Furman 75, Roanoke College 49
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Senior Brandon Sebirumbi recorded a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to lead Furman past NCAA Division III Roanoke College, 75-49, in the Paladins' season opener on Friday night at Timmons Arena.
Sebirumbi, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, connected on 4-of-6 shots from the field and converted on 7-of-8 trips to the line as Furman recovered from 31.4% shooting in the first half to shoot 39.1% for the game and outscore the Maroons 38-22 after intermission. Junior Bryant Irwin added 14 points and six rebounds while sophomore Charlie Reddick chipped in with 11 points and seven boards.
Roanoke jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening 2:30 of the first half, but Furman managed to make good on its first six trips to the foul line, including a three-point play by Bobby Austin with 10:53 remaining in the period to cap a 14-2 run and give the Paladins a 14-6 advantage. The Maroons made 7-of-8 first half free throws and held Furman to 4-of-20 shooting beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes to keep the margin at 37-27 at the break.
Furman came out in the second half and shot 48 percent from the floor and forced the Maroons into 11 of their 19 turnovers in the final 20 minutes to pull away. The Paladins, who scored 21 points off Roanoke's 19 turnovers, fashioned a 52-32 rebounding margin, including 20 offensive boards, and outscored the visitors 32-18 in the paint.
Guard Kwasi Amponsah led Roanoke with 15 points while Logan Singleton added 11. The Maroons shot just 31 percent from the field and 4-of-17 from three-point range.
Sophomore Richard Brown tallied eight points for the Paladins and freshman David Brown, son of the former Furman guard of the same name, added eight. Bobby Austin totaled seven points, seven boards and four assists.
Furman hits the road for the first time during the 2011-12 season when it travels to New York City to face the Columbia University Lions on Monday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
Tennessee 92, UNCG 63
KNOXVILLE, TENN.-Tennessee's Trae Golden scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Volunteers to a 92-63 win over UNCG in the season opener for both teams, Friday at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game is part of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
Golden also added nine assists, six rebounds and two steals to his stat line. He finished 10-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. He led a Tennessee attack which shot 65 percent from the field and made 15 three-pointers.
"When those threes go down it takes something out of you defensively," said UNCG head coach Mike Dement. "We've been putting a lot of emphasis on our defense lately and it doesn't show on the stat sheet."
Korey Van Dussen led the Spartans with 12 points.
Tennessee opened the game by hitting its first three field goals on its way to an early 13-2 lead. The Vols eventually shot 63 percent from the field in the first half on their way to a 49-30 halftime advantage.
Once Tennessee established a double-digit lead the Spartans never got closer than seven points, the last time coming when Cody Henegar's jumper made it 17-10 with 12:37 left in the first half.
The Spartans continued to battle late in the first half, getting to within 37-28 on a Kyle Randall three-pointer with 3:31 left. But Tennessee closed the half on a 12-2 run for a 19-point lead at the break.
UNCG shot 42 percent from the game, and out-rebounded Tennessee, 34-31. The Spartans also committed just 10 turnovers but were only 6-of-15 from the free throw line.
Derrell Armstrong and Trevis Simpson each scored 10 points for the Spartans. Armstrong also led UNCG with eight rebounds and three assists.
The Spartans continue Maui Invitational play when they visit Georgetown, 7 p.m., Monday.
South Carolina 75, Western Carolina 50
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Harouna Mutombo and Trey Sumler paced the Catamounts with 11 points apiece on Friday night, but South Carolina put three players in double figures and scored 46 of its points in the paint in handing Western Carolina a 75-50 loss in the season-opener for both squads Friday night at the Colonial Life Arena.
The Gamecocks used a strong inside game to score the victory, out rebounding WCU, 37-29, and tallying 20 second-chance points. USC was also opportunistic in converting 19 Catamount turnovers into 22 points, employing an effective full-court press.
"I think South Carolina's length and size was definitely a factor tonight," said Hunter following the game during post-game comments. "I thought (South Carolina) got to us in different segments of the game with their press and built themselves little leads or had spurts off of their press. Certainly their offensive rebounding and their ability to control the paint area at both ends was a key factor in the game."
In addition to his 11 points, Mutombo added a team-high eight rebounds while Sumler dished out four assists but committed five turnovers. Senior Keaton Cole chipped in eight points including a pair of 3-pointers with three of WCU's eight steals and three assists against while also committing five giveaways. Needing a boost on the interior, senior Sam Smithson added two blocked shots off the bench for the Catamounts.
