Furman 75, Northeastern 62
ORLANDO, Fla. - Furman led from start to finish and held Northeastern without a field goal for a stretch of 11:49 en route to a 75-62 victory over the Huskies in the consolation game of the UCF Holiday Classic presented by EA Sports on Thursday at the UCF Arena in Orlando, Fla.
The win, Furman's sixth in its last seven outings, improved the Paladins to 9-3 on the season as they claimed their fifth victory away from Timmons Arena. Northeastern slipped to 4-8 on the campaign.
Furman raced out to a 9-2 lead behind five points from Brandon Sebirumbi and a three-pointer from Darryl Evans. The Huskies fought back to knot the game on two occasions before the Paladins reeled off a 16-2 run to help them carry a 37-25 advantage into intermission. Tied at 21-21, Jordan Miller scored eight of his 10 consecutive points to start the spurt and Evans capped the run with his second trey of the first half as the Paladins fashioned a 37-23 lead.
Jonathan Lee scored with 55 seconds left in the period to trim the Furman lead to 12 points, but the Paladins held the Huskies without a field goal until 9:06 left in the game while building a 55-34 lead. Furman limited the Huskies to just 34.6 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes and 38.8 percent (19-49) shooting for the game.
Miller paced the Paladins with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field, including 4-for-6 beyond the arc. Sebirumbi scored 13 points while Amu Saaka added 10 points and eight rebounds. Evans, Justin Dehm and Noah States each scored eight points apiece. States contributed eight rebounds while Colin Reddick pulled down seven boards.
Furman, which shot 44.4 percent for the game, converted on 52 percent (13-25) of its second half field goal attempts and buried 8-of-18 three-point attempts on the night. The Paladins managed a 42-25 advantage in rebounding leading to a 27-6 edge in second chance points for Furman.
Lee led Northeastern with 16 points on the strength of an 8-for-8 performance at the foul line while Smith scored 13 points off of the bench. The Huskies made good on 21-of-25 trips to the foul line, but made only 3-of-16 three-pointers.
Furman returns to action on Monday when it wraps up non-conference play with a 7 p.m. contest against NAIA member UVa-Wise at Timmons Arena.
Davidson 108, St. Joseph's (Maine) 39
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Five scorers in double-figures led Davidson to a 108-39 win over Saint Joseph's (Maine) in non-conference men's basketball action Thursday night in Belk Arena.
All 13 Wildcats who played scored as Davidson (7-5) earned its largest win of the season and broke the 100-point barrier for the first time since 2008. Davidson shot 59.4 percent for the game, while holding St. Joseph's (5-3) to 30.9 percent.
Jake Cohen led the 'Cats with 16 points, three steals and two blocks, and added five rebounds. Chris Czerapowicz impressed in his Davidson debut, scoring 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Classmates De'Mon Brooks and Jordan Downing also hit double-figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Clint Mann, the fourth newcomer in double-digit scoring, finished with 12 points and led the Wildcats on the glass with eight rebounds.
Zach O'Brien led Saint Joseph's with 15 points. Chris Petzy added nine points and a team-leading seven rebounds.
Ten different scorers helped Davidson take a 34-point lead (55-21) into the locker room at halftime. Mann scored eight points in the first 5:05 to give Davidson an early 20-5 lead. The 'Cats extended their lead over the remainder of the half as Downing added nine points in nine minutes of action.
Cohen and Brooks scored Davidson's first 13 points of the second half, while the 'Cats defense held the Monks to just one field goal during the first 6:23.
A pair of free throws by Will Reigel gave the 'Cats a 50-point lead (78-28) with 10:23 remaining. A layup by Brooks with 6:03 to go gave the 'Cats a 60-point lead at 94-34. AJ Atkinson sank a three-ball with 4:12 remaining to push the 'Cats over 100 points at 101-34. Clay Tormey scored his first career points with a three-pointer to give Davidson 108 points.
It was their highest total since defeating Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) in 2006, 116-55. Davidson's 39 points allowed was the third-best defensive effort in the modern era.
Frank Ben-Eze added eight points and five rebounds. Nik Cochran had six rebounds.
Davidson will next travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
Appalachian State 91, Milligan 71
BOONE, N.C. - Donald Sims scored 24 points to take over the program's career scoring record in Appalachian State University men's basketball's 91-71 win over Milligan on Thursday.
