Furman 91, South Carolina 75
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Senior Amu Saaka scored 20 points to lead five Paladins in double figures as Furman rolled past South Carolina 91-75 in non-conference men's basketball action before a crowd of 2,717 on Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.
The win, Furman's fifth straight, marked its first triumph over the Gamecocks since February 20, 1980, and first win over a Southeastern Conference foe since a 70-62 victory at Vanderbilt on November 28, 2006. With the win, the Paladins improved to 8-2 for the first time since the 1987-88 season. South Carolina slipped to 7-3 with its second straight defeat.
Leading just 71-67 with 6:05 remaining, Furman reeled off seven straight points to open up a 78-67 advantage with four minutes left and never led by fewer than seven points the rest of the way. Saaka opened the run taking a pass from Colin Reddick for a layup and completing the three-point play at the foul line before Reddick drained a short jumper to put Furman up by nine. Darryl Evans stole the ball from Bruce Ellington and scored on the fast break to up the advantage to 11 points.
A jumper and three-pointer from Ellington helped South Carolina trim the margin to 79-72, but Furman followed an Evans layup with back-to-back steals and baskets from Jordan Miller to put the game out of reach at 85-72 with 1:35 to play.
Saaka became the first Paladin since 1998 to convert on 14-of-14 trips to the foul line to pace Furman with 20 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Jordan Miller added 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Dehm, who connected on 5-of-5 three-point attempts, and Brandon Sebirumbi scored 15 points apiece. Evans added 11 points, six boards, five assists and three steals.
Furman shot 52.6 percent from the field to net its season-high 91 points. The Paladins, who also connected on 24-of-29 free throws, outscored the Gamecocks 40-26 in the paint and outrebounded South Carolina 44-26.
Ellington made 6-of-13 treys to lead South Carolina with 31 points. Guard Brian Richardson added 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting beyond the arc and Ramon Galloway came off of the bench to contribute 11 points. South Carolina made 12-of-30 three-pointers, but converted on just 11 of its 20 trips to the charity stripe and shot 43% from the floor.
South Carolina raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first half before Sebirumbi scored six points to key a 16-2 spurt that gave the Paladins an 18-12 lead on Chris Toler's tip-in with 12:09 left in the period. The Gamecocks clawed back to grab a one-point lead, but senior Justin Dehm buried three of his five first half three-pointers as the Paladins capped the half on a 16-8 run to carry a 41-33 lead into intermission.
The victory, which came without second leading scorer Noah States who missed his second straight game due to a groin injury, gave Furman its first five-game winning streak since the 2002-03 campaign.
The Paladins return to action on December 29, when they visit undefeated and 24th-ranked University of Central Florida in the opening round of the UCF Holiday Classic presented by EA Sports in Orlando, Fla. Tip-off against the Golden Knights is set to approximately 7 p.m. immediately following the tournament opener between Northeastern and Princeton.
Georgia Southern 74, Georgia State 72 (OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern freshman forward Marvin Baynham drew the charge from Georgia State's Devonta White in the lane with three seconds left in overtime to help the Eagles preserve a two-point lead for a 74-72 win. Georgia Southern improves to 4-9 on the season while Georgia State falls to 4-5.
Eric Buckner scored the first six of the Panthers' nine points in overtime, but it was Brandon McGee's three-pointer to tie the game for the fifth time at 72 all. Buckner fouled Ben Drayton III, the Eagles' leading scorer with 19 points, and the junior guard hit both free throws to give the Eagles the margin of victory. Eric Ferguson who made a heads up play after chasing down a loose ball and calling a timeout with 21 seconds left in overtime, had a team-high seven rebounds and four steals to go along with his 17 points on the night.
The Eagles had an 11-point lead with 2:53 left in the game when Georgia State scored 11 unanswered points to tie the game at 63-63. Savannah, Ga., native James Fields scored the tying basket for the Panthers with seven seconds left in regulation. Georgia Southern, down four at the half, took its first lead of the game off a three-pointer by Drayton at 16:59 of the second half.
