Georgia Southern 87, Webber International 64
STATESBORO, GA. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball got its first win of the season on Friday night with a 87-64 victory over Webber International inside Hanner Fieldhouse in the 2012-13 home opener. The Eagles shot over 60 percent from the field en route to the victory in convincing fashion.
"It's a good feeling to get that first win of the year," said Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We didn't play our best basketball in the first half. I know games like this are difficult, they were difficult for me as a player, but we should be a mature enough team to put together 40 minutes."
Georgia Southern improved to 1-2 on the year behind 17 points and eight rebounds from Eric Ferguson. The junior forward with 6-for-10 from the field to post his biggest night of the season.
Freshman sensation Cleon Roberts scored in double-figures for the third time in as many games to open his career with the Eagles. He went 3-for-7 from downtown, his best mark from the perimeter this year.
Webber International was paced by 16 points from Brian Pace while Michael Bonilla scored 13 for the NAIA Division II Warriors.
Redshirt-senior C.J. Reed scored in double digits for his first time at Georgia Southern with 10 points and three assists assists on the night. Junior Marvin Baynham came one short of a career high with 12 points. Tre Bussey led the Eagles with five assists while scoring 12 points with seven rebounds.
The Eagles led by as many as eight in the first half, but saw the Warriors turn the margin around behind six three-pointers in the first half to lead by six points with seven minutes left in the opening period. Southern, however out-scored WIU 17-8 in the final minutes of the early minutes to take a 45-42 lead to the intermission.
In the first half the Eagles were 19-for-26 from the field, posting a 73 percent shooting mark to Webber International's stout .519 mark from the field.
GSU came out strong in the second half, going on a 10-2 run to start the second half and taking a 55-44 lead, forcing Webber to take a timeout just 2:24 into the second period.
Entering the final 10 minutes of the contest the Eagles led 69-54 as their team shooting percentage slowed to .700. GSU ran the lead out to 80-58 inside of six minutes to play as Bussey made a layup giving the Eagles five starters in double figures for the first time in two years.
Sophomore Tracy Ham, Jr. played a career-high seven minutes while freshmen Cole Rives and Brian Holmes each scored a deuce to open their career scoring accounts. GSU finished the night with 11-of-12 players scoring points. The Eagles finished the evening shooting 33-of-54 from the field, posting a .611 mark from the field. Southern held Weber International to a .250 field goal percentage in the second half, cruising to the 87-64 win.
The Eagles are back on the road for their next two contests, traveling to Kennesaw State and Maryland in the upcoming week. Georgia Southern visits the Owls on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. before visiting the Terrapins in College Park on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
Campbell 101, Appalachian State 82
BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball dropped its second-straight contest to a hot-shooting Big South foe in a 101-82 loss to Campbell on Friday at Gore Arena.
The Mountaineers (1-2) gave up 55 first-half points to the Camels (2-1) and were never able to recover despite holding their own on the offensive side of the ball.
Campbell, who never trailed after taking a 5-0 lead just one minute into the contest, shot a blistering 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the floor in the first half including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Appalachian shot a respectable 42.4 percent (14-of-33) from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play, but could not overcome 11 first-half turnovers as the Camels pushed the tempo on both ends.
After falling behind by 11 points (16-5) with 14:56 remaining in the half, the Mountaineers battled back to cut the deficit to four points on two occasions before Campbell reeled off a 14-3 run to take a 40-25 lead and never led by less than 10 points for the remainder of the half to take a 55-39 lead into the locker room.
Nathan Healy nearly matched his career-high in field goals in the first half with five while leading the Apps with 13 first-half points. Campbell got 13 first-half points from Reco McCarter and Darian Hooker, who went a combined 10-of-16 from the floor in the first half.
Campbell began the second half in much the same fashion as the first and grabbed its first 20-point lead of the contest (62-41) on a Darren White jumper with just over 18 minutes left to play.
Appalachian State would never threaten after that as the Camels, who never led by less than 13 the rest of the way, kept up their hot shooting and continued to score easy buckets in transition to defeat the Mountaineers for just the second time in nearly 20 years.