With a three-pointer early in the second half, Sims notched his 15th point of the game and 1,794th of his career, tying Don King for the career record, which had stood since the 1960-61 season. Sims then broke the record with another trey with 13 minutes left in the game to take sole possession of first place. The senior set a career high with nine rebounds and added a team-best seven assists in the effort as well. Sims finished the game with 1,803 points to his name after shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
In addition to earning the assist on Sims' record-breaking shot, Jeremi Booth caught fire from the floor himself and set a career high with 25 points, including a 7-of-14 mark from beyond the arc. The senior was 9-of-17 overall and added eight rebounds and a block.
Not to be left out, Andre Williamson also tallied a career high with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The big man hauled in seven rebounds, dished out two assists, swatted two blocks and snatched two steals in 30 minutes.
Nathan Healy came off the bench to fill out the stat line as well with career highs in rebounds (11), assists (7) and steals (4) to accompany seven points on the night.
Appalachian (5-7) opened the game strong with a 19-5 lead before the Buffaloes (3-9) rallied to pull within four points twice in the opening 20 minutes. ASU settled for a 43-36 halftime advantage after being out shot 44-40 percent from the floor in the first half.
The second half was a different story as the Apps scored the period's first eight points in just a two minute span and never looked back. The Mountaineers led by 20 at the midway point of the half and extended the lead to as great as 84-54 with five minutes remaining, behind 62.1 percent shooting in the frame and 6-of-10 three-pointers.
Led by Cordero Seymour and his team-high 16 points, Milligan swiftly cut the deficit back to 20 points in the closing minutes with 17 of the game's final 24 points. Justin Sylvester (15) and Hudson Fricke (14) also reached double figures for the visitors.
For the night, ASU shot an even 50 percent from the field (32-64) and 41.7 percent from downtown (10-24), while MC made 42.9 percent of its shots (24-56).
The Apps boarded 47 rebounds for their second-highest mark of the season and handed out a season-high 20 assists. Milligan was limited to 32 rebounds but reached double figures with 12 assists, led by four from Kyle Grisby. Appalachian's six blocks matched a season high.
All 10 dressed players saw action for the Apps, as the squad missed the services of point guards Mitch Woods and Marcus Wright, who both suffered injuries last week but expect to be healthy for next week's contests.
With the new year, Appalachian turns its focus to Southern Conference action as the Mountaineers travel to Davidson on Wednesday, January 5 at 7 p.m. in search of a third-straight win against the Wildcats. It will also be Sims' first trip back to Belk Arena, where he scored a facility-record 44 points last season.
Cornell 86, Wofford 80
RICHMOND, Va. - Thursday afternoon the Wofford men's basketball team was defeated 86-80 by Cornell in the Richmond Marriott Holidays on the Hardwood Classic at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Big Red hit 18 straight shots during a stretch of the game and was 15-of-21 from three in the contest.
Wofford is 5-8 on the season and Cornell is 3-9 overall. The Terriers were led by with Noah Dahlman with 25 points and Cameron Rundles with 20 points. Tim Johnson had a double-double with ten points and eleven rebounds. The Big Red was led by Drew Ferry with 25 points as he was 7-of-8 from three. Chris Wroblewski added four three pointers for 21 total points.
The Big Red scored first, but then the Terriers scored the next eleven points. Cornell hit a three with 15:29 on the clock to end the run. Four minutes later, the Terriers held a 17-8 advantage after a lay-up by Noah Dahlman. The Big Red was then able to go on an 18-3 run and took a 26-20 lead at 7:08 with three straight three-pointers.
Wofford ended the run with a bucket and then a free throw by Tim Johnson and added a three by Kevin Giltner to make cut the lead to 28-26 at the 3:59 mark in the first half. Wofford was able to regain the lead at 38-37 after a three by Kevin Gilter with 38 seconds on the clock, but the Big Red added a three by Chris Wroblewski with two seconds left to take a 40-38 lead at the break. Cornell shot 72.7% in the first half, including 8-of-11 from three, while Wofford was 65.2% from the floor and 6-of-9 from three.
To open the second half Cornell added two more threes and it was a 48-42 lead for the Big Red just two minutes into play. Cornell kept it up with two more three pointers and had a 56-48 advantage at the 15:10 mark of the second half. After the sixth three pointer of the day by Drew Ferry, the Cornell was up 59-48. Ferry added another three for a 64-50 lead at the 13:27 mark.