South Carolina (1-0) used a game-high 14 points from Anthony Gill, who finished 6-of-7 from the floor in the win. Transfer Brenton Williams added 13 points and five steals off the bench, and Malik Cooke added 10 points as all 10 Gamecock players who played scored.
Neither team started strong from the floor as South Carolina missed six of its first seven shots while WCU was equally as cold from the field, misfiring on seven of its first nine offerings. The Gamecocks broke the fourth tie of the first half with eight-straight points coming mostly off its press defense to lead 16-8, prompting a Catamount timeout. After the stoppage, WCU got consecutive 3-pointers by Sumler and Cole with an offensive rebound slam dunk by Brandon Boggs knotting the game back at 16 on an 8-0 spurt for the purple and gold.
Boggs finished with seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
South Carolina managed to stem the tide with three-straight buckets in the paint as a part of closing the opening half on a 19-to-9 run to lead by 10 at intermission, 35-25.
In the second half, the Gamecocks lead hovered in the teens with South Carolina answering each counter-punch by WCU. A fast-break dunk by R.J. Slawson pushed the margin to 20 for the first-time in the game and the Gamecocks would lead by as many as 27 in the final 20 minutes in handing the Catamounts their eighth-straight defeat in the all-time series (0-8).
Four Catamounts made their debut on Friday night as transfers Tom Tankelewicz and Dillon Dunford - both of whom sat out a season ago due to NCAA rules - got into the action with freshmen Kenny Hall and James Sinclair also seeing the court. Tankelewicz scored six points and pulled down four rebounds in his debut while Sinclair drained a mid-range jumper for his first collegiate points.
Western Carolina opens its home season next Tuesday, Nov. 15 as it hosts Montreat in the Ramsey Center.
Appalachian State 90, Lees-McRae 61
BOONE, N.C. - Andre Williamson turned in a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 90-61 win over visiting Lees-McRae in Friday night's season opener at the Holmes Center.
Williamson led four players in double-figures for Appalachian (1-0). Omar Carter added 15 points and newcomers Jamaal Trice and Tab Hamilton chipped in with 10 apiece.
Carter added eight of Appalachian's 53 rebounds and swiped four steals with two assists on the night. In his official ASU debut, Trice sank 4-of-9 shots, including a pair of treys, in 20 minutes. Making his collegiate debut, Hamilton added two assists, two blocks and a steal.
The Mountaineers hit three-straight three-pointers to open the game and never trailed en route to the victory. ASU rode stifling defense to a 46-21 halftime lead, limiting Lees-McRae (0-1) to 21.2-percent shooting in the first half, and stretched the advantage to as much as 34 points in the second period.
Appalachian's stellar defensive performance was highlighted by school-record-tying 12 blocks, matching the standard set in an 87-49 win over Milligan on Nov. 30, 1996.
LMC found its shooting touch in the second half, converting 13-of-32 field-goal attempts and 12-of-15 foul shots. Jeremiah Henry led the Bobcats with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Asad Lamot chipped in 14 points.
In his first game back since the 2009-10 season, Isaac Butts added eight points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks in 20 minutes. The big man sank 4-of-6 shots in his return from a 2010 knee surgery.
Mitch Woods was impressive at point guard with a game-high seven assists to accompany a pair of blocks and two rebounds. As a team, the Mountaineers dished out 19 assists, just one shy of last year's high of 20.
Nathan Healy threw down a pair of fast-break dunks en route to an eight-point, eight-rebound night. The junior sank three field goals and notched two steals in 20 minutes off the bench.
Two other players made their Black and Gold debuts in the contest, including sophomore transfer Brian Okam, who tallied four rebounds and a block in seven minutes, and freshman Mike Neal ran the point for 17 minutes with seven points, four assists and four steals.
The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday at ETSU. It is the first of a home-and-home series with the Bucs this season.
College of Charleston 78, Holy Cross 69
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's basketball team used an explosive first half to knock off Holy Cross, 78-69, in its season opener held Friday night before a sellout crowd of 4,963 at TD Arena.
Senior Antwaine Wiggins led all scorers with 18 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Trent Wiedeman notched his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior point guard Andrew Lawrence was one of four Cougars in double figures with 16 points including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Ten of his points came in the second half as he made it to the free throw line 11 times. Freshman Adjehi Baru scored 11 points in his official collegiate debut, while also grabbing eight rebounds.
R.J. Evans led Holy Cross with 16 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting. Dave Dudzinski and Devin Brown each scored 14 points as the Crusaders fell to 0-1 on the season.
