Appalachian State 80, Marshall 72
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Isaac Butts hauled in a season-high 16 rebounds and Donald Sims connected on four three-pointers and all eight free throw attempts to lead Appalachian State University men's basketball past Marshall in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinal on Monday night.
Sims scored 30 points on 9-of-23 shooting and sank several late free throws to help the Mountaineers (24-12) to an 80-72 victory over the top-seeded Thundering Herd. The junior guard added six rebounds and three assists in the contest.
Butts' 16 boards were just one portion of ASU's season-best 47, as the Apps held Marshall (24-10) to just 28 in the game. Jeremi Booth and Josh Hunter also grabbed six rebounds each in the victory.
Though Appalachian extended its lead to as many as 19 points midway through the second half, it was a different story before the intermission. The Mountaineers sank just two of their first 10 attempts from the field and fell behind by seven points early on in the contest.
The Apps bounced back from the rough shooting start to sink 13-of-23 to close out the half at 45.5 percent, including 7-of-12 from downtown.
The run continued into the second half as ASU scored 11 of the first 14 points after the break. From there, the margin remained in double figures until a nine-point Herd run cut the score to 67-58 with 5:15 on the clock. The score was never any closer than eight points down the stretch as the Apps sank 11-of-12 free throws in the game's final four minutes.
ASU's big men battled foul trouble throughout the contest, as four post players accounted for seven of the team's eight first-half infractions, and 13-of-20 in the game.
Kellen Brand reached double-figure points with 15 in the game on 5-of-9 shooting while Butts and Booth added nine each.
The Apps shot 43.5 percent in the game and sank 9-of-19 treys. The squad was proficient from the charity stripe as well, sinking 17-of-20 free throws.
Marshall shot 47.4 percent from the floor but 36.8 from beyond the arc. Tyler Wilkerson led MU with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Dago Pena hauled in six boards.
The Mountaineers return home to host the winner of tonight's Northern Colorado-Pacific game in the tournament semifinal on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
VCU 93, College of Charleston 86
RICHMOND, Va. - Brandon Rozzell scored 20 points, while Larry Sanders added 14 points and 17 rebounds, as Virginia Commonwealth University defeated the College of Charleston men's basketball team, 93-86, in front of 3,297 fans in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational at Verizon Wireless Arena in Richmond, Va.
The Cougars ended their season 22-12, while VCU improved to 24-9, advancing to the CBI semifinals. Charleston has won at least 22 games for the 21st time in 30 years.
After falling behind by 11 early in the second half, the Cougars used a 13-3 run, sparked by seven of Andrew Goudelock's 19 points on the night to cut the margin to one and only trailed 49-50 with 15:!6 remaining. VCU responded with an 11-2 run to retake the double-digit lead at 61-51 at the 9:45 mark. It was part of a 24-11 run that saw the Rams take its biggest lead of the game, 74-60, with 6:17 to go.
Down 14 with 1:15 remaining, the Cougars connected on five three-pointers, including two from Tony White, Jr., who led all scorers with 24 points, and Goudelock, to cut the margin to five with 15 seconds remaining. Two free throws by Issiah Grayson with 13 seconds left sealed the seven-point, 93-86 win, as a three-point attempt by Donavan Monroe to cut the margin to four with nine seconds to go fell just short. VCU picked up the rebound and held on till the clock expired.
Trailing 25-19 with 3:43 to go in the first half the Rams, behind 11 point from Brandon Rozzell, went on a 17-0 run to take a 36-35 lead with 3:43 on the clock. Matt Sundberg hit one of his four three-pointers on the night to break the drought at 3:13. Jamie Skeen hit a lay-up with 50 seconds to go to give the Rams the nine point lead before Sundberg's free throw at 35 seconds made the score 42-34 in favor of VCU. VCU outscored the Cougars 33-9 over the last eight-and-a-half minutes of the half.
Charleston shot 43.4 percent from the field, which included a 13-for-33 effort from beyond the three-point arc. VCU was 50.7 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from the three-point line. The Rams out-rebounded the Cougars, 44-41, with the assists and turnovers tied at 20 and 13, respectively.
Other Cougars in double-figures besides White, Jr. and Goudelock, was Jeremy Simmons with 16 to go with his team-leading nine rebounds, and Sundberg with 13.
Skeen followed Rozzell and Sanders in scoring with 18, as well as Joey Rodriguez who had 19 on the night.