Cornell was able to extend the lead and had a 69-54 advantage with 10:59 on the clock. Wofford then used a quick 8-0 run to cut the lead to 69-60 with 8:39 left in the second half. Two free throws by Noah Dahlman made it a 73-67 game at 5:33, but the Big Red pushed the lead back to ten-points at 79-69 with 3:41 on the clock.
A bucket by Noah Dahlman and a three by Cameron Rundles made it an 80-74 score with 1:41 left on the clock. It remained a six-point game with 44 seconds left at 82-76 after a lay-up by Noah Dahlman. Free throw shooting down the stretch pushed the Big Red lead to eight until Cameron Rundles hit a jumper with two seconds left for the 86-80 final margin.
Wofford shot a 55.6 percent from the floor and were 46.7 percent from three-point range. From the free throw line, the Terriers shot 86.7 percent. Cornell was 63.8 percent overall and was 71.4 percent from behind the arc. Rebounds were even at 23. Noah Dahlman fouled out with 33 seconds left in the game.
The Terriers return home on January 6 against The Citadel at 7:00 pm and will also be at Benjamin Johnson Arena on Saturday, January 8 against the College of Charleston.
Georgia State 81, Chattanooga 76
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga Mocs' comeback from an 11-point second half deficit fell shy of the mark as it dropped an 81-76 decision to Georgia State (6-5, 1-0 CAA) in the Championship game of the 21st Dr Pepper Classic Thursday night. Chattanooga (7-7, 3-0 SoCon) cut the lead to three late, but could not get over the hump.
After starting the game 0-13 from three-point range, the Mocs missed its last seven field goal attempts in the final two minutes. The missed opportunities coupled with defensive lapses led to the early deficit.
The Panthers shot 54.5 percent (30-55) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-24) from three-point range in the win. GSU shot 69.6 percent (16-23) in the second half alone, and it also held a slim 36-34 advantage on the boards for the game.
DeAntre Jefferson led the Mocs with a career-high 19 points on five for five from the field and nine of 10 from the free throw line. He also grabbed eight rebounds.
Dante Curry and Eric Buckner combined for 44 points for the Panthers. Curry's 21 was aided by a seven of 12 performance from three-point range as he hit 13 treys over two tourney games in McKenzie Arena. Buckner had 23 points and eight rebounds making 10 of his 11 shot attempts.
A Brandon McGee layup gave Georgia State a 73-62 lead with 7:55 to play, but that's when it got interesting. The Mocs answered with a 9-2 run capped by a Ricky Taylor free throw at 2:34.
After Buckner hit two free throws, Omar Wattad made a huge three-pointer to cut the margin in half, 77-74, with 2:04 remaining. But that's the last field goal the Mocs would make. Despite a two for eight free throw performance for the Panthers in the final 1:13, GSU held on for the win.
Wattad tied Jefferson for team-high honors with 19 points including four treys. Taylor had 16 points, while Keegan Bell added 15 points and six assists.
Devonta White had 10 points for Georgia State. Josh Micheaux came off the bench with a fine all-around performance scoring eight points with six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
After starting the game 0-13 from beyond the arc, Chattanooga made eight of its last 21 (38.1%). Inside three-point-land, the Mocs shot 70.8 percent (17-24) for the game.
GSU got off to an excellent start leading by as many as 15, 39-24, on two McGee free throws. Bell scored six points in leading the Mocs on a 7-0 run to end the half down eight, 39-31.
After allowing 12 second chance points to the Panthers in the first half, the Mocs did not allow another such point the rest of the game. GSU did score 34 points in the paint to 28 for Chattanooga.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi out-lasted Montreat, coached by former Mocs guard Lincoln Walters, 84-77 in the consolation game. Demon Watt had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Islanders, while Justin Reynolds added 13 points and seven boards. Cameron Hayes led the Cavaliers with 16 on four for four shooting from three-point range.
Dante Curry was named most valuable player. The all-tournament team also included DeAntre Jefferson (Chattanooga), Omar Wattad (Chattanooga), Eric Buckner (Georgia State), Cameron Hayes (Montreat) and Justin Reynolds (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).
The Mocs return to the hardcourt on Monday, Jan. 3, at Austin Peay for an 8 p.m. (EST) start.