CofC (1-0) shot 44.0 percent (22-50) from the field and outrebounded the Crusaders, 40-34. The Cougars' perimeter defense was stout, holding Holy Cross to just 2-for-11 from beyond the arc. However, the Cougars struggled from the free throw line, especially in the second half, hitting just 64.3 percent (27-42).
Defensively, the Cougars forced 19 turnovers, including 11 in the first half, and converted those opportunities into 22 points.
CofC built a 40-19 lead at the half with Wiedeman and Wiggins both posting 10 points apiece in the first frame. The Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead after an alley-oop from Lawrence to Wiggins on the game's opening possession.
CofC led by as many as 24 at the 4:05 minute mark of the first half as a three-pointer from Wiggins made the margin, 39-15. Holy Cross opened the second half strong, scoring 11-straight points to cut the Cougars' lead to 42-30 at the 17:08 mark after a fast-break layup by Evans. A trey from Lawrence briefly stopped the run, but the Crusaders scored on consecutive possessions to make it 45-34.
However, Holy Cross could not pull closer as Wiggins scored four points in the next two-minute stretch, and Jordan Scott came alive, hitting a three-pointer and then making a steal, dunk and drawing the foul to put the Cougars back up by 20, 61-41, with 11:11 remaining in regulation.
The final few minutes were marred by fouls as each team continually drove into the paint to draw contact. The Crusaders cut the lead to 72-63 with 1:07 left, but free throws from freshman Anthony Stitt (Charlotte, N.C.) and Lawrence sealed the season-opening win for the Cougars.
CofC continues play with a rematch with 2011 NCAA Tournament opponent Morehead State on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 8 a.m. (ET) at TD Arena.
Valparaiso 90, Georgia Southern 81
STATESBORO, Ga. - Rebounds were the story as Georgia Southern Men's Basketball opened the 2011-12 season with a 90-81 home loss to Valparaiso on Friday, November 11th. The loss for Georgia Southern is its first defeat in a home opener since the 1980-81 season. Senior point guard Willie Powers III scored 13 points in the loss and became the 38th member of the 1,000 point club at Georgia Southern.
Willie reaching the 1,000 point milestone is a heck of an accomplishment," said Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "A guy like him that can score 1,000 points in Division I basketball, there is no question that he is a great player."
The Eagles were out-rebounded 37-28 on the night as Valparaiso's Ryan Brokehoff scored 22 points with 13 rebounds. The Crusader forward logged 13 rebounds with eight on the offensive boards.
"I am disappointed about us being shoved around tonight," added Young. "Scoring 81 points should be enough to win the game. Giving up 90 is unacceptable, but we are going to get better as this season goes along. We've got to do a lot better job of boxing out on the defensive side of the ball, and that's something we're going to work on before Wednesday's game against Wake Forest."
Top scoring honors went to sophomore Eric Ferguson, who opened his second season with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Ben Drayton III added 19 points and three assists. Jelani Hewitt was the fourth Eagle to reach double figure scoring with 10 points.
Powers became the 38th member of the 1,000 point club at Georgia Southern with his jumper from just outside the lane at the 7:06 mark in the first half. With 13 points, he moved into 36th place in all-time scoring at Georgia Southern with 1,011 career points, passing Don Wallen (1,007) and Doug Corry (1,010) on the all-time list. He also had a game-high five steals while playing 33 minutes.
The highlight of the first half was Drayton's ally-oop to Tyrone Brown (Metter, Ga.) for the local freshman's first career points. The bucket cut the Valpo lead to 37-34 with 20 seconds remaining in the first half. It also capped an 11-0 Georgia Southern run late in the half. The Crusaders added a pair of free throws in the final ten seconds to make the halftime lead 39-34.
Out of the intermission, the crusaders ran the lead out to 13 points just before the first media timeout, but a runner in the lane by Powers cut the lead to 50-39. The lead hovered around 10 points until a three-pointer by Hewitt brought the Eagles within 5 points approaching the 10-minute mark in the final period.
Valparaiso was able to maintain the advantage and cemented the 90-81 victory despite a late Georgia Southern rally. The Eagles finished the night on an, 11-5 run, drawing the margin back from 15 points.
The Eagles shot 49.1 percent from the field and were 54.5 percent from downtown. With six three-pointers, the Eagles reached a mark from beyond the arc seldom seen in 2010-11. Valparaiso shot 54.0 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from beyond the arc despite some early success from the bonussphere. The Eagles were better from the line, making 23-of-32 (71.9%) to Valpo's 32-of-45 (71.1%). The teams combined for 77 total free throws on 57 total fouls.
