#6 Duke 82, Davidson 69
DURHAM, N.C. - Seth Curry and Austin Rivers each scored 17 points, and No. 6 Duke used a big second-half run to top Davidson 82-69 in men's basketball action Friday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Chris Czerapowicz led Davidson (2-1) with 15 points with 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, while also adding five boards. Jake Cohen and De'Mon Brooks each had 12 points, while Brooks added six boards. JP Kuhlman also had six boards to go along with 10 points and four assists.
Mason Plumlee recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils (4-0). Miles Plumlee had 10 points.
Duke shot 53.7 percent from the field for the game and held Davidson to 35.5 percent shooting in the second half after allowing the 'Cats to hit 41.9 percent of their first-half chances.
A Kuhlman layup with 17:07 remaining in the game gave Davidson a 41-39 lead, but Dukewent on a 33-11 run from that point to open a 20-point cushion with 6:25 remaining. A pair of layups by Brooks and a three-ball from Czerapowicz cut the margin to 13 points as Davidson went on a 7-0 run, but Curry responded with a 3-pointer after a Duke timeout. A 6-0 Davidson run trimmed a 17-point lead to 11 with1:25 to go, but the Wildcats could get no closer.
Davidson had a 35-34 halftime lead after Tom Droney was fouled with 0.8 seconds remaining in the first half. A Duke turnover with 5.4 seconds remaining gave Davidson the ball at the opposite end line. Cohen inbounded it to Droney, who dribbled it inside the arc and was fouled on his shot attempt, allowing him to get to the line and sink both free throws.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 9-3 run led by a layup and three-ball by Cohen to build their largest lead of the game 3:10 into the contest. The Blue Devils answered with five points to make it a one-point game with 14:25 remaining. The teams traded points as a Rivers layup tied the game for Duke at 13-13 with 11:08 to go.
A three-pointer by Andre Dawkins gave Duke its first lead of the game with 9:50 remaining in the first half, but Cohen answered with a three-ball to put Davidson back on top 18-17. After Curry tied the game at 23-23 with 6:45 remaining, the teams traded the lead five times over the remainder of the frame.
Davidson returns to action Monday night in Belk Arena at 8:15 p.m. against Presbyterian. The game will follow the women's basketball team's game against Gardner-Webb at 6 p.m.
Jacksonville 70, Samford 57
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- In its first road game of the 2011-12 campaign, the Samford University basketball team dropped a 70-57 decision against the Jacksonville Dolphins at Veterans Memorial Arena (5,181).
Samford (0-2) trailed 42-25 at halftime and mounted a second-half rally to trim Jacksonville's (1-2) lead to 63-54 with 5:11 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs' late charge was led by senior Jeffrey Merritt who scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Merritt tallied 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half of play.
Following Kaylin Johnson's driving layup to cut the Dolphins' advantage to 63-54, Jacksonville's Delwan Graham scored three straight points to extend his team's lead to 66-54 with 3:05 left to play.
Samford's Merritt capped off his career-high performance Friday with a resounding fast-break dunk in the final minutes, but the Dolphins used layups from Chris Davis and Glenn Powell to hang on for the 13-point home victory.
Jacksonville's leading scorer Friday was Aloys Cabell, who paced the Dolphins' offensive attack for a second straight game. Cabell, a sophomore guard from Atlanta, Ga., dropped in a team-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor versus Samford. He also finished a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Against Savannah State on Wednesday, Cabell scored a game-high 22 points.
3-point shooting played a key role in Friday's outcome as Jacksonville shot 47.4 percent from downtown. Samford knocked down seven 3-point baskets, but only turned in a 25.9 shooting percentage from long range. Merritt led the Bulldogs with three 3-points field goals, while sophomore Will Cook followed with two.
The Dolphins came out firing on all cylinders and buried six 3-pointers in the first half to take a 42-25 advantage at the intermission. Jacksonville turned in a 54.5-percent outing (6-of-11) in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Samford finished 2-of-13 (15.4).
After Merritt's game-high 22 points, the Bulldogs were aided by Cook's nine points and six rebounds, as well as seven points from Johnson and six points from senior forward John Peterson. Samford freshmen Raijon Kelly and Tyler Hood also chipped in with four points apiece.
Jacksonville finished Friday's non-conference matchup with four players scoring in double figures. Cabell notched his team-high 17 points and was followed by Powell's 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. The Dolphins' junior forward also added six rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.
Keith McDougald and Davis both finished the game with 11 points each.
Samford only committed 13 turnovers and scored 21 points off Jacksonville's 18 miscues. The Dolphins out-rebounded the Bulldogs 36-27, but Samford outscored Jacksonville in second-chance points, 17-12.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham for a non-conference matchup against the Georgia State Panthers to be held in the Pete Hanna Center.
Kennesaw State 65, Chattanooga 59
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (0-3) men's basketball team could not overcome a mid-game lull falling 65-59 to visiting Kennesaw State (1-2) Friday night. UTC trailed by as many as 16 before a furious comeback attempt fell short in the final minute.
Senior Omar Wattad nailed a three-pointer for the Mocs to cut the margin to nine, 50-41, at 11:41. But the Owls had an answer. On their ensuing possession, Romain Henry drained a trey of his own as shot clock buzzed zero to make it 53-41 at 11:01. That shot sparked a 10-3 run for KSU as a Markeith Cummings layup on the break gave it its biggest lead, 60-44, at 8:28.
But the Mocs started nibbling at the lead. Jahmal Burroughs followed his own missed shot with a rebound follow to get the score within 10 for good, 62-53, at 3:54. Two Drazen Zlovaric free throws at 1:20 made things very interesting at 62-58.
