UNCG 72, Towson 60
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Freshman forward Nick Paulos scored 21 points in the second half to help lead UNCG to a 72-60 win over Towson in the consolation game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational Mainland Regional, Sunday at Murphy Center.
Paulos finished 9-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range. He scored 15 straight points for the Spartans (2-3) midway through the second half, helping turn a close game into a relative rout.
With UNCG leading 38-35, Paulos started his streak. By the time he finished the Spartans owned a 53-40 lead with 7:43 to go and had seized complete control of the game.
But he wasn't finished. After a pair of Derrell Armstrong free throws made it 55-42, Paulos completed an old fashioned three-point play to give UNCG a 58-44 lead with 5:59 left.
Paulos added a final three-pointer with 5:36 to go to make it 61-46. In all, Paulos out-scored the Tigers (0-4) 21-11 during a span of 7:04.
The Spartans enjoyed their largest lead of the night at 19 points when a Kyle Randall three-pointer made it 67-48 with 3:57 left.
In addition to Paulos' effort, the Spartans took advantage of a turnover-prone Towson squad. UNCG forced the Tigers into 28 turnovers and tied a school record with 20 steals.
For the fourth time in five games the Spartans out-rebounded their opponent, beating Towson on the boards by a 35-33 count. UNCG also made a season-high 10 three-pointers.
The Spartans won despite shooting 38 percent from the floor and allowing Towson to shoot at a 55 percent clip.
Randall and Trevis Simpson supported Paulos' effort by scoring 10 points each. Randall also added six assists and three steals.
Korey Van Dussen broke a school record previously held by current assistant coach Kevin Oleksiak and four others by picking up eight steals. Armstrong and Aloysius Henry led the Spartans with eight rebounds apiece.
Robert Nwankwo led the Tigers with 17 points and seven rebounds.
The Spartans return to action when they face crosstown rival North Carolina A&T, 7 p.m., Monday November 28 at Greensboro Coliseum.
Furman 63, Loyola-Chicago 51
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Richard Brown and Brandon Sebirumbi scored 14 points apiece to lead four Paladins in double figures as Furman downed Loyola University Chicago, 63-51, in men's basketball action Sunday afternoon on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.
The Paladins, who shot just 24.6% in Thursday's home loss to Mercer, shot 46.7% from the field and connected on 7-of-22 three-point attempts to improve to 3-1 on the season. Furman committed only four turnovers on the day while converting on 14-of-17 trips to the foul line, all in the second half.
After carrying a 28-23 lead into intermission, Furman found itself trailing 31-30 with under 16 minutes to play after the Ramblers opened the second half on an 8-2 run. Bobby Austin and Bryant Irwin drained back-to-back treys to put the Paladins back ahead by five points before Loyola's Joe Crisman answered with a three-pointer of his own to trim the margin to 36-34 with 14:23 left.
Furman and Loyola (0-4) traded baskets on the next possession for each team before Brown scored on a driving layup to start a 6-0 spurt that put the Paladins ahead 44-36 with 10:44 remaining. The Ramblers got no closer than six points the rest of the way as Furman committed just one turnover over the final 8:30.
Brown finished 5-of-11 from the field, including 2-for-2 beyond the arc, while playing turnover-free basketball in 33 minutes of action. Sebirumbi was 5-of-9 from the floor and 4-for-5 at the foul line to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Irwin tallied 11 points and grabbed five rebounds as Austin added 10 points and five assists.
Crisman led the Ramblers with 12 points while Christian Thomas and Denzel Brito contributed 11 and 10, respectively. Each team grabbed 27 rebounds and Loyola managed a 24-20 edge in points scored in the paint, but shot just 41 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from long range.
Furman opens a three-game road trip when its travels to face Clemson on Friday, November 25, at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Iowa State 92, Western Carolina 60
AMES, Iowa - Iowa State shot a sizzling 76-percent from the floor in the second half, outscoring the Catamounts 54-to-26 to break-open a four-point game at halftime to hand Western Carolina a 92-60 set-back Sunday afternoon at the Hilton Coliseum in the opening round of the South Padre Island Invitational.
Redshirt senior Harouna Mutombo paced a pair of Catamounts in double figures with 19 points including 16 in the opening 20 minutes, while Trey Sumler recorded his sixth-straight, double-digit scoring outing with 14 points including a dozen in the second half.
Iowa State (2-1) was hot early from beyond the 3-point arc, forging a 10-point lead, 25-15, midway through the opening 20 minutes. ISU's Chris Babb started 3-for-3 while Tyrus McGee was 2-for-2 from long-range to help ISU build its lead.
However, the Catamounts kept chipping away, tying the game at 32-32 with 3:20 left in the first half as Mutombo converted a pass from sophomore Brandon Boggs. ISU went five minutes with one field goal and Mutombo scored three hoops during the run to help close the gap.
Babb, who scored 13 of his 18 points before halftime, hit his fourth trey of the first half at the 1:11 mark to help ISU go into the break with a 38-34 lead.
In the second half, Iowa State led by just six points (52-46) early until a decisive 12-0 run gave the Cyclones a 64-46 lead with 11:06 remaining in the game. McGee hit a pair of treys and Babb connected on one in the run to help put the game out of reach.
The Cyclones held a 34-16 advantage on the glass and shot 65.3 percent from the field for the game.
Western Carolina (2-2) visits Northern Iowa on Tuesday night in the second, on-site game of the South Padre Island Invitational. The Panthers downed Northern Colorado - WCU's Friday afternoon opponent - 78-69 on Sunday. Tip-off from the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm CT.