Georgia Southern takes to the road for the first time in 2011-12 on Wednesday evening for a test against ACC foe Wake Forest. The game will be aired live on SportSouth and can be heard locally on 103.7-FM The Boomer. Tipoff from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum is at 7:07 p.m.
Davidson 111, Guilford 64
DAVIDSON, N.C. - De'Mon Brooks led six Davidson players in double figures with a career-high 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a 111-64 men¹s basketball victory over Guilford in their season opener Friday night in John M. Belk Arena.
Freshman Tyler Kalinoski netted 16 points in his Davidson regular-season debut, and Tom Droney tallied a career-high 14 points and four assists for the Wildcats (1-0).
JP Kuhlman posted 13 points, and Chris Czerapowicz recorded 12 points and eight assists. Nik Cochran scored 11 points and dished out six assists.
Carson Sullivan led Guilford with 14 points, and Josh Pittman scored 12.
Will Freeman had 10 points and five rebounds.
The Wildcats started out cold, going 3-for-13 on their first 16 shots of the game, but warmed up to shoot 48.7 percent in the contest, including 57 percent in the second frame.
Davidson's defense forced 22 turnovers, which turned into 33 points, and the OCats pushed the tempo, scoring 19 fast-break points. Davidson also dominated the glass, using 20 offensive rebounds to score 21-second-chance points.
Davidson broke the game open late in the first half with a 24-6 run that turned a six-point margin into a 46-22 cushion. Brooks scored nine during the run. The lead grew to as many as 44 points in the second half on a 3-pointer by Kalinoski with 4:17 to play.
Davidson returns to action at Monday as the Wildcats host Richmond at 8:15 p.m.
Georgia 62, Wofford 49
ATHENS, Ga. - In the opening game of the 2011-12 men's basketball season, Wofford was defeated 62-49 by Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum. In a match-up of NCAA Tournament teams from last season, the Terriers held the Bulldogs to 33.9 percent shooting in the game.
Wofford opens the season 0-1 and Georgia is 1-0. Wofford was led by Brad Loesing with 13 points, Kevin Giltner with 12 points and Drew Crowell with ten points. Karl Cochran and Drew Crowell each had six rebounds. The Bulldogs were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 15 points, while Donte Williams had 13 rebounds.
"There were a lot of signs of youth today, but we had our shots," said head coach Mike Young. "I am disappointed that we lost and did not do enough good things for a win down the stretch. I was beyond pleased with our defense and we out-rebounded them in the first half. We battled, but not enough good things tonight."
The Bulldogs scored the first five points, all by Dustin Ware, before Brad Loesing hit a three for a 5-3 score four minutes into the game. Kevin Giltner added a three for a 6-5 lead for Wofford. Drew Crowell had a lay-up and free throw for a 9-5 lead at 13:47. Lee Skinner hit his first career bucket at 12:55 as Wofford took an 11-7 lead.
Georgia pulled within one point, but Drew Crowell hit a bucket for a 13-10 advantage with 9:25 on the clock. The Bulldogs went on a 14-1 run on the way to a 24-14 lead with six minutes left in the half. A lay-up and free throw by Brad Loesing cut the lead to 24-16 at the four minute mark. At the half, the Bulldogs led 30-21.
In the second half, Kevin Giltner scored the first seven points for the Terriers and a 7-0 run by Wofford cut the lead to 33-30 with 14:11 on the clock. The Bulldogs answered with a 7-0 run of their own to increase the lead to 40-30 just two minutes later. Back-to-back jumpers by Drew Crowell made it a 44-34 score at the ten minute mark.
Two free throws by Domas Rinksalis cut the lead to 47-32 with six minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs then scored the next four points to push the advantage to 51-42 with 4:49 on the clock. It was an eight point game at 53-45 with 2:19 remaining. Georgia hit free throws in the final minute to secure the 62-49 final score.
Wofford shot 34.6 percent from the floor and held Georgia to 33.9 percent shooting. The Terriers were 3-of-15 from three, while the Bulldogs were 7-of-23 from behind the arc. The Bulldogs held a 40-38 edge on the glass. Lee Skinner fouled out with 3:53 left in the game for the Terriers.