Drayton scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half. Jelani Hewitt also scored in double digits for Georgia Southern with 10 points. McGee had a double-double with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers. Buckner had 14 points and six rebounds
The Citadel 67, South Carolina 57
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Sophomore center Mike Groselle recorded the second double-double of the season (19 points, 14 rebounds), as The Citadel won the opening game of the IBN Las Vegas Classic 67-57 over in-state foe South Carolina State. Along with the offensive support of Zach Urbanus (15 points) and Cameron Wells (14 points) the Cadets pick up their fourth win of the season. The Citadel will move into the afternoon session of the tournament for a 5:00 p.m. (EST) meeting with SIU-Edwardsville.
The Citadel used its defense to earn the victory, limiting S.C. State to 8-of-29 (27.6%) shooting in the second half, allowing the fewest second half points (23) by an opponent since Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs grabbed 46 rebounds, including 17 on the offensive glass, anchored by a career-high 14 boards from Groselle. Teammate Austin Dahn also notched a career-high in rebounds, nine, grabbing five on the offensive end. Offensively the Cadets finished 26-of-64 (40.6%) from the floor while knocking down 12-of-17 free throw attempts. Wells moved within five points of tying all-time scoring leader Regan Truesdale and along the way dished out five assists, the sixth time this season that he has five-plus assists.
The trio of Darnell Porter (16 points), Omar Sanders (12 points) and Brandon Riley (10 points) were the sparkplugs for the S.C. State offense. Porter was the key cog in the SCSU offense in the second half, scoring 14 of the team's 23 points, as The Citadel clamped down on their rival's attack. Sanders finished with a team-high seven rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, however his post presence was not enough to outmuscle a Citadel unit that finished with a 46-33 in rebounds. Eight players scored for SCSU, including Joe Ikhinmwin who tallied six off the bench as S.C. State finished with a 13-7 edge in bench points.
"I'm really happy at the plays that we made on the defensive end," said Citadel Head Coach Chuck Driesell. "We've constantly talked about it, especially after the Colorado and New Mexico games, and you take those caliber teams in that kind of environment and it's difficult to see improvement. Finally, we got a very good team in South Carolina State that we did what we were supposed to do and put emphasis on the defensive end and we made a step in the right direction on the defensive end."
S.C. State carried over momentum from a buzzer beater before halftime to push the lead to four on tow occasion within the first three minutes of the second half. A brief run which included four straight points by Groselle, along with jumpers by Urbanus and DeVontae Wright, gave The Citadel a 43-40 advantage with 15:17 remaining in the game.
Just over three minutes later Porter responded with back-to-back buckets to give S.C. State the lead, 44-43. Wells responded in typical style for The Citadel making a layup and following a three-point by play Mike Dejworek the Bulldogs would take a 50-45 lead with 7:36 remaining.
The two teams traded baskets with The Citadel maintaining a four point edge before a series of points in the paint by Bryan Streeter and Groselle upped the Cadet lead to 61-52 at the 2:57 mark. A pair of free throws by Dahn and Groselle combined with a Wells layup made for the 67-57 Citadel victory.
"The biggest difference in the second half is that Cam started driving to the basket," said Groselle. "When he started driving it they couldn't cheat me over the top because they knew that he would go right around them and get a layup."
Urbanus led all scorers with 11 points at the half, hitting 5-of-8 from the floor and the 250th 3-pointer of his Bulldog career in the process. He was joined in scoring by Groselle (seven points), Dahn (six points) and Wells (five points). The Citadel finished 14-of-33 (42.4%) from field goal range and converted 3-for-7 (42.9%) from beyond the arc. The post play of Groselle, who grabbed six rebounds, along with five from Urbanus provided the Bulldogs with a 22-15 edge on the glass.
A slow start to the opening frame put The Citadel in an early 18-7 deficit on a jumper by SCSU's Darnell Porter by the 11:37 mark. Groselle followed with a layup that sparked a 21-9 Cadets run over the next 9:04 of the contest. Keyed by Urbanus' eight points, the Bulldogs also got five points each from Wells and Groselle during the stretch. Behind five players scoring at least two points during the run, The Citadel took its first lead of the game, 30-29, with just over two minutes remaining.
