Furman 85, Jacksonville 79
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Three players netted 16 points apiece to help Furman hold off Jacksonville, 85-79, in non-conference basketball action Sunday afternoon on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.
With the victory, Furman's second straight and 15th in its last 18 home games, the Paladins improved to 5-4 on the season. Jacksonville dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 2-6.
Bobby Austin and Richard Brown both posted career-highs with 16 points while Charlie Reddick drained four three-pointers to total 16 points as the Paladins built a 16-point second half lead and held off a Dolphin rally in the final minutes.
After Furman led 36-33 at the intermission, Colin Reddick opened the second half with a three-point play and Glenn Powell answered for Jacksonville with a three-point play of his own to trim Furman's lead to 39-36 before the Paladins reeled off 12 straight points to open up a 51-36 lead on Charlie Reddick's triple with 14:49 remaining.
Furman maintained a 76-65 lead with 1:21 left when Admir Sahbegovic made a free throw for the Dolphins before scoring a basket and completing a three-point play at the foul line with 1:05 to play after Russell Powell's offensive board off a missed free throw. After Austin extended Furman's lead back to 78-69 with a pair of free throws with 1:02 left, Keith McDougald buried a trey to trim the Paladin lead to just 78-72 with under 50 seconds left.
Furman converted on just 1-of-2 trips to the charity stripe on each of its next two possessions and Jacksonville followed with a layup both times to cut the lead to 80-76 with 20 seconds to play. Bryant Irwin was fouled on the inbounds and drained two free throws, but Aloys Cabell answered with a triple to shrink the Furman lead to 82-79 with under 15 seconds left. Brown, however, made 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled on the inbounds pass and Austin followed with a pair from the foul line on the next possession for the final 85-79 margin.
Jacksonville shot 48.4% from the floor and converted on 14-of-22 trips to the foul line while out-rebounding the Paladins 38-28, but Furman buried 8-of-23 three-point attempts and made good on 27-of-33 trips to the charity stripe to knot the series with the Dolphins at 7-7. Furman shot 46.3% from the field and turned 21 Jacksonville turnovers into 26 points while also blocking six shots on the night.
Reddick went 6-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-8 beyond the arc, and added a game-high three blocked shots. Austin, 9-of-10 at the foul line, added a career-best six assists.
McDougald paced the Dolphins with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting while Glenn Powell and Delwan Graham added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
The Paladins close out the calendar year with a four-game road swing that begins on Saturday, December 17, at Western Kentucky.
Elon 109, Lynchburg 67
ELON, N.C. - The Elon Phoenix gave the home crowd something to cheer about in its final contest of 2011 in Alumni Gym as seven players scored in double figures en route to a 109-67 victory over the Lynchburg Hornets in non-conference men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon. Elon (7-2) shot a blistering 53 percent from the field and drained 13 three-pointers in the victory.
Elon is off to its best start since the 1990-91 team opened with a 14-2 mark. The last time the Phoenix scored 100 or more points was in last year's meeting with Lynchburg - a 102-63 defeat of the Hornets on Dec. 14, 2010.
Rookie Austin Hamilton led all scorers with 16 points, connecting on 6-of-8 field goals while also dishing off five assists. Sophomores Lucas Troutman and Sebastian Koch each added 15 points and Koch came up one board short of a double-double for the second straight game. Drew Spradlin (14), Jack Isenbarger (13), Egheosa Edomwonyi (12) and Brett Ervin (10) also netted double figures for the Phoenix. Elon finished with a 47-39 edge on the glass and had seven blocks in the game.
The Hornets, who average 93.0 ppg, were led by Nate Campbell's 14 points. This was only the second game of the year that Lynchburg did not manage at least 90 points.
After Lynchburg (7-3) nailed seven first-half treys to remain within striking distance, Elon came out of the locker room on an 18-5 tear and held the visitors without a field goal for nearly six minutes to push its advantage to 68-44 with 13:52 to go. The Elon defense was stifling in the final 20 minutes as Lynchburg managed only 9-of-35 (.257) from the field including 1-of-9 (.111) from downtown.
The Phoenix outscored the Hornets 59-28 in the second stanza, dominating the paint while draining 8-of-14 from beyond the arc. Elon held its seventh opponent of the year under 40 percent shooting as Lynchburg ended the game shooting 33.8 percent.
After Elon jumped out to a 21-13 lead in a fast-paced first half, a Manny Hernandez three ball sparked a 10-2 Hornets' run that tied the game at 23 with 10:47 remaining in the half.
Troutman answered on the ensuing possession for the Phoenix, scoring two of his 13 first-half points to put Elon back on top. Troutman began and ended a 10-2 stretch for the Phoenix as the home team grabbed a double-digit advantage, 35-25, with 6:08 to play.
Lynchburg managed to trim the lead to five, but Hamilton knocked in the next seven Phoenix points, including two buckets from long range as the Elon lead moved back to double figures, 42-32. A Troutman dunk on an inbounds pass and a Koch three ball in the final minute pushed the lead to 11, 50-39, at the half.
Elon will finish up final exams this week before trekking to Dartmouth for a Saturday showdown with the Big Green. Tip is scheduled for noon on December 17.
Florida State 75, UNCG 60
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- Florida State used a 15-5 run midway through the second half to take control of a close game en route to a 75-60 win over UNCG, Sunday at Leon County Civic Center.
UNCG's Trevis Simpson scored a game-high 19 points but the Spartans (2-8) worn down late against a physical Seminoles (7-3) squad.
After trailing 38-28 early in the second half, UNCG rallied to get within one. With Florida State leading 38-28 with 17:09 remaining, the Spartans went on a 10-2 run. A three-pointer by Derrell Armstrong pulled the Spartans to within 40-38 with 13:22 to play.
But the Seminoles never allowed UNCG to get closer. Back-to-back three-points by Michael Snaer made it 49-42. A long jumper by Snaer gave the Seminoles a 53-43 edge, and a Jon Kreft layup made it 55-43 at the 8:11 mark. The Spartans never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
In the first half UNCG enjoyed several leads as the Spartans out-played the Seminoles for much of the first 20 minutes.
The Spartans led 24-21 on an Elhanan Bone layup with 6:21 left, and owned a 26-24 lead with 5:26 left in the half before FSU closed with a 10-2 run for a 34-28 halftime lead.
Simpson was 7-of-15 from the field with one three-pointer, and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Armstrong joined Simpson in double figures with 13 points, adding three steals and three rebounds.
Korey Van Dussen grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for UNCG, while Drew Parker led the Spartans with four assists.
Snaer led the Seminoles with 14 points, while Xavier Gibson and Terry Whisnant each scored 11.
The Spartans shot just 35 percent from the field while FSU converted at a 52 percent clip, including 63 percent in the second half.
Despite a significant size disadvantage, UNCG held its own on the boards, getting out-rebounded by a 35-33 count.
UNCG returns to action when the Spartans host East Carolina, 7 p.m., Friday at Greensboro Coliseum.