UNC Greensboro 73, Samford 40
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UNC Greensboro scored 40 of the final 49 points to blow open a close game and defeat Samford, 73-40, in the Spartans' Southern Conference opener.
The Spartans (2-4, 1-0) had a fairly balanced attack with 21 points from freshman guard Kyle Randall leading the way. Brandon Evans added 16 points and Ben Stywall and Korey Van Dussen each added 11 points each. Stywall also pulled down 15 rebounds to tie a career-high
The win was UNCG's largest over a Division I opponent - home or away. The previous largest margin had come against The Citadel, 84-54. It was also Samford's worst loss at the Hanna Center.
UNCG's largest margin in a conference road win previously in the Division I era had been a 23-point victory at Winthrop in 1995. UNCG's largest SoCon road win previously was a 68-47 win at Georgia Southern in 2006. The Spartans nearly led wire-to-wire, except for the game's only tie at 3-3 less than two minutes in.
Samford got 15 points from Brian Friday, 12 of those coming in the first half. Samford scored just 12 points in the second half and shot just 3-for-22 from the floor in the half. Samford did not record a field goal in the final 11:15 of the game.
UNCG's lead was just two at 33-31 following Andy King's three-pointer from the left corner with 18:32 left to play. But the Spartans blew the game open by scoring 29 of the next 35 points over an 11-minute span to hold a 25-point lead with seven minutes to play. In the process, Samford missed 17 of their final 19 shots from the floor after King's trey.
The Spartans came out shooting the ball well and executing on offense, leading by as many as nine in the opening half and never trailing in the opening 20 minutes for the first time this season. UNCG made their first five three-point attempts over the game's opening 7:15 to take an early 17-9 lead. The Spartans made 12 of their first 20 from the floor overall to maintain that eight-point advantage. Samford, however, scored the last five points of the half, holding UNCG scoreless over the final 3:22, as UNCG held a 31-28 at the break.
A three-pointer by Korey Van Dussen and a conventional three-point play by Pete Brown gave the Spartans their first double-digit lead of the day at 41-31 with 15:20 to play. That was part of the massive run that extended UNCG's lead to 62-37 with 7:30 to play and just continued to grow.
For the afternoon, UNCG shot 49.1 percent from the floor (27-of-55), while limiting Samford to just 27 percent in its home arena (12-44). Samford had shot 50 percent (21-of-42) from the floor in a dominating win over Elon on Thursday night. The Spartans also held a 40-22 advantage in rebounding, including surrendering just seven offensive boards despite Samford's dismal shooting.
The Citadel 68, Georgia Southern 43
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior guard Zach Urbanus scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, to lead The Citadel to 68-43 victory over Georgia Southern. Teammate Cameron Wells tallied 14 points, while Austin Dahn rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points. The Bulldogs defense forced 20 Eagle turnovers and limited GSU to 13 made field goals. The victory improves their record to 6-4 overall, 1-1 in Southern Conference play.
Urbanus, who scored 23 points against both Davidson and Central Connecticut State, led all scorers by virtue of hitting 5-for-7 from 3-point range. He was joined by Cosmo Morabbi (2-4), Wells (1-2) and Dahn (2-5) to combine for 10-of-22 shooting (.455) from beyond the arc. Bryan Streeter, who was not in the starting lineup, provided a force in the paint with six points and a team-high six rebounds for the Bulldogs. The Citadel converted 22-of-55 attempts (.400) from the field and added 14-of-22 from the free-throw line (.636).
Ben Drayton and Willie Powers each scored 10 points for Georgia Southern. Johntavious Rucker added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, leading the Eagles with highest number of made baskets. Tyler Troupe grabbed nine boards, six on the defensive glass, to lead both squads.
Urbanus sparked the Bulldogs lineup midway through the first half of play when he converted a pass from Cameron Wells at the 11:35 mark to close the deficit to 11-9 in favor of GSU. From there the Bulldogs would finish out the half on a 24-9 run behind 12 points from Urbanus. The Citadel held a 33-20 edge at the break.
The second half of action was much of the same as the Bulldogs outscored Georgia Southern 20-5 over a 6:43 span that was capped off by a Morabbi 3-pointer. With 6:21 remaining the contest, and Wells at the line, the junior point guard stretched the advantage to 30, 64-34, marking a game-high.
Urbanus and Wells continue to move further up the rankings for Citadel shooters. Urbanus has now connected on 183 career 3-pointers, leaving him eight shy of Ryan Nesbit in fourth place. As for Wells, his 14 points moves him into 18th place on the all-time scoring list. Wells will look to pass Felipe de las Pozas (1,135 pts.) next on the list.
Western Carolina 64, Furman 57
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Richie Gordon tallied 15 points and Jake Robinson added 13 to help Western Carolina down Furman 64-57 and claim its sixth straight victory in Southern Conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
After Furman trimmed the Catamount lead to 55-53 with 1:51 left in the game, Robinson and Brigham Waginger each converted three-point plays to help Western Carolina hold off Furman and improve to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in SoCon play. Furman fell to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Robinson muscled in a shot in the paint and buried a free throw with 1:18 left to up the Catamount lead to 58-53. Following back-to-back Furman turnovers, Waginger converted a layup on a fast break and finished the three-point play at the foul line to push the advantage to eight points with 30 seconds remaining. WCU made good on three free throws over the final 30 seconds to secure the victory.
