Elon 81, Colgate 72
ELON, N.C. - Lucas Troutman's efficient day and a big second-half run lifted the Elon men's basketball team into the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Regional Winners' Game tomorrow afternoon, as the Phoenix defeated the Colgate Raiders, 81-72, inside Alumni Gym.
Elon will face Mike Jarvis' Florida Atlantic Owls tomorrow, Nov. 18, at 4:30 p.m. in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Regional Winners' Game. FAU defeated Coppin State today, 64-61.
Troutman led four Phoenix players in double figures with 18 points to go along with a game-high nine boards and seven blocks. Troutman's seven blocks are a career-best and put him over the century mark at 102 for his career.
"We're thrilled with the victory today," said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "Our number one goal coming in was to be the aggressive team much like Tuesday night and I thought for the most part we were. We had veteran guys in there at the end of the game and I liked the way they coached and led each other down the stretch."
Austin Hamilton finished the game with 15 points and six assists, while Tanner Samson and Jack Isenbarger each tallied 12 points, respectively. Samson connected on a game-high four three-balls, as the Phoenix went 9-of-25 from beyond the arc.
Elon protected the ball well in the win, committing just nine turnovers and forcing Colgate into a total of 13. The Phoenix limited the Raiders to a 38-percent clip from the field while shooting at a 44-percent mark from the field on 27-of-62 field goal attempts.
The Phoenix carried a six-point lead into the locker room at intermission after a Troutman layup with 49 seconds remaining put Elon ahead, 41-35. Elon shot 48 percent in the first half, with Troutman and Isenbarger leading the way with 11 and 10, respectively.
Elon stormed out of the gates in the second half, going on an 18-3 run over the first 5:40 to take a 59-38 advantage. The run was fueled by a Troutman dunk at the 18:01 mark and Ryley Beaumont three-pointer with 17:40 remaining that forced a Colgate timeout.
The Raiders managed to pull within six points with less than two minutes remaining, but the Phoenix kept Colgate at arm's length after knocking down 7-of-8 free throws in the home stretch to secure the victory.
The Citadel 92, Union College (Ky.) 50
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Freshman sharpshooter Matt Van Scyoc finished with 17 points and led 11 Bulldogs in scoring, as The Citadel completed the 92-50 victory over visiting Union (Ky.) on Saturday evening at McAlister Field House.
Van Scyoc, who hit 7-of-11 from the floor, was joined in double-digit scoring by Mike Groselle (16), Lawrence Miller (15) and Quinton Marshall (12). Groselle completed the 24th double-double of his Citadel career, as he hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds. The Citadel (3-1) went 35-of-67 (52.2%) from the floor, including nine 3-pointers, and extended its streak to four straight games with better than 50 percent shooting.
The backcourt tandem of Marshall Harris III and Miller combined for 16 assists, as the Bulldogs finished with 31 team assists, the most since a Dec. 5, 2005 meeting with Atlanta Christian. The inside trio of Groselle (16 rebounds), Dylen Setzekorn (six rebounds) and Van Scyoc (five rebounds) provided The Citadel with a 44-31 edge on the glass.
Union (4-3) struggled to find its offense as they connected on just 18-of-57 (.316) field goal attempts, including five from 3-point range. The Bulldogs were led offensively by reserves James Strange (13 points) and Sergio Gonzalez (10 points). Gonzalez knocked down 4-of-11 from the floor and finished with a pair of 3-pointers. The highlight for the Union was finishing a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line.
The Citadel scored nine of the first 15 points of the second half, led by Miller's five points in that stretch, to establish a 57-26 advantage with 16:46 on the clock.
That lead grew to 33 points over the next 3:20 of the contest, as four Bulldog scorers, including Stephen Elmore, scored a bucket to make for a 65-32 lead.
Union scored six unanswered points, trimming the margin to 65-38, before witnessing a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs that pushed the lead to 72-38.
A layup by Matthew Thomas ended the Union scoring drought with 8:50 left in the half. However, The Citadel reserves continued to pour in the points, with redshirt freshman Michael Hundley leading the charge. Hundley scored six points in a 3:08 stretch as the Bulldogs outscored Union 10-2, moving in front 84-42.
