Appalachian State 77, Campbell 74
BOONE, N.C. - Senior Andre Williamson hauled in a clutch rebound and was fouled with just 3.1 ticks left in regulation before knocking down a pair of free throws to lead Appalachian State University men's basketball past Campbell, 77-74.
Moments before, Campbell's Marvelle Harris was fouled on a shot attempt in the paint while trailing by two points with less than 10 seconds remaining. The forward sank his first foul shot to pull the visiting Camels (8-5) within a point before the second attempt bounced Williamson's way near the baseline. Following Williamson's shots, Lorne Merthie's last-second attempt to tie rimmed out at the buzzer.
Williamson scored 16 points and led the Mountaineers (5-6) with five rebounds to accompany a block in the win as ASU moved to 4-1 at home on the season.
Jamaal Trice came off the bench for the first time this season and led the Mountaineers in scoring with 17 points on 4-8 shooting with three long balls and a 6-of-9 mark from the foul line. The junior added three rebounds in 33 minutes on the court.
The Apps shot a season-best 52 percent (26-50) from the floor as a team and knocked down 10-of-20 three-pointers. CU also shot well with a 50.9 percentage from the field.
Appalachian faced its largest rebound deficit of the season at 33-24, and hauled in just three balls off the offensive glass. ASU converted six second-chance points compared to 11 for the visitors. Campbell also owned a 34-26 edge on points in the paint.
Omar Carter notched 16 points in the game, including 12 in the opening 20 minutes. The senior was 7-of-13 from the floor with two three-pointers and a game-high four assists. He was joined in double figures by freshman Tab Hamilton, who scored 11 points off the bench in 18 minutes. The young guard shot 4-of-9 with a pair of treys.
Mike Neal and Rodney Milum each made their second-consecutive starts and turned in solid performances. Neal scored four points with three blocks, two assists, a pair of steals and a rebound, while Milum added six points on a pair of three-pointers to accompany two boards and an assist.
The Mountaineers owned a positive assist-to-turnover ratio at 12-11 in the game and forced 12 CU turnovers, including seven steals.
ASU trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half before rallying to take a 37-36 lead into the intermission. Appalachian has held the halftime lead in all five of its wins on the year.
Coming out of the break, Isaac Butts scored the home team's first six points of the half to help develop a seven-point cushion. The senior center was 3-of-5 on the night with three rebounds in 15 minutes.
CU's Eric Griffin led all players with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Darren White, a former Midland College teammate of Milum and Trice, scored 15 points and added eight boards for the Camels.
College of Charleston 77, Coastal Carolina 70
CONWAY, S.C. - Redshirt junior Matt Sundberg scored 15 of his career-high tying 17 points, including a half-court buzzer beater before the half, to lead College of Charleston to a 77-70 road win at Coastal Carolina on Thursday night at Kimbel Arena.
Sundberg was one of three players to score in double figures for the Cougars (10-2), who bounced back from a 69-62 loss at No. 4 Louisville on Tuesday night, which snapped the team's six-game win streak. They have now won six of their last seven games, while the Chanticleers (9-3) lost their second in a row.
Junior Andrew Lawrence kept CofC ahead in the second half as Coastal Carolina cut into a 17-point lead by the Cougars at the 14:37 minute mark. He knocked down 11 of his game-high 18 points including two key three-pointers in the half to keep the Chanticleers at bay.
Lawrence made four free throws prior to tip-off, after Coastal was charged with two technical fouls for dunking during pre-game warm-ups with the officials on the floor. There were 10 lead changes in the ballgame, mostly in a see-saw first half by both teams.
Senior Antwaine Wiggins added 13 points, while seven of the eight CofC players, who checked into the game, contributed to the final tally and second-straight win in the series versus Coastal. They improved to 2-1 on the road this season and are off to one of the best starts in non-conference play under head coach Bobby Cremins.
Georgia State 72, Georgia Southern 52
ATLANTA, GA. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball could not recover from a flat first half on Thursday night (December 22nd) at Georgia State, falling 72-52. The loss to the Panthers was the Eagles' 13th loss all-time against their in-state rival. Georgia State's win extends their program record winning streak to nine games. With the loss, Georgia Southern falls to 3-7 on the year.