The Catamounts shot just 41.4 percent from the field and only 13-of-23 from the foul line, but outscored Furman 34-18 in the paint and managed a 41-35 edge on the glass. Western Carolina netted 27 points off of its bench, led by Robinson's 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
Despite connecting on 13-of-26 second half field goals, Furman shot just 37.3 percent from the floor on the night and only 1-of-14 beyond the arc. Jordan Miller led three Paladins in double figures with 15 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the floor. Amu Saaka added 12 points and six rebounds while Justin Dehm scored 11 points and dished out three assists.
Western Carolina led 28-23 at intermission and stretched its lead to nine points at 43-34 with 11:15 remaining before Noah States sparked a Furman rally. States trimmed the margin to six with a layup and free throw at 10:10 and Miller scored to cut the lead to four points. After the Catamounts pushed the margin back to six at 52-46 with just over six minutes to play, a pair of Darryl Evans free throws and a driving one-handed slam by States pulled Furman to within two points at 52-50 with 5:45 left. The Paladins, however, made just one field goal over their next nine possessions as the Catamounts put the game out of reach.
Each team was guilty of 18 turnovers on the night while Furman notched a season-high 10 blocked shots, including three by Bryson Barnes.
The Paladins return to action on December 13, when they travel to face Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Western Carolina will face Bradley at 8:05 p.m. Monday in Peoria, Ill.
College of Charleston 67, Davidson 55
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston¹s Jeremy Simmons recorded 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Cougars to a 67-55 SoCon men¹s basketball victory over Davidson at Carolina First Arena Saturday afternoon.
Will Archambault scored all 10 of his points in the second half to lead the Wildcats (2-6, 1-1 SoCon), and Jake Cohen tallied eight points and eight rebounds. Bryant Barr added eight points and six boards off the bench.
Donavan Monroe netted 16 points for the Cougars (3-3, 2-0 SoCon), while Casaan Breeden added 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
CofC's defense was stifling, allowing the Wildcats to shoot just 28 percent from the field, including 4-of-24 from 3-point range. The Cougars used their defense to spark their offense, netting 14 points off turnovers and 14 fast-break points.
Davidson's 24 offensive rebounds and 55-36 edge on the glass overall were the bright spots as the 'Cats tallied 16 second-chance points.
After trailing 31-20 at the break, Davidson pulled to within seven points on a JP Kuhlman jumper, but a turnover and a long rebound off a missed jumper led to consecutive Simmons' fast-break dunks.
The 'Cats trimmed the margin to seven again, but this time the Cougars responded with a 15-2 run to open a 52-32 cushion with 8:29 to play.
The Wildcats missed their first 13 shots of the game and their first 10 3-point tries but still only trailed 7-4 with 14 minutes left in the first half. The cold shooting continued, and CofC used a 13-2 run to open a 20-6 cushion midway through the frame.
A 9-3 Davidson run made the score 28-20 on a Brendan McKillop trey, but Monroe hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the half and give the Cougars a 31-20 halftime lead.
Davidson returns to action in a non-conference matchup against Gonzaga in the Battle in Seattle. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. (PST) in KeyArena.
Elon 82, Chattanooga 63
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team dropped an 82-63 Southern Conference contest to Elon in the McKenzie Arena tonight. The Mocs fall to 4-4 on the year and 0-1 in SoCon action. Elon improves to 3-6 and 1-1 on SoCon play.
The Mocs were led by freshman Josh Odem's season high 20 points and five rebounds. He was 8-12 from the floor, 2-5 from 3-pt. range and 2-3 from the free throw line. Junior Jeremy Saffore tied a career-high with 13 points on 4-7 shooting, 5-8 from the free-throw line.
Chattanooga fell behind early in the game, shooting 28.6% from the field and committing 10 turnovers in the first half. Elon's 1-3-1 zone frustrated the Mocs into 2-10 shooting from 3-pt. range and just three field goals in the last 10 minutes of the first period.
Elon used a 17-4 run late the first period to take control of the game. The Phoenix took a 38-28 lead into the locker room.
UTC opened the second half with five quick points in the first minute on a layup by sophomore Keegan Bell and a 3-pointer from Odem to cut the lead in half. However, every time the Mocs got close, Elon had an answer.
The Phoenix took an 11-point lead 47-38 with 15:58 left in the game on a jumper by T.J. Douglas. The two teams traded baskets for the next five minutes with Elon holding a 7-10 point lead during that stretch.
The Phoenix started to pull away at the 10-minute mark behind eight-straight points from Chris Long off the bench. He mixed in a pair of free-throws with two 3-pointers to give Elon a 66-49 lead. Another three from Drew Spradlin gave the Phoenix a 20-point cushion 49-69 with 8:42 left in the game and they cruise to the win from there.
Long scored a career-high 20 points on the night, shooting 5-10 from three-point range and 5-6 from the free throw line. He also had a game-high nine assists and five steals tonight.
Chattanooga shot just 4-19 from behind the arc for the game. After Odem's three-pointer to start the second half, the Mocs missed their next seven attempts from long range. UTC was able to score from inside the arc in the second half, shooting 14-19 (.737).
However, the Mocs allowed Elon to hit 50 percent of its attempts in the second half, including 6-13 (.463) from deep.