Healy led the Apps with 18 points on a career-high seven field goals while Tab Hamilton and Tevin Baskin also finished with 18 points each. Jamaal Trice scored 14 points and dished out a career-high seven assists off the bench.
White paced the Camels with 36 points, 28 of which came in the second half, on 15-of-19 shooting. Hooker added 17 and McCarter poured in 13. Trey Freeman scored nine points and led all players with nine assists.
Campbell shot 66.7 percent (42-of-63) on the night while the Mountaineers finished at 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the floor, including 9-of-19 from beyond the arc. The Apps won the rebounding battle by a 37-29 margin.
Appalachian State returns to action when it travels to East Carolina for a 7 p.m. contest on Tuesday at Minges Coliseum.
Ball State 66, Wofford 61
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Wofford men's basketball team was defeated 66-61 by Ball State on Friday night at Worthen Arena. The Cardinals used a 13-2 run in the second half to take a lead and the Terriers could get no closer than two points in the final four minutes of the game.
Wofford begins the season 1-2, while Ball State is 2-0. The Terriers had three players in double figures, led by Lee Skinner with 16 points and ten rebounds for the double-double. Spencer Collins added 14 points, and Karl Cochran had ten points. The Cardinals had four players in double figures, led by Majok Majok with 17 points. Majok also led the team with seven rebounds.
"The difference between winning and losing often times is very small," said head coach Mike Young. "We were in great shape up six points, they hit a three and then we miss a shot that we needed to make. That was a game we were supposed to win and we needed to find a way to close it. We did some things pretty well and we did some things not so well. Shooting 36 percent from the field is problematic. We were up four on the glass at the half and got outrebounded in the second half. We have a lot of work to do, but we will get there."
The Terriers opened the scoring with a couple of free throws by Lee Skinner and the game was tied at four after four minutes of play. The Cardinals went on a 7-0 run and held a 15-7 advantage with 11:43 left in the first half. The Terriers then went on a 7-0 run that included a three by Spencer Collins to make it a 15-14 game with 8:10 on the clock.
Ball State maintained an 18-14 advantage despite not scoring a field goal for almost six minutes. Then back-to-back three pointers by Karl Cochran and Spencer Collins gave Wofford a 20-19 lead with 3:59 remaining in the first half. In the final two minutes, the Terriers made four-of-five free throw attempts and added a lay-up by Aerris Smith for a 28-26 advantage at the break.
The Cardinals scored to open the second half to tie the game at 28. The Terriers had a 33-32 lead after a shot by Karl Cochran, but Ball State was up 37-35 at 14:15 in the second half. A three pointer by C.J. Neumann with 12:02 on the clock gave Wofford a 41-37 advantage. Wofford was able to take a 45-39 lead after a dunk by Lee Skinner with 9:18 remaining in the half.
Ball State answered with back-to-back three pointers by Michael Ramey to tie the game at 45 with 8:43 on the clock in the second half. The Terriers regained the lead with a shot by Karl Cochran, but Ramey hit another three pointer for a 48-47 advantage with 7:56 remaining. The Cardinals pushed the run to 13-2 and had a 52-47 lead before John Swinton hit two free throws. Jarell Byrd hit a three for Wofford to cut the score to 54-52 with four minutes left in the half. A three by John Swinton with sixty seconds left made it a 59-57 game, but that was as close as the Terriers could get and the Cardinals came away with a 66-61 victory.
Wofford shot 36 percent from the floor while Ball State shot 42 percent overall. The Terriers were 7-of-21 from three, while the Cardinals were 5-of-13 from behind the arc. Wofford was 18-of-24 from the free throw line, while Ball State was 23-of-32 from the line. The Cardinals had a 36 to 31 lead on the glass.
Wofford will continue the five-game road trip on Sunday night at Ohio University in the first game of the Nation of Coaches Classic.
East Carolina 76, UNCG 73
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Despite three players scoring in double figures, the UNCG men's basketball team suffered a hard-fought 76-73 loss Friday night to East Carolina at the Minges Coliseum. The Spartans held a 14-point lead in the second half, but East Carolina closed the game on a 36-19 run over the final 15:25 of the game.