The Citadel allowed just eight points in the final 3:49 of the contest to complete the 92-50 victory in front of 786 in attendance.
For the third time in as many games, The Citadel hit better than 50 percent from the floor in the opening half, this time converting 18-of-32 (.563) from the field. Combined with a 7-of-9 (77.8%) first half outing from beyond the arc, the Bulldogs held a 48-20 advantage as both teams headed to the locker room.
Van Scyoc provided the spark in the Dogs offense, scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor to go along with three from 3-point range. Groselle added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds, including eight on the defensive glass. Harris was the catalyst for the sharpshooting Citadel offense, handing out five assists, while Miller finished with four.
Union was limited to 7-of-31 (.226) shooting, hitting just four shots from beyond the perimeter. The combination of Gonzalez and Strange came off the bench to score eight and five points, respectively, to lead the way for the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, four Union players finished with two rebounds, as they were edged on the glass 27-14 by The Citadel.
The combination of Miller and Van Scyoc accounted for five points each as The Citadel established 15-0 lead in the early going.
Gonzalez penetrated the lane to score the first two Union points, but the Cadets offense remained in rhythm, scoring 16 of the next 23 points to move in front 31-7. In that stretch, Van Scyoc drilled in a pair of 3-pointers and added a dunk, while Harris and Ashton Moore also knocked down a pair of long distance jumpers.
The Citadel defense held Union under double figures in scoring until the 8:44 mark of the first half, when Strange knocked down a pair of free throws to make for a 36-11 score.
Three Union 3-pointers, including two from Strange, trimmed the lead to 37-20, but it was an old fashioned three-point play by Mike Groselle that quickly made for a 20-point Citadel lead.
The Cadets held their opponents scoreless over the final 4:22 of the half, as jumpers by C.J. Bray, Moore and Setzekorn provided a 48-20 lead at the intermission.
The Citadel enjoys a week long break before its next contest. The Dogs return for their fifth November contest at McAlister Field House this season when they host Radford on Nov. 24 at 2:05 p.m.
Memphis 65, Samford 54
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Samford University basketball team trailed the 16th-ranked Memphis Tigers, 54-51, with 3:30 remaining in Saturday's game in an early-season showdown held at the FedExForum. The Bulldogs were poised for the upset victory in the second half, but Memphis closed out the contest on an 11-3 run to hang on for the 65-54 win.
"I'm not into moral victories, never have been and I never will be," said Samford head coach Bennie Selzer. "Those guys in that locker room are very disappointed, and they should be. They are extremely disappointed because we feel like we let one slip away."
Midway through the second half, Samford (1-3) used a 9-0 run to pull within three points, 54-51, of Memphis (2-0) with 3:30 remaining in the contest. During the Bulldogs' streak, Connor Miller scored on a runner and drained a deep 3-points basket. Additionally, true freshman Tim Williams looked dominant on a pair of driving layups en route to his game-high 21 points.
Williams, the Bulldogs' talented 6-foot-8 native of Chicago, Ill., finished with 21 points and six rebounds and turned in a solid 7-of-11 shooting percentage from the field. He logged a team-high 39 minutes and added an assist and a blocked shot.
Following a Memphis timeout at the 3:30 mark, the Tigers' Joe Jackson connected on a free throw to give his squad a 55-51 advantage. Memphis then held Samford on the other end and used a baseline jumper from Adonis Thomas to push its lead to 57-51.
On the ensuing possession the Bulldogs' Russell Martin nearly connected on a 3-point basket from the right corner, but the shot rimmed out and Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws on the other end to make the score 59-51 with 56 seconds remaining.
Down the stretch, Samford received a trio of free throws from Raijon Kelly, while the Tigers went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to hold on for the 65-54 victory.
Memphis was paced offensively by Antonio Barton, Jackson and Thomas. The trio combined to score 43 of the Tigers' 65 points and was led by Thomas' 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Barton, Memphis' sharpshooting junior from Baltimore, Md., dropped in 14 points and knocked down a game-high four 3-pointers, while Jackson added 13.
Samford shot 52.9 percent from the field in the first half and turned in a 2-of-5 performance from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs played tough the entire game and only trailed Memphis 13-12 and the halfway point of the first half.