The sharpshooting Urbanus pushed the lead to 33-29 on his lone 3-pointer of the half with 1:08 remaining, giving The Citadel its largest advantage of the first stanza. Tyvon Williams answered with a layup and a Khalif Toombs drained a 3-pointer as time expired to give S.C. State a 34-33 advantage heading into the intermission.
Elon 73, Navy 58
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - It felt like Alumni Gym instead of the Alumni Hall as chants of "Let's Go Elon" from a large maroon and gold contingency helped lift the visiting Elon men's basketball team to a 73-58 victory over the host Navy Midshipmen in Wednesday night non-conference action. Elon (5-7) closed the game on a 22-5 run and used a dominating performance on the glass to earn the win in its final game of 2010. Navy dropped to 4-9 heading into the holiday break.
Navy's Jordan Sugars converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Mids their first and only lead of the game, 53-51, with 5:25 remaining in the contest. Elon answered on the ensuing possession as Drew Spradlin buried one of his four three-pointers on the evening to put the Phoenix back on top, 54-53, and spark a 17-1 visitor run.
Elon got offensive rebounds its next three trips down the floor and converted each one into points. One of the biggest daggers of the night came after Chris Long was forced to take a long three as the shot clock wound down and Roger Dugas grabbed the long offensive rebound. Dugas kicked the ball to rookie Sebastian Koch who drained a triple and gave Elon the 59-54 advantage with 3:28 remaining.
With the Mids on their heels, the Phoenix forced turnovers and created points. Troutman put a cap on the 22nd Navy turnover, slamming home a dunk for a 65-54 Phoenix lead at the 2:21 mark and closing the door on the chance of a comeback. Troutman and Koch combined for twelve of the 17 points during the run.
"We are very excited," Elon head coach Matt Matheny said. "It was a war, a battle, a hard-fought victory. There were a lot of grins in that locker room tonight. Our Achilles heel has been our rebounding and we challenged our players to be the team that would win the loose balls and get on the glass. Last year we came up here and they really beat us up. We looked at that on film and our players decided that wasn't going to happen tonight."
Four players scored in double figures for the Phoenix, led by Spradlin's 14 points. Long netted 13 and added a season-high eight assists. Elon had 16 assists on 24 buckets. Koch racked up a career-best 11 points and five boards and Jack Isenbarger scored 10 points. Sugars was the lone player in double digits for Navy with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Elon had its best performance on the glass all year, specifically on the offensive end of the floor. The Phoenix grabbed 19 offensive boards, led by Roger Dugas' six. Dugas pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in the contest as Elon dumped in 22 second-chance points compared to only one by the Midshipmen. The Phoenix outrebounded Navy 46-27. Elon also converted 23 Navy miscues into 27 points.
Elon came out shooting the long ball in the first half as seven of its 11 buckets came from downtown. Holding an 11-9 advantage at the 12:42 mark, Elon went on an 11-2 run that included two Long treys to take a 21-11 lead and force a Navy timeout at the 7:59 mark.
Helped by eight straight Spradlin points, Elon pushed its lead to 30-18 with under two minutes to go before the half. As the clock wound down, Navy forced a Phoenix turnover and a Sugars' dunk cut the Elon led to nine. After an empty Phoenix possession, Sugars held for the last shot and drained a triple at the buzzer to make it a 30-24 game after 20 minutes of action.
Navy made it 11 unanswered points after scoring the first five points of the second stanza to make it a one-point game, 30-29, with 18:11 to play. Elon clung to its advantage until Navy tied the game at 36 after Sugars converted a three-point play at 15:46.
With the game knotted at 38, an Isenbarger long ball capped a 9-2 Phoenix run and gave the visitors a 47-41 edge with 9:50 remaining. Navy responded with a 12-4 run of its own to go on top for the first time in the contest, 53-51.
