Samford 68, UT-Arlington 60
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team rallied in the second half to post a 68-60 non-conference victory against the UT Arlington Mavericks on Saturday in a matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center.
Despite trailing by 45-37 with 11:32 to play, Samford (6-4) used clutch 3-point shooting from Josh Bedwell, John Peterson and Andy King to battle back for the 68-60 victory. The Bulldogs outscored the Mavericks 31-15 to close out the game and knocked down seven 3-point baskets in the final 11:20 of play.
"This was a good win for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "UT Arlington is a scary team to play. They are extremely athletic and they can make shots. They play hard and they changed defenses a lot. They got up by eight points against us in the second half, but I thought that when we switched to the 1-3-1 zone it really threw them off kilter and took them out of rhythm."
Samford finished with four players scoring in double figures for the second time this season and improved to 5-0 when at least three Bulldogs score in double figures. Jeffrey Merritt and King paced the team with 13 points apiece, while Bedwell added 11 and Peterson chipped in with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting.
King, Samford's senior center from Omaha, Neb., turned in his best game of the season Saturday and registered season-highs in points (13), rebounds (5), assists (5) and 3-point field goals (3). King proved to be the Bulldogs' key performer down the stretch as he knocked down all three of his 3-point field goals in a row.
With less than four minutes left to play and Samford trailing 53-51, King drained his first 3-point basket of the game to give the Bulldogs a 54-53 advantage. He then connected on back-to-back attempts to increase Samford's lead to 60-53 with 2:12 remaining in the game.
After King's heroics, UT Arlington (5-3) would get no closer than five points down as the Bulldogs upped their lead for a final 68-60 decision.
The Mavericks finished with three players scoring in double figures and were led by LaMarcus Reed's 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field. Darius Richardson followed with 11 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Bradley Gay added 10 points and three rebounds.
Samford's Bedwell got hot in the second half and tallied nine of his 11 points in the final period. During the Bulldogs' key stretch, he drained a trio of 3-point baskets within a five-minute span. Samford's native of Hartselle, Ala., finished the game 4-of-9 from the field and added three assists and a trio of steals.
Peterson came off the bench to score 10 points and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed two rebounds in 21 minutes of play.
Senior forward Josh Davis led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds. Samford's native of Lubbock, Texas, also handed out four assists and grabbed a pair of steals.
Samford quickly jumped out to a 19-4 advantage in Saturday's game, but UT Arlington consistently chipped away at the lead until Gay's running 3-pointer at the buzzer evened the halftime score at 30-30.
The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the field in the opening half and finished with a 45.1-percent mark for the game. Heading into the contest, UT Arlington was the eighth-ranked team in the nation in field-goal percentage defense and was only allowing opponents to shoot 35.6 percent from the field.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their four-game homestand versus the Asbury University Eagles at the Pete Hanna Center.
Murray State 73, Chattanooga 65
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team came up a little short in its comeback bid losing 73-65 to Murray State Saturday afternoon in McKenzie Arena. Chattanooga (4-6/2-0 SoCon) trailed by as many as 19 before storming back to within four late.
Omar Wattad led the Mocs with 23 points and six assists. Murray State (5-4), had four players in double figures with Ivan Aksa's 17 points and 12 rebounds leading the way.
It was all Murray State early as the Racers made 14 of their first 20 shots jumping out to a 19-point first half cushion, 40-21, with 3:57 left in the half. Wattad scored seven of his 12 first half points in the final 3:48, but the Mocs still trailed by 15 at intermission, 45-30.
The Racers went back up by 17, 50-33, at 16:09 on an Ivan Aska dunk on the fast break. But that's when it got interesting.
Chattanooga scored seven straight to whittle the lead to 10, 50-40, on a Wattad layup in transition at 13:11. Down 12, 54-42, the Mocs scored eight unanswered to dice the lead to four after back-to-back layups by Josh Odem (Johnson City, Tenn.) the latter coming at 8:15.
After a DeAntre Jefferson free throw cut the lead back to four, 57-53, at 7:03, the Racers responded with a 9-2 run. B.J. Jenkins capped the run with two free throws to make it 66-55 at 3:34.
Down 10, 70-60, with 2:57 remaining, the Mocs still had some fight left. A Chris Early (Huntington, W. Va.) three-pointer and Jefferson layup cut the margin to five, 70-65, with 51 seconds to play. But UTC would get no closer as Murray State hit three of four free throws down the stretch to cement the win.
The Racers were rock solid from the charity stripe throughout the contest making 18 of 21 attempts, 85.7 percent. After allowing Murray State to shoot 61.3 percent (19-31) from the field in the opening frame, the Mocs limited the patient Racers to 31.6 percent (6-19) after the break. Fourteen of MSU's 28 second-half points came at the foul line (16 att.).
Early and Jefferson scored 10 points apiece for Chattanooga and the duo tied Wattad with a team-high six rebounds. UTC out-rebound MSU 33-31, 22-14 in the second half.
Murray State's starting trio of guards combined for 33 points. Isaiah Cannon had 12 points and Isacc Miles added 11, while Jenkins had 10, 7-8 from the free throw line, and six assists.