The Terriers will be back on the floor on Sunday, when they host Emory and Henry at 5:00 p.m. at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Umass 85, Elon 67
AMHERST, Mass. - A strong second-half surge by the home team helped the UMass Minutemen erase a four-point halftime deficit and defeat the visiting Elon Phoenix, 85-67, in the 2011-12 men's basketball season opener for both teams inside historic Curry Hicks Cage on Friday night.
Massachusetts (1-0) outscored the Phoenix (0-1) 46-24 in the final period to earn the victory in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Elon got 51 of its 67 points from freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore forward Lucas Troutman led the team with 15 points in 21 minutes of action. Senior Drew Spradlin added 14 points and five rebounds while rookie Austin Hamilton netted 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Sophomore Ryley Beaumont grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Four Minutemen scored in double figures with Chaz Williams' 18 points leading the way. Williams also racked up eight assists and grabbed three steals.
UMass pressure created problems for the Phoenix, especially in the second half. UMass was credited with 14 steals on Elon's 25 turnovers.
It was a high-paced outing from the opening tip in front of a rowdy crowd of 3,093 in the just the second game in the Cage in 18 years. After trailing by as many as eight, 21-13, midway through the first half, Elon outscored UMass 11-2 over the next three minutes. Freshman Kevin Blake came off the bench, and with his first touch, drained a three-pointer to give Elon its first lead of the game, 24-23, at the 8:32 mark.
With UMass clinging to a 33-31 lead with 4:49 to go before the break, sophomore Sebastian Koch nailed a triple to regain the lead for the Phoenix. Elon wouldn't relinquish the advantage for the remainder of the half and another bomb from downtown, this one from the hands of Beaumont, sent UMass to the locker room trailing 43-39.
The second half was a different story. The Phoenix scored the first bucket of the half but would only manage three more field goals over the next 13 minutes. UMass thrived off Elon turnovers and used a 19-2 run that spanned five minutes to flip the score in its favor, 58-47. Elon would never get closer than nine for the remainder of the contest.
The Minutemen scored 32 points off turnovers and made much of their living in the paint. UMass netted 36 points in the paint and knocked down 25-of-36 free throw attempts.
After shooting 42.9 percent in the first half, Elon managed only 9-of-33 (27.3) from the field in the final 20 minutes. The Phoenix got to the line 17 times in the first half but made only four trips to the stripe in the second period.
Elon will entertain its home crowd on Tuesday night when South Carolina visits Alumni Gym for a 7 p.m. tip.
VMI 103, The Citadel 100
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Citadel men's basketball team matched intensity with an up-tempo Virginia Military Institute squad for 40 minutes at 7,258 feet above sea-level, but the Bulldogs fell short in the season opener for both teams, dropping a 103-100 decision to the Keydets Friday evening at the All-Military Classic hosted by Air Force at Clune Arena. The Bulldogs will face Army in the third-place game at 8:30 p.m. EST on Saturday.
Mike Groselle led all scorers with 25 points, a career-high for the junior from Plano, Texas. Groselle also collected 11 rebounds, giving him nine career double-doubles, tying him for the most in program history.
Four other Bulldogs scored in double figures, freshman Lawrence Miller poured in 14 points in his first collegiate game, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. Fellow freshman Ashton Moore and sophomore Barry Smith each scored 12 points, while newcomer Marshall Harris chipped in 11 points.
Stan Okoye led six VMI scorers in double-digits with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added five rebounds. Rodney Glasgow and Keith Gabriel each added 17 points for VMI, who will face Air Force in the championship game Saturday evening.
VMI used a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to jump out to an early 10-2 lead just 2:19 into the game. After falling behind 28-12 with 9:14 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs whittled the deficit down to three points as a Miller three-pointer with just over six minutes remaining capped a 12-0 Citadel run and cut VMI's lead to 32-29. The two squads traded buckets down the stretch as the Keydets enjoyed a 52-46 lead at the halftime break.
The Keydets opened the second-half with intensity as they opened with a 7-0 run over the first 90 seconds of the second stanza. VMI ran their lead to 15 points over the course of the second half, taking a 98-83 advantage on a jumper by Nick Gore with 3:58 left in the game.
The Bulldogs used a 14-2 run to make the score 100-97 with 32 seconds remaining, as five points by Groselle and a three-pointer by Miller highlighted the run. After a pair of free throws by Gore extended the VMI lead to 102-97, Harris drained a three-pointer as the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 102-100. Gabriel made the back end of a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left and Smith two-point jumper with two seconds on the clock bounced off the rim, giving VMI the victory