"I was incredibly proud of how my guys came in and battled in a tough environment on the road against a Conference USA team," head coach Wes Miller said. "We really came together and fought, making plays on both the offensive and defensive end. I have been waiting to see the team that I know we are capable of being effort-wise, and really excited to see that team come together in a real game. That effort is something we can build on and it we play with that type of fight, we will have a good year."
Junior Trevis Simpson led the Spartans with 19 points, 10 of which came in the final 2:53 of the contest. Simpson connected on 6-of-16 from the field, but hit 4-of-8 from three-point land, while playing 30 minutes despite foul trouble.
Senior guard Korey Van Dussen added 18 points, 16 of which came in the first half, as he finished the game shooting 6-of-7 from the field. Van Dussen hit all four of his three-pointers and both of his free throws. Freshman forward Kayel Locke continued his strong start to his career as he added 14 points and six rebounds off the bench.
UNCG connected on 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field and 47.8 percent (11-of-23 ) from long range. The Spartans only attempted 12 free throws on the night hitting 83.3 percent (10-of-12), compared to 30 taken by the Pirates hitting 70 percent (21-of-30). East Carolina finished the night shooting 49.0 percent (24-of-49) from the field and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from long range.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 10-2 lead just under four minutes into the game as four different players scored for UNCG. Simpson started the run with a three-pointer while classmate Drew Parker capped the run with a three-pointer in transition for the eight-point lead. UNCG extended the lead to double figures at 15-4 when Locke scored in the post.
East Carolina responded to the UNCG early run with a spurt of its own as the Pirates turned in a 14-4 run to trim the lead to 19-18 and force the Spartans into a timeout. Miguel Paul hit a pair of three-pointers in the run, including one in transition which led to the UNCG timeout.
The Pirates took their first lead of the night at 27-26 but Van Dussen brought the Spartans back in front as he started to catch fire. He took over in the final 5:47 of the half scoring 11 straight points and 14 of the Spartans' final 16 points of the half to give UNCG a 39-31 lead heading into the locker room. Van Dussen hit 4-of-4 three-pointers in the half and 6-of-7 from the field total.
UNCG connected on 50 percent (16-of-32) from the field and hit 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from long range in the opening half. The Spartans handed out 10 assists in the first half while out-rebounding the Pirates by a 17-14 margin. Locke added eight first half points and four rebounds as he was 4-of-7 from the field.
East Carolina ended the half shooting 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from the field and 25 percent (3-of-12) from long range. Paul led the Pirates with 13 points, including two three-pointers in his first action of the season after missing two games due to a suspension.
The Spartans came out of the halftime break and extended the lead to 54-40 quickly taking their largest lead of the night. Locke was the catalyst coming out of the break as he scored six straight points while Parker hit another three-pointer in the opening minutes.
East Carolina responded with an 11-0 run to trim the Spartans' lead to 54-51. Maurice Kemp scored four straight points during the run while Akeem Richmond capped the spurt with a long three-pointer to make it a one possession game. Richmond continued to fire on all cylinders as he buried his fourth three-pointer in a four-minute stretch as the Pirates took a 64-62 lead. The Pirates extended the lead to 68-62 with 3:57 left in the game as Paul nailed a jumper from the wing.
The teams traded baskets in the final minutes until Simpson hit a deep three-pointer to narrow the gap to 73-69 with 39 seconds left. After a pair of free throws by ECU, Simpson came down and nailed another three-pointer while being fouled to convert a four-point play to make it a two-point game at 75-73.
The Pirates hit one of two free throws keeping it a one-possession game with 12 seconds left. The Spartans raced down the floor and Simpson put up a three-pointer that was just off the mark but senior Derrell Armstrong grabbed the rebound. The Spartans tried to call a timeout but it wasn't given before Armstrong heaved a three-pointer at the buzzer that was just short.
East Carolina placed four players in double figures in the victory led by Paul's 24 points. Richmond added 16 points off the bench as he hit 4-of-8 three-pointers while Maurice Kemp chipped in 16 points.