The Phoenix will have a 10-day break before it returns to the Northeast for a bout with Columbia on January 2 at 2 p.m
Richmond 63, UNCG 53
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG pulled within five points with just over six minutes remaining on a jumper from the corner, but Richmond held on late to repel the Spartans' bid for their first win of the season Wednesday, 63-53.
The Spartans challenged a prominent program for the third straight game and turned in their best defensive effort of the year but were unable to break through.
"We were pretty good in a 15-minute increment there," coach Mike Dement said. "The tough thing is dealing with the overall business. The coaches see us getting a little better defensively and getting more movement offensively."
Richmond, which has beaten Arizona State and No. 14 Purdue so far, was limited to 37.5 percent shooting by the 0-11 Spartans.
The Spiders (9-3) made their first 12 free-throw attempts of the second half and operated a free-flowing offense against which UNCG struggled to rebound at times.
In a decisive stretch, Richmond converted three Spartan miscues into transition baskets and expanded a four-point halftime lead to a 42-31 edge on Kevin Smith's layup with 12:24 left.
UNCG made a run and closed the gap to 53-48 on Korey Van Dussen's jumper from the corner at the 6:06 mark. That was as close as it got.
Freshman guard Trevis Simpson turned in another great performance for the second straight game of his young career, a 14-point, 23-minute performance that led the Spartans.
His 3-pointer from the right corner made it 57-51 with 4:18 left, but on Richmond's next trip down the court, an offensive rebound prolonged the possession and took valuable time off the clock.
Aloysius Henry, limited to 29 minutes by leg cramps, finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
For their next test, the Spartans host No. 1 Duke on Dec. 29.
Clemson 66, College of Charleston 59
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Jerai Grant scored 15 points and made all nine of his free throws to lead Clemson to a 66-59 win over College of Charleston on Wednesday night at Carolina First Arena.
Demontez Stitt returned for the Tigers (8-4) after missing two games with knee surgery. He scored eight points, including a key 6-foot baseline floater that put Clemson ahead, 62-57, with 42 seconds to go.
Senior Andrew Goudelock led all scorers with 21 points, fighting through double-teams much of the game. He missed a three-pointer that could have tied the game with 16 seconds to go.
The Cougars (8-4) opened the game with an 11-0 run and led 29-26 at halftime. Neither team was able to build a double-digit lead in what was a hard-fought second half. Grant and Devin Booker both hit a pair of free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the narrow win for the Tigers.
Senior Jeremy Simmons was the only other Cougar player in double figures with 13.
CofC will take some time off during the Christmas holiday break to regroup, before traveling to No. 18 Tennessee for a New Year's Eve matchup on Friday, Dec. 31 in Knoxville, Tenn. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Colorado State 82, Appalachian State 79
CANCUN, Mexico - Omar Carter drained a layup to tie the game at 79-79 with 23 seconds remaining in regulation, but Colorado State's Adam Nigon knocked down a corner three-pointer with two seconds on the clock to lift the Rams past Appalachian State University men's basketball on Wednesday in the first round of the Cancun Governor's Cup.
The Rams (6-3) opened a lead as large as seven points in the latter stages of the second half, but Appalachian rallied to tie the game at 77-77 on a pair of Jeremi Booth three-pointers. It was the 14th and final knotted score in the contest, and lasted just 14 seconds.
CSU's Travis Franklin converted a layup on the next trip down the floor with 2:48 remaining, before a series of four missed shots and a turnover between the squads set up Carter's shot. Carter tallied 20 points and five rebounds in the contest while Booth added 12 points and five boards of his own.
Donald Sims led all scorers with 24 points and eight assists on 8-of-15 shooting and four threes. ASU was 10-of-18 from downtown in the game, compared to 7-of-16 for Colorado State.
The Mountaineers overcame a slow start in the contest to work up to an eight-point lead late in the first half before the Rams cut their deficit to just 38-35 at the intermission.