Senior Ben Drayton III earned top-scorer honors with 11 points on the night. He was followed closely by Tré Bussey at 10 points including a pair of three-pointers.
Cameron Baskerville and Willie Powers III each logged eight points while Powers had a team-high four assists. Sophomore Eric Ferguson had five points to go with five rebounds and Jelani Hewitt scored six points with two steals.
State had five players in double figures with 19 from James Fields and 17 from Devonta White to improve to 9-3 on the season and extend their winning streak to nine games.
Southern was hampered by 26 turnovers and shot 45.5% from the field on the night with a 50.0% mark from beyond the arc. The Panthers logged 14 steals and shot 49.2% from the field, attempting 12 more shots than the Eagles. The Panthers won the rebounding battle, 31-25 and had 12 offensive rebounds to Georgia Southern's five.
The Eagles trailed 36-23 at the halftime intermission, but narrowed the lead to seven points with just over three minutes gone in the second period. Southern logged the second half's first six points unanswered to grab the early momentum in the second half.
Georgia State blew the game open around in the middle portions of the second half with a 14-0 run that took the lead up to 24 points with 10:08 remaining. The Panthers would lead by as many as 27 as the hosts routed Georgia Southern by a 72-52 margin.
UMass 73, Davidson 65
AMHERST, Mass. - Jesse Morgan led five UMass scorers in double figures with 14 points, and the Minutemen forced 19 Davidson turnovers in a 73-65 men's basketball victory at the Mullins Center Thursday night.
De'Mon Brooks tallied 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Davidson (7-4), and Tyler Kalinoski came off the bench to score 12. Nik Cochran scored nine points, and Clint Mann added eight points and six rebounds.
Maxie Esho recorded 12 points and four steals for UMass (10-3), while Raphiael Putney, Chaz Williams and Javorn Farrell each scored 10 points. Sean Carter collected a game-high 10 rebounds.
Davidson trimmed a six-point UMass lead down to one on a pair of Jake Cohen free throws with 3:30 to go. Williams answered with a runner, and after Brooks was whistled for traveling, Farrell scored a layup.
JP Kuhlman answered with a driving layup for Davidson, but Terrell Vinson nailed a triple from the wing, his only field goal of the night, to make the score 65-59 with 1:58 remaining.
Davidson came up empty on its trip down the floor, and the Wildcats were forced to foul with 1:22 left. The Minutemen went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line to seal the win.
After leading 35-29 at halftime, the Wildcats struggled through the first seven minutes of the second period and scored just four points after shooting 2-for-10 from the floor and committing four turnovers.
That stretch helped UMass go on a 17-4 run and open a 46-39 cushion. Esho capped the stretch with a layup and scored six points during the stretch.
Davidson answered by scoring eight straight points to regain a 47-46 advantage midway through the frame, but an 8-1 Minutemen run, with two triples coming from Freddie Riley, put UMass back on top 54-48 with 6:44 left. The 'Cats could not get over the hill from there, despite making it a one-possession game five times over the next four minutes.
VCU 80, UNCG 68
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Four players scored in double figures for UNCG but the Spartans couldn't overcome 56 percent shooting by VCU as the Rams handed UNCG an 80-68 loss on Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum.
Trevis Simpson led the Spartans (2-11) with 20 points but it wasn't enough to prevent UNCG from suffering its eighth straight loss. VCU (9-3) got a game-high 21 points from Bradford Burgess as the Rams won their sixth consecutive game.
Though UNCG lost by double figures, the Spartans never really let the Rams pull away.
VCU led 38-34 at halftime after a first half which featured three ties and three lead changes. UNCG led by as many as three points when a Simpson three-pointer made it 10-7 at the 13:32 mark.
After the Rams pushed out to a 24-16 lead with 8:46 remaining, the Spartans pulled to within a point on three different occasions but couldn't take the lead as VCU settled for a four-point cushion at the break.
