Maryland 76, Elon 57
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Behind 20 second-half points from center Jordan Williams, the host Maryland Terrapins overcame a first-half deficit to defeat the Elon Phoenix, 76-57, in non-conference men's basketball action from the Comcast Center on Friday night. Williams finished with a game-high 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks as the Terps improved to 5-2 on the season. Elon (2-3) rookie Jack Isenbarger had another impressive night, scoring 20+ for the third time in five games to finish with a team-high 23 points.
It was very much a tale of two halves as Elon led by as many as 11 in the opening stanza and took a 34-31 advantage into the locker room. Maryland quickly turned the tide in the final period, using its low post presence to frustrate the visitors. The Terps outscored Elon 34-10 in the paint in the last 20 minutes and were effective on the glass, finishing with a 13-2 edge in second-chance points.
"We are definitely improving and tonight was our longest stretch of competitive toughness," said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "I told the guys that we were tough for 25 minutes tonight but we seek 40. To go as long as we did against a physical Maryland team in this kind of venue, we can certainly draw positives from that."
Sophomore Roger Dugas added 13 points, 11 in the first half, and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds. Senior forward Scott Grable posted eight boards for the Phoenix. Isenbarger had a solid all around game with six rebounds and three assists to go with his 23 points.
Elon played a strong first half of basketball as an Isenbarger three-pointer put the Phoenix ahead 20-9 with 10:24 to play. The rookie scored nine of Elon's first 20 points. The Terrapins turned the ball over six times during that span and had a total of 10 miscues in the opening period.
A brief 7-2 spurt by the Terps put them within four, 24-20, with 6:11 showing on the clock. Elon answered and a Sebastian Koch triple put the Phoenix back up seven, 29-22, with 3:11 to play. Maryland would manage to close the gap to as few as two before Elon took a 34-31 lead into the break.
Maryland scored the first five points of the second half to take its first lead since the opening minute of the contest, 36-34. Isenbarger quieted the crowd with a long ball at 16:59 to put Elon back on top, 37-36. Unfortunately, that would be Elon's final advantage of the evening as the Terrapins outscored the Phoenix 14-2 over the next five minutes to go ahead 50-39.
Elon managed to trim the lead to seven on two occasions, but Williams continued to work the lane, scoring nine consecutive Maryland points during one stretch as the Terrapins capitalized on poor Phoenix shooting and closed out the win.
After shooting above 40 percent in the first half, Elon only managed to knock down 9-of-36 (25 percent) in the last 20 minutes. The Phoenix also struggled to get to the line, attempting only seven free throws compared to 22 by Maryland. The Terrapins also played a much cleaner game in the second half, turning the ball over only three times.
Elon will move into Southern Conference action this week as the Phoenix travel to Greenville, S.C. for a battle with the Furman Paladins on Wednesday, December 1 at 7 p.m. Elon is looking for back-to-back victories in Timmons Arena after a win last season.
Mercer 71, Western Carolina 66
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Mike Williams led four Catamounts in double figures with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half, but clutch free throw shooting in the closing minutes for Mercer led the Bears to a 71-66 win over Western Carolina in the sub-regional round of the Legends Classic Friday evening at the Kaplan Arena.
A layup from Williams with 47 seconds remaining in regulation pulled WCU back to within a point, 66-65, but the Bears hit 7-of- 8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win, snapping a three-game slide. It also halted WCU's three-game winning streak in the head-to-head series.
"I thought overall tonight, we played young, played inexperienced," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter during post-game comments on the Catamount Sports Network. "With some of their traps and some of the things they were doing defensively, they sped us up to where we weren't making good decisions. And then, they hit big free throws down the stretch as we were trying to lengthen the game by fouling."
Williams, who was saddled with foul trouble most of the second half, was joined in double figures by freshman Brandon Boggs with a career-best 12 points and seven rebounds, with junior Keaton Cole and senior Richie Gordon chipping in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Bears were paced by the double-double effort of Brian Mills who finished with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jeff Smith added 18 points with Mark Hall scoring 10 off the bench.
Neither team was able to ever pull away from the other in a game that saw nine lead changes and the score tied a combine eight times. The largest lead for either squad was just six points - WCU in the first half and Mercer after intermission.
A fast-break dunk by Harouna Mutombo and pair of free throws by Cole midway through the opening 20 minutes gave the Catamounts a six-point, 17-11, lead. However, it was quickly erased by a 9-0 spurt by Mercer to give the designated visiting team a three-point lead, carrying a one-point, 29-28, lead into the break.
Gordon gave the Catamounts what proved to be their final lead of the game, tipping in missed field goal at the 16:11 mark of the second half, but Mills answered with an offensive rebound tip-in on the ensuing possession and Hall buried a 3-pointer at the 14:55 mark to hand the Bears the lead for good, 39-36.
A pair of Cole free throws with six and a half minutes showing on the game clock knotted the game at 50 marking the eighth tie of the contest. WCU was able to pull to within a point four times inside the final three minutes, but the Bears responded from the free throw line to pull out the win.
Western Carolina continues play in the Legend's Classic on Saturday afternoon against in-state foe, Gardner-Webb, with tip-off slated for 3:30 pm. The Runnin' Bulldogs fell by one, 56-55, on Friday night to the host William & Mary Tribe to drop their second-straight game, falling to 3-3 overall. WCU trails in the all-time series with the Runnin' Bulldogs, 5-6, but won last year's meeting 75-59 in Boiling Springs.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with air-time of 3:00 pm.
Chicago State 64, Georgia Southern 59
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- Chicago State used a 10-0 run to take the lead away from Georgia Southern and run to a 64-59 win at the South Padre Invitational Friday afternoon at the SPI Convention Center. Ben Drayton III and Rory Spencer both had 13 points to lead the Eagles in scoring while Jelani Hewitt grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Chicago State's Johnathon Montgomery, converting on two free-throws with three seconds left in the game to seal the win, was the leading game scorer with 17 points. Teammate Hajji Martin had a game-high 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
The Cougars, who outscored Georgia Southern 17-4 in the last six minutes of play, took the lead 60-59 with 45 seconds left in the game, their first lead since 18:16 left in the first half. Hewitt's attempt from behind the arc would come up short as Chicago State's Montgomery grabbed the defensive rebound and was sent to the line to seal the win for Chicago State.
Eric Ferguson dished out a career-high five assists, while Marvin Baynham grabbed three steals, also a career-high. Drayton had a season-high six rebounds while Hewitt tied a career high in steals with four.
The Eagles jumped out to an 11-9 lead with 14:28 left in the first half and then went on a 12-3 run to pull ahead 23-12 with just under 10 minutes left in the half. The Cougars scored five straight before GSU put up 12 points to make it 35-19, the largest lead of the game for the Eagles, with 4:12 left in the first half. Georgia Southern took a double-digit lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Eagles shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half led by Spencer's 3-for-3 shooting and 11 first-half points. The senior poured in five points at the charity stripe.
Chicago State came out on fire in the second half, draining five shots from three-point land. A pair of three's for CSU's Victor Scott and Montgomery knotted the game at 44-all with 11:56 to go. The Eagles went on an 11-3 tear to lead by eight before the cougars outscored GSU 17-4 in the final six minutes of action.
Georgia Southern will conclude play in the South Padre Invitational Saturday, November 27th, as it plays Mississippi Valley State at 12:30 p.m.