Ricky Taylor forced a Spencer Dixon turnover on the defensive end and the Mocs were in business. Wattad missed a three with 35 seconds remaining, and Cummings broke free at the other end for a dunk and a free throw to put the game out of reach, 65-58, at the 32-second mark. Zlovaric hit one of two free throws nine seconds later to provide the final margin.
Cummings came off the bench to lead all scorers with 21 points adding eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Dixon chipped in 17 for the Owls.
Taylor's 14 paced the Mocs, while Wattad added 12. Zlovaric just missed a double-double with 11 points and game-high nine boards.
UTC came out firing scoring on two of its first three possessions of the game. Lance Stokes' fast break layup off a beautiful feed from Ronrico White gave the Mocs their largest lead of nine, 14-5, at 13:12.
But KSU scored 11 of the next 13 points to take its first lead, 16-15, on a Cummings layup off the break. Cummings' three at 4:24 gave the Owls the lead for good, 28-27, as they finished the last 4:45 of the first half out-scoring the Mocs 12-4, to take a 37-31 cushion into intermission.
Kennesaw State scored 18 fast break points on the evening ending up shooting 44.6 percent (25-56) from the field. The Owls started out hitting just four of 13 attempts, 30.8 percent, before making 21 of 43 (48.8%) the rest of the way.
Conversely, the Mocs started hot and struggled the rest of the way. The second half was a chilly 32.1 percent (9-28) performance from the field, including just five of 13 (38.5%) inside three-point range.
Tonight is the first of a four-game home stand for Chattanooga. UTC hosts Warren Wilson on Monday at 7 p.m.
Georgia Southern 84, Webber International 61
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball logged its first win of the season with an 84-61 victory over Webber International on Friday night (Nov. 18th) at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles never trailed in the game and led by as many as 33 in the second half before settling for a 23-point margin of victory.
"The confidence was through the roof tonight," said Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "When you are a confident player with your game, shots fall easier and you are a little quicker on defense, so it was pivotal for us to get off to a good start tonight. It was great to get a lot of our younger guys that are deeper on the bench some minutes tonight."
It was a balanced night offensively for the Eagles with 11 players earning stats in the official book. Eric Ferguson led the way for the Eagles, who improve to 1-2 overall, with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. He also blocked two shots on the night. Sophomore Jelani Hewitt was 3-for-5 from the bonusphere and tallied 13 total points.
Sophomore Tré Bussey reached double-figures for the first time this season, firing 12 points including a pair of three-pointers. Senior Willie Powers III contributed with five assists and five rebounds to go with eight points. He was joined at eight points by Ben Drayton III and freshman Tyrone Brown. Brown also posted a team-high two steals in 15 minutes of play.
The visiting Warriors fall to 2-6 overall and were paced by 13 points off the bench from Johnson Mesidor. Webber International shot 32.8% from the field and scored just 23 points in the first half to GSU's 51. The Warriors responded in the second-half, outscoring Georgia Southern 38-33 in the final 20 minutes of the game.
The Eagles were 51.5% from the field and shot 9-of-20 from beyond the arc. Georgia Southern out-rebounded the Warriors 48-33, but committed 17 turnovers, 13 of which came in the second half. GSU was opportunistic, scoring 27 points off WIU turnovers.
Georgia Southern travels next Wednesday for a Big East contest against South Florida.
Elon 87, Rutgers-Camden 53
ELON, N.C. - The Elon men's basketball team opened the game on a 20-0 run and never looked back, defeating the visiting Rutgers-Camden Scarlet Raptors, 87-53, in Friday night action from Alumni Gym. Nine Phoenix players scored in the contest with Sebastian Koch's 20 points leading the charge.
Under a minute into the game, senior Drew Spradlin drained a three-pointer and became the 34th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Spradlin finished with 14 points and was a rebound away from a double-double with a team-high nine boards. Sophomore Lucas Troutman was an efficient 6-of-7 from the field for 12 points in 14 minutes of action. Austin Hamilton and Roger Dugas also scored in doubles figures for the Phoenix with 11 points apiece.
Yusuf Leary came off the bench for the Scarlet Raptors and supplied a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Phoenix will head to Princeton on Tuesday night with a 2-1 record. With home victories over South Carolina and Rutgers-Camden (0-1) in Alumni Gym this week, Elon won back-to-back games on Robertson Court for the first time since last January.
Elon outscored the Scarlet Raptors 43-15 in the first half, with eight of its 17 buckets from long range. The Phoenix nailed four three-pointers during its 20-0 stretch to begin the game and sophomore Eghoesa Edomwonyi capped the run on a layup following an offensive board by rookie Kevin Blake.
Rutgers-Camden finally got on the board with a Mike Payne bucket at the 13:36 mark of the opening half. The visitors only managed three first-half field goals, but made 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. The Elon lead crept to as many as 30 points with 1:29 remaining when a Spradlin bucket gave the Phoenix a 43-13 advantage.
The second half was more of the same as a 16-8 run to begin the period gave Elon its largest lead of the game at 61-23 with 14:32 to go. The Phoenix knocked down 15 triples on the night, the most since draining 16 against UNCG on February 19, 2011.
Elon moved the ball around well as evidenced by the 22 assists on 32 buckets. The Phoenix connected on 47 percent of its field goals while holding Rutgers-Camden to a 17-of-53 (32.1) shooting performance. Elon was dominant on the glass, holding a 49-32 advantage and grabbing 18 offensive boards that resulted in 25 second-chance points.
Elon is on the road for its next two contests, beginning with a game at Princeton on Tuesday, November 22 at 7 p.m.