The Spartans return home to the Greensboro Coliseum Monday night as they host Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia Tech. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Clemson 72, Furman 55
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Senior Devin Booker scored a team-high 15 points and Clemson used a 20-2 run to build a 41-24 halftime lead en route to a 72-55 victory over Furman before a crowd of 2,746 Friday evening on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.
After a Charlie Reddick basket knotted the game at 12-12 with 11:59 to play in the first period, Clemson held Furman to just one field goal over the next 8:53 to take control of the game in its first appearance in Timmons Arena. Clemson's K.J. McDaniels buried six free throw attempts during the 20-2 spurt as the Tigers held the Paladins to 1-for-5 shooting from the floor and forced five turnovers during the stretch.
A pair dunks and a T.J. Sapp trey helped the Tigers opened the second half on a 10-3 run to fashion their largest lead of the ball game at 51-27 with 16:45 remaining. The Paladins connected on 11-of-16 second half free throws, but got no closer than the final 17-point margin as Clemson claimed its 29th consecutive victory in the series.
The Tigers (2-0) controlled the game by dominating the paint. Clemson out-rebounded Furman 31-24, outscored the Paladins 40-24 in the paint and posted a 29-5 margin on points off turnovers. Clemson also tallied 20 second chance points on the strength of 15 offensive rebounds.
Booker connected on 6-of-10 field goal attempts to score his 15 points in just 23 minutes of action while McDaniels and Damarcus Harrison added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Head coach Brad Brownell's squad shot 49 percent from the floor and made good on 14-of-20 trips to the charity stripe.
Freshman Stephen Croone drained 6-of-7 shots to pace the Paladins with a career-high 15 points. Senior Bryant Irwin netted 14 points while fellow senior Colin Reddick contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in a career-high 36 minutes of action.
Furman (1-2) shot 46 percent from the field and made 17-of-26 free throw attempts, but the Paladins forced only eight turnovers and got just four points from their bench.
The Paladins cap a four-game homestand when they host NCAA Division II Brevard College of Monday night at Timmons Arena. Tip-off against the Tornados is set for 7 p.m.
Auburn 55, College of Charleston 51
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Frankie Sullivan scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to lead Auburn to a 55-51 victory over College of Charleston in the second round of the ESPN Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant on Friday night at TD Arena.
Sullivan had to leave Thursday night's loss to Murray State and get stitches after opening a cut on his right arm when he crashed into the scorer's table. He was back and on target for the Tigers (2-1), although sporting a black wrap over the affected area. Sullivan scored Auburn's first 14 points of the second half as the Tigers built an 40-32 lead and held on.
Auburn will face Dayton for fifth place on Sunday, while Charleston (2-1) tries to avoid losing three straight on its home floor when it plays Boston College for seventh in the eight-team tournament.
Anthony Stitt had 11 points and Adjehi Baru had 11 rebounds to lead the Cougars.
The Tigers had to withstand a few tense moments at the end. College of Charleston cut Auburn's lead to three points three times in the final minute, but could not get closer. Shareif Adamu and Sullivan each made two foul shots and Noel Johnson one to keep Auburn out front.
Adamu and Johnson each had 11 points for the Tigers.
Auburn was much sharper against College of Charleston than it was in a 79-59 loss to Murray State here on Thursday night. In that one, the Tigers trailed 27-10 in the game's first 12 minutes and were eventually down by 36 points.
Against the Cougars, Auburn didn't have a turnover the first 17 minutes. Still, the Tigers left for the locker room trailing 23-22.
College of Charleston was also looking for a positive performance after falling out of the winner's bracket on its home court with a 64-53 loss to St. John's.
The Cougars' defense took control of things in the opening half, holding Auburn's shooters to less than 26 percent shooting. It might've been worse if the Tigers' Noel Johnson hadn't hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the period.
Auburn moved in front 22-19 on Johnson's final three of the half. But, Trent Wiedeman followed with a dunk and Stitt made two foul shots to give the Cougars their halftime lead.
CofC and the rest of the tournament field will enjoy a bye day on Saturday. The Cougars will prepare for its third game in four days against the likes of another major-conference opponent in Boston College (1-2) on Sunday, Nov. 18 at noon (ET) at TD Arena.