The second half was nearly identical to the first. VCU had trouble gaining breathing room on the Spartans and UNCG couldn't get closer than a basket in the early going. After trailing by as many as seven points (43-36), the Spartans twice cut the lead down to two with the last time coming when Aaron Brackett made a short jumper to make it 45-43 with 14:17 left.
But VCU responded with a quick 8-0 run, grabbing a 53-43 advantage on a Briante Weber jumper with 11:55 remaining. The lead quickly swelled to 65-50 as Rob Brandenurg scored eight points over the next three-and-half minutes for the Rams.
UNCG cut it to eight points twice but never got any closer as the Rams went 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 1:51.
Simpson finished 6-of-18 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line before fouling out with less than 30 seconds to play. Derrell Armstrong scored 11 points and added five assists and two steals, while Brackett and Kyle Randall scored 10 each for the Spartans. David Williams grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
Brandenburg finished with 17 for the Rams, while Juvonte Reddic chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Spartans shot 40 percent from the field, including a 6-of-22 effort from 3-point range. UNCG out-rebounded VCU, 31-30.
VCU went 21-of-26 from the free throw line, compared to 10-of-15 for the Spartans.
San Diego State 81, Elon 55
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Four Aztecs scored in double figures as host San Diego State handed the Elon men's basketball team an 81-55 loss at Viejas Arena in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon in the final contest before the holidays for both teams.
SDSU (11-2) had the hot hand all night, finishing the evening 34-of-61 (55.7) from the floor while holding Elon (7-4) to just 19-of-60 (31.7). San Diego State used the strength of its big men to pound the ball down low, outscoring the Phoenix 44-16 in the paint, and also forcing Elon to rely on the outside shot.
While Elon opened 5-of-8 from three-point territory to take an early lead, the Phoenix shot 3-of-20 for the remainder of the contest and SDSU made big plays to pull away midway through the final half and put the game out of reach.
Sophomore Jack Isenbarger and rookie Austin Hamilton were the lone Phoenix players in double figures with 10 points each. Sophomore wing Sebastian Koch netted nine points and led Elon on the glass with six boards.
SDSU guard Jamaal Franklin hit 8-of-16 from the field for a game high 19 points while grabbing six rebounds. Chase Tapley (14), Garrett Green (10) and Alec Williams (10) also contributed double figures in the contest. DeShawn Stephens came off the bench for nine rebounds as SDSU held a 39-30 advantage on the glass.
After trailing 6-4 in the early minutes, Elon's next five baskets came from three-point territory. Four different Phoenix players - Hamilton, Beaumont, Koch and Isenbarger - hit treys during the stretch to give the visitors a 19-17 lead with 11:18 to play in the first half.
But a cold spell hit the Phoenix and two quick buckets by the Aztecs shifted the lead, 22-19, in favor of the home team. San Diego State would outscore Elon 20-9 over the final 10 minutes of the half to take a 37-28 advantage into the locker room. The Aztecs outscored Elon 22-2 in the paint in the first 20 minutes of action.
Koch drained a triple to start the second stanza and Hamilton picked the pocket of Tapley at midcourt and scored to put Elon within four, 37-33, before a minute had gone by in the second half. But, the Aztecs were quick to respond and a 13-0 stretch that spanned four minutes made it 50-33, giving SDSU a comfortable lead that it would never relinquish. Franklin scored nine points during the run, bringing a rowdy afternoon crowd to its feet.
San Diego State shot a blistering 58 percent in the final half while limiting Elon to 2-of-14 from downtown.
Denver 70, The Citadel 58
DENVER, Colo. - Mike Groselle scored a team-high 16 points to lead four Citadel players in double figures, but it was the University of Denver that came through with the 70-58 victory in front of 6,355 in attendance at Magness Arena on Thursday evening. Groselle was joined offensively by teammates DeVontae Wright (15 points), Lawrence Miller (12 points) and Cosmo Morabbi (10 points).