Franklin and Andy Ogide shouldered a majority of CSU's scoring load with 21 points each. Ogide notched a double-double with 13 boards as well. In addition to sinking the game winner, Nigon finished with 15 points and three boards.
The Rams held a 39-29 rebound advantage and converted 17 second-chance points. CSU scored 42 points in the paint, compared to ASU's 24. Both teams shot roughly 50 percent from the floor in the game.
The Mountaineers (4-5) battled foul trouble throughout the contest, evidenced most clearly by Anthony Breeze, who fouled out in just 13 minutes off the bench. Andre Williamson recorded four fouls to go along with six points and six rebounds.
Fellow post Petey Hausley picked up three fouls of his own. The junior sank all four of his shots fir eight points to accompany four rebounds in 19 minutes.
Marcus Wright scored two points and swiped a pair of steals in the first half before injuring his right ankle four minutes before the break. He did not return to the game and his status for Thursday's game is questionable.
The Mountaineers face off against Texas State (2-8) in the consolation bracket on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST. Colorado State advances to the semifinal against Mississippi.
Creighton 58, Samford 40
OMAHA, Neb. - The Samford basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped Wednesday as the Bulldogs dropped a defensive struggle against the Creighton Bluejays 58-40 in front of 16,550 fans at the Qwest Center Omaha. The total of 16,550 was the largest crowd to watch Samford play in school history. The Bulldogs' previous record was 16,207 against Dayton at the CoSIDA Classic held in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 20, 1999.
"The game just sort of slipped away from us in second half and we didn't execute our game plan defensively," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I really thought that Creighton ratcheted up their energy and we couldn't match them. That's what they do. They are strong around the basket and then we also lost some of their shooters. We couldn't keep the non-starred shooters in front and we didn't get into their shooters' feet."
Samford (8-5) opened the game with a 10-2 lead, but Creighton (8-4) methodically worked its way to a 24-19 lead at the half. The Bluejays pulled away from the Bulldogs in the second half as Samford only shot 27.3 percent from 3-point range in the game.
Creighton shot 41.5 percent from the field and was led in scoring by both Doug McDermott and Antoine Young's 14 points apiece. The Bluejays' duo proved to be the only players in the game to score in double figures.
Samford's leading scorer was Jeffrey Merritt, who finished with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Redshirt freshman Drew Windler added six points on a 2-of-7 performance from the floor. Both of Windler's field goals came from 3-point range in the second half of play.
The Bulldogs' Andy King, a native of Omaha, Neb., played in front of nearly 200 friends and family Wednesday and finished the game with five points, a rebound and an assist. Samford's senior center drained a deep 3-point basket and went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
After a back-door layup from Merritt with 11 minutes to play in the second half, Samford trimmed Creighton's lead to 41-36. The Bluejays then quickly answered with back-to-back scores from McDermott and Young to jumpstart a 17-4 run to end the game.
At halftime, Samford trailed Creighton 24-19. Neither team shot the ball well in the opening period, but the Bulldogs were only 7-of-23 from the field for a 30.4 percentage. The Bluejays tallied a 40-percent performance from the field and knocked down four first-half 3-pointers. Samford finished the opening half 3-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Samford was out-rebounded in Wednesday's game 45-19 and 16-1 on the offensive boards. Creighton's McDermott pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as he finished with a double-double for the Bluejays. The Bulldogs' leading rebounder was once again Jeffrey Merritt. In 13 games this season, Samford's 6-foot-6 guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., has paced the team in rebounding 12 times.
Merritt entered Wednesday's contest averaging 8.2 rebounds per game, which was the second-highest total in the Southern Conference's statistical rankings.
Samford forced the Bluejays into 15 turnovers and scored 13 points off Creighton's miscues. The Bluejays outscored the Bulldogs in second-chance points, 16-0, fast-break points 6-0 and proved to be only the fourth team all season to top Samford in bench scoring, 18-16.
The Samford University basketball team will break for the Christmas Holiday before returning home to the Pete Hanna Center for a matchup against the Eastern Michigan Eagles to be played at 2 p.m. (CST) on Dec. 31.