UNCG 71, UNC Pembroke 58
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Trevis Simpson scored a game-high 22 points to lead UNCG to a 71-58 win over UNC Pembroke, Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum in the Spartans' home opener.
Simpson scored 17 points in the second half as the Spartans (1-2) pulled away from the Braves after a nip-and-tuck first half. The sophomore swingman tied a career-high with four three-pointers and was perfect on all six of his free throw attempts.
Leading 31-27 at the start of the second half, the Spartans extended their lead to 36-30 before the Braves (2-2) pulled to within 36-33 on a free throw by Mike Robinson with 15:55 left. But UNCP never got any closer.
Simpson started a 10-0 run with a three-pointer and Alyosius Henry followed with an alley-oop dunk to give UNCG a 41-33 lead. A trey by Nick Paulos and a jumper by Kyle Randall gave the Spartans a 46-33 advantage with 12:40 left.
After the Braves cut the lead to six points at 51-45, the Spartans again used another big run (13-3) to take complete control of the game. Henry capped the run with his second dunk of the night, giving UNCG a 64-48 lead with 5:20 remaining.
In the first half, UNCG struggled to gain control of the contest. The Spartans opened as much as a five-point lead early in the first half, taking a 10-5 advantage on a Randall jumper with 15:05 left before halftime. But UNCG could never quite pull away or build a bigger lead.
In fact, the Braves actually enjoyed three leads in the final seven minutes, but none of more than two points.
UNCG regained the lead for good when a Derrell Armstrong jumper made it 28-27 with 1:41 left in the half. Simpson nailed a three-pointer for a 31-27 lead with 30 seconds left, which was also the halftime score.
The Spartans shot just 41 percent for the game, but went 8-of-19 (42 percent) from three-point range. UNCG had made just seven three-pointers in its first two games of the season. The Spartans also owned a 36-26 rebounding advantage.
UNCG added 13 assists and was 13-of-16 from the free throw line.
Randall added 12 points and five assists for the Spartans. In all, nine of the 12 Spartans who saw action scored at least two points.
Pembroke was led by Shahmel Brackett's 17 points.
The Spartans next face Middle Tennessee in the Mainland Regional of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, 6:00 p.m., Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Mercer 66, Furman 46
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Mercer placed four players in double figures and held Furman to 24.6 percent shooting from the floor en route to a 66-46 victory over the Paladins in men's basketball action on Thursday evening on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.
The Bears (2-1) limited Furman to just 14 made field goals on the night and a 3-for-20 effort from beyond the arc as the Paladins posted their lowest offensive output since scoring only 41 points in a loss at Western Carolina on January 29, 2011.
Despite shooting just 32 percent in the first half, Mercer managed to grab a 22-19 lead at intermission, and the Bears shot a blistering 69.6 percent (16-23) from the field in the second half to outscore the Paladins 44-27 after the break.
Furman committed 20 turnovers on the night and connected on only 1-of-9 treys in the final 20 minutes.
Bud Thomas paced the Bears with 16 points while Justin Cecil and Daniel Coursey added 11 apiece. Jakob Gollon chipped in 10 points for Mercer who outscored Furman 28-10 in the paint and were guilty of only 13 turnovers.
Junior Bryant Irwin led Furman with 11 points and 11 rebounds to notch his first double-double as a Paladin. Brandon Sebirumbi added nine points while Colin Reddick scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Furman, 2-1 on the season, hosts Loyola University Chicago on Sunday afternoon at Timmons Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Western Carolina 80, Presbyterian 73
CLINTON, S.C. - Redshirt senior Harouna Mutombo led four Catamounts in double figures with a game-high 20 points as Western Carolina out-gunned Presbyterian, 80-73, on Thursday night in nonconference action at the Templeton Center.
WCU (2-1) built a game-high 13-point lead twice inside the game's final five minutes, but the home standing Blue Hose would not go away. Presbyterian trimmed the margin to five points on two separate occasions in the closing moments, but the Catamounts converted all eight free throw attempts to secure the victory - the eighth-straight in the overall series while improving to 12-1 all-time.
Sophomore Tawaski King finished a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor for a career-best 16 points while senior Keaton Cole drained three, 3-pointers as a part of his dozen points, matching his season-high with three steals to pace the Catamounts. King's career performance nearly mirrored Presbyterian's leading scorer, Al'Lonzo Coleman, who finished with 18 points as the two battled in the paint.
Trey Sumler, who was quiet during the opening 20 minutes, rounded out WCU's double-digit scorers by recording his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. The Rocky Mount, N.C., native scored 14 points and boarded six misses after halftime, while also dishing out three assists in the winning effort.
After trailing by a bucket early, King gave the Catamounts the lead for what proved to be for good on the third lead change of the game off a jumper at the 17:39 mark of the first half. WCU led by as many as seven, 31-24, as Cole buried a trey just inside the two-minute mark before intermission with the Catamounts carrying a 34-28 lead into the locker room.
Presbyterian (2-2) managed to cut the Catamount lead down to one point four times in the opening eight minutes of the second half including 34-33 just 1:12 out of the locker room and at 51-50 on a pair of Khalid Mutakabbir free throws at the 12:09 mark. Following the second such one-point deficit, WCU methodically pulled away over the next seven minutes by using a 16-to-4 run to take a game-high lead of 13 points with five minutes to play. Preston Ross scored five of his seven points during that stretch for WCU, adding seven rebounds in the win, while Brandon Boggs tallied eight of his nine points after the break.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Sumler handed the Catamounts the 13-point cushion again at the 3:46 mark. Presbyterian would close back within five points twice inside the game's final minute, but WCU held them off by making all eight free throw attempts.
Coleman and Josh Johnson both recorded 18 points in the loss for Presbyterian with Johnson connecting on 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. Pierre Miller scored 17 points with six rebounds while Mutakabbir rounded out four in double figures for the Blue Hose with 14 points.
Both teams shot well in the up-tempo contest, connecting on an identical 16-of-29 from the field in the second half with the Catamounts outscoring PC, 46-45, after the break. The Blue Hose held a slim, 38-36, advantage on points in the paint while WCU outrebounded PC, 28-to-24 including a 10-5 edge in offensive boards.
Western Carolina opens play in the South Padre Island Invitational with a pair of on-site games in Iowa before heading south for the Gulf Coast of Texas. The Catamounts open in Ames, Iowa on Sunday with a 1:30 pm game at Iowa State.