The Mocs return to Southern Conference play next Friday, Nov. 17, at Elon. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.
Davidson 82, Charlotte 68
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson shot 55.2 percent from the field in the second half while Brendan McKillop led three Wildcat scorers in double figures with 21 points to give Davidson men's basketball an 82-68 victory over Charlotte in the 30th Hornets' Nest Trophy game between the Mecklenburg County rivals Saturday night in Belk Arena.
McKillop helped Davidson improve to 5-4 on the season by matching his season-high point total behind 7-of-12 shooting from beyond-the-arc, which matched a career-best effort. Jake Cohen finished just one rebound shy of his third consecutive double-double, scoring 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and converting all six free throw attempts. JP Kuhlman was also perfect at the free throw line, going 4-for-4 and hit 6-of-16 field goal attempts to total 18 points. He also added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Derrio Green led three Charlotte (4-6) scorers in double-figures with 16 points and added seven boards, three assists and three steals. Chris Braswell led the 49ers on the glass with nine rebounds and scored 15 points.
Davidson finished shooting at 45.9 percent (28-of-61) for the game and converted 12-of-29 three-pointers (41.4 percent). They held Charlotte to 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond-the-arc.
After leading by just one at halftime, a 12-3 run keyed by Kuhlman gave the Wildcats their first double-digit lead at 46-36 with 13:40 remaining in the second half. Kuhlman scored the first five points before McKillop added a three. Ben Allison then electrified the Belk Arena crowd with a big slam on a fastbreak and Nik Cochran added two more on a fast break.
Davidson extended the lead to as much as 19 points (68-49) with 4:05 remaining aftergoing on an 11-2 run. The 49ers cut the lead to 10 with an 11-2 run of their own to trail 60-70 with 2:10 remaining, but Davidson converted 9-of-10 from the charity stripe down the stretch en route to the final 82-68 margin.
Davidson held a 30-29 lead after a hotly-contested first half in which neither team held a lead greater than five points. After scoring the game's opening bucket, Davidson held the lead for the first 9:30 until Chris Braswell hit a jumper to put Charlotte on top 13-12. Cohen answered with a layup at the other end, but Charlotte scored the next five points to open an 18-14 advantage.
It was the largest lead the 49ers would hold. McKillop put the 'Cats back in front, 22-20 with 5:30 remaining with a deep three from the top of the key. Davidson opened a 27-23 advantage before a Braswell trey and a Javarris Barnett dunk to gave the 49ers a 28-27 lead with 1:31 remaining, but McKillop answered with his third three of the half to give the 'Cats a lead they would not relinquish.
De'Mon Brooks scored seven points for the Wildcats and added three boards. Clint Mann had six points and three boards while Tom Droney also had three rebounds. Davidson held a 40-32 edge on the glass.
After playing just their second home game of the season, Davidson will travel to New York for the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival for their next two games. They will first face St. John's, Monday, Dec. 20, at 9 p.m.
South Carolina 64, Wofford 53
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Wofford College men's basketball team was defeated 64-54 by South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday night. Down twelve at the half, the Terriers tied the game twice in the second half but could never take the lead in the contest.
Wofford is 4-6 on the season and 2-0 in the Southern Conference. South Carolina is 7-1 overall this season. Wofford was led by Cameron Rundles with 20 points and Noah Dahlman with 14 points. Tim Johnson had eleven rebounds for the Terriers. Bruce Ellington paced the Gamecocks with 20 points and Sam Muldrow added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double.
"We just couldn't get all the way back and only were able to tie it in the second half," said head coach Mike Young. "Shot selection is not where it needs to be and we got outrebounded. South Carolina had something to do with that, but I was disappointed with how we played. They played better than our team did and did better things. We just could not get over the hump with stops on the defensive end. We still have a lot of work on the road ahead but we also have a lot to look forward to."
The Gamecocks scored first, but a three by Jamar Diggs gave the Terriers a 3-2 lead. Neither team could do much early as South Carolina had a 10-6 lead at the 13:02 mark in the first half. The lead gradually increased to 19-11 with nine minutes left on the clock. Wofford cut the lead down to four points twice, but the Gamecocks went on a 12-3 run over the final six minutes and led at the half 32-20.
Wofford opened the second half with a three by Cameron Rundles. After the Gamecocks took a 34-23 lead, the Terriers went on an 11-0 run to tie the game at 34 with 15:08 on the clock in the second half. The score was also tied at 36 before the Gamecocks answered with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 43-36 at 10:39.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Wofford had cut the advantage back to four points at 49-45 after a jumper by Cameron Rundles, but it would be as close as the Terriers could get in the final minutes. A three pointer by Bruce Ellington with 1:43 on the clock sealed the game for the Gamecocks and the final score was 64-53.
Wofford shot a season-low 32.7 percent from the floor and was 33.3 percent from three-point range. South Carolina was shot 49.0 percent overall and was 33.3 percent from behind the arc. The Gamecocks had a 36 to 29 lead on the glass.
After taking the week off for exams, Wofford returns home on Saturday, December 18 against High Point at 7:00 p.m.
Georgia Southern 86, Brewton Parker 74