The Citadel shot 23-of-46 from the field, knocking down a Pioneer opponent season-high nine 3-pointers that shattered the previous high of four, set by Southern Mississippi on Nov. 17, 2011. Miller led the way with four 3-pointers, tying a career-high that he set against VMI (Nov. 11) at the All-Military Classic. Wright closed the contest with three treys, while Morabbi and Ashton Moore each added one from downtown. Meanwhile Groselle hit 7-of-9 from the floor and hauled in a game-high eight rebounds, including three on the offensive glass, to give the Bulldogs a 22-12 edge in points in the paint and a 26-23 advantage in rebounds. The Cadets fall to 2-9 overall in the process.
The University of Denver (10-2) took advantage of a 21-of-45 (.467) shooting performance that included 12 conversions from beyond the arc. Chris Udofia led all scorers with 19 points and added seven rebounds, knocking down five field goals and finishing 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Joining Udofia were Chase Hallam, Royce O'Neale and Brett Olson, who scored 10 points each. Olson capped off his performance with three 3-pointers and was one of six different Pioneer players hit a shot from beyond the arc. The Pioneers also took advantage of 15 Bulldog miscues to close with a 27-14 edge in points off turnovers.
Denver opened the second half of play with a 14-5 run that was highlighted by a pair of Travis Hallam 3-pointers, pushing their lead to 51-24 at the 15:53 mark. The Citadel quickly retaliated with an 8-0 run that included a pair of long distance shots by Miller and Morabbi to make for a 51-32 lead.
Continuing to scratch their way back into the contest, the Bulldogs took advantage of a jumper by Bo Holston and the second 3-pointer by Miller to cut the lead to 54-37.
Leading 60-45 at the 5:17 mark of the second half, O'Neale buried the fifth Denver 3-pointer of the second stanza to extend the lead 18. The Citadel regrouped following a 30-second timeout and scored 15 of the game's final 22 points over a 4:24 span, led by Morabbi who scored five down the stretch.
The Bulldogs allowed just one field goal in that stretch, a second 3-pointer by O'Neale, and sent the Pioneers to the line on four different occasions. Denver staved off the rally and emerged with the decisive 70-58 victory.
The Citadel knocked down 8-of-18 (.444) field goals in the opening frame, led by Groselle's eight points. Groselle was successful on 4-of-5 field goal attempts, while Wright was the only other Bulldog with multiple field goals (2-4). Both made field goals by Wright were 3-pointers, as the Cadets finished 3-for-8 from beyond the perimeter. The Dogs also crashed the glass for 10 rebounds, including a team-high three for Groselle.
Denver countered with a 13-of-25 (.520) first-half shooting performance, six of which came from beyond the arc. The tandem of Udofia (12 points) and Chase Hallam (10 points) led the way for the Pioneers offensively. Udofia led the team by hitting 4-of-7 from the field along with four free throws. Chase Hallam closed out the half 4-of-5, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range and was one of three Pioneer players to have two treys. Udofia was also a key rebounder, grabbing four boards as the University of Denver finished with 12 in the half.
The Bulldogs offense opened strong in the early going, taking advantage of four points by Groselle and a 3-pointer off the hand of Wright to assume a 7-3 lead at the 17:17 mark.
Denver answered with a brief 6-0 run that took less than one minute, which included a 3-pointer by Olson, to assume a 9-7 lead. Morabbi answered for the Bulldogs with a layup on a pass from Holston, knotting the game at nine all, before the Pioneers rattled off the next seven straight to jump in front 16-9.
A Barry Smith pass found Groselle in the post for a layup to end the 3:04 scoreless span for The Citadel, making for a five-point deficit. After a Denver score in the post, Wright converted his second shot from downtown to make for the 18-14 Denver lead.
Chase Hallam stretched the UD lead back to seven before a Miller 3-pointer made for a 21-17 score. The Bulldogs then turned to their defense, forcing a Rob Lewis turnover, which allowed Groselle to score a layup and trim the lead to two points with 5:14 remaining in the frame.
Denver closed out the half on a 16-0 run, including seven points by Stafford and five by Udofia, and headed into the break with a 37-19 advantage.