain a four-point edge until Smith got consecutive put-backs and converted on the three-point play to put the Wolfpack out in front, 62-61, at 5:09. NC State scored seven of the next nine points and Elon found itself down six, 69-63, with 2:48 remaining.
The Phoenix kept fighting and a Douglas jumper and a Chris Long layup closed the gap to two, 69-67, at the 1:34 mark. As the clock wound down, Elon was forced to foul and despite several late miscues, NC State made enough free throws to secure the victory.
Elon had four players in double figures, as Devan Carter contributed 12 points on 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Long netted 11 and Douglas was 4-of-7 for 10 points. The Phoenix shot 46.9 percent from the field, just slightly below the 49.4 shot by NC State. The Pack held a slight advantage on the boards, 40-36.
The Phoenix took its first lead of the game, 4-2, at the 18:08 mark of the first half and did not trail again in the opening stanza. A 10-2 run capped off with back-to-back triples by Long gave Elon a 15-7 edge. The home team cut it to three, 22-19, with eight minutes to go before the break, but the Phoenix answered with a 15-7 streak to build its biggest lead of the night, 37-26, at the 2:19 mark. Horner scored the final seven for the Pack and Elon held a 39-33 advantage heading into the locker room.
Elon will return to Alumni Gym for the first time since November 29 when it hosts Haverford on Monday, December 21 at 7 p.m.