Despite committing 10 turnovers in the opening period, Samford only trailed the Tigers, 33-24, at the intermission.
"We thought there were three main keys to us having a victory tonight," Seltzer said. "One was us being able to get defensive rebounds. This is a team that last time out, they had 20 offensive rebounds. They only had six tonight, so we had to keep off the boards, and we did that. They are also one of the fastest teams in America in terms of transition offense. They only had two fast-break points, so two-out-of-three will not get you anything, especially with a team that talented."
Samford's Kelly finished with 12 points Saturday and grabbed three rebounds. The Bulldogs' sophomore point guard from St. Paul, Minn., added a game-high five assists, but committed six turnovers. Samford finished the contest with 16 turnovers, while Memphis only committed six as a team.
"The third thing that I stressed to these guys was not turning the ball over," Seltzer said. "We had 16 turnovers, 10 in the first half, and I think they got 20 points off of our turnovers. That's the game. That's the game, so our guys are extremely disappointed. As coach, I'm proud of their effort, I thought we played hard, but that's what we're supposed to do. We should play hard every time we step on the court."
Samford, which gave up 28 offensive rebounds versus No. 2-ranked Louisville on Thursday, out-rebounded the Tigers, 25-24, on Saturday.
"We have good players, good character players, and so when there is some teaching going on our guys do anything they possibly can to learn," said Seltzer. "We have an unbelievable staff, so we did a good job of teaching the things that we wanted to do. Our guys did a good job of listening, and trying to execute the things that we wanted. The practice yesterday and today, I think we got through to them about our rebounding, and we just have to move forward, we have to continue to get better."
Against North Florida on Monday, the Tigers out-rebounded the Ospreys, 47-31. With Thursday's nail-biting victory over Samford, Memphis remained undefeated on the young season and improved to 4-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Tigers will head to Nassau, The Bahamas, to face VCU on Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Toledo Rockets in the opening round of the Atlantis on the Mainland Tournament hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla.
Milwaukee 73, Davidson 68
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. - Jordan Aaron scored a game-high 23 points and Milwaukee shot 53.8 percent in the second half to get past Davidson, 73-68, in non-conference men's basketball action Saturday evening at the Klotsche Center.
JP Kuhlman led three Wildcats in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Junior De'Mon Brooks recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 boards, while Tyler Kalinoski hit the 10-point plateau for the second straight outing with 14 off the bench to go along with four steals.
Demetrius Harris and Kyle Kelm also scored in double digits for the Panthers with 17 and 11, respectively.
After Davidson (1-2) pushed its lead to the largest of the game, 41-34, on a Kuhlman 3-pointer, the Panthers responded with a 19-9 run capped off by an Aaron trey to go up, 53-50, with 8:27 play.
With the Wildcats up 63-62 at the 2:51 mark following four straight free throws from Nik Cochran, Milwaukee (2-1) got a 3-pointer and pair of freebies from Kelm in consecutive trips to go up for good.
Davidson shot just 35.6 percent from the floor and hit only four of their 14 attempts from long range.
The Panthers finished the contest shooting 42.9 percent (21-49) overall and 24-of-32 (.750) at the charity stripe.
Despite the setback, the Wildcats held a 41-35 advantage on the glass, including 16 at the offensive end.
Both teams struggled from the floor in the opening half as the 'Cats went to the break up, 31-30. In addition to holding the Panthers to just seven field goals in the first 20 minutes of action, Davidson got 11 points from Kuhlman in the period.
Milwaukee's Thierno Niang grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds before fouling out of the contest.
Davidson returns to action Thursday afternoon when its plays Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. in the opening round of the 2012 Old Spice Classic. The eight-team event is being played in Orlando, Fla., at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The rest of the field consists of Clemson, Gonzaga, Marist, Oklahoma, UTEP and West Virginia.
Western Kentucky 92, Western Carolina 81
Bowling Green, Ky. - Trey Sumler pumped in a season-high 25 points to lead three Catamounts in double figures on Saturday night, but Western Carolina dropped its second game in the 2012 Cancun Challenge, falling 92-81 at Western Kentucky in the E.A. Diddle Arena.
Sumler knocked down eight field goals including three 3-pointers on the night, adding six from the charity line to pace the Catamounts. Junior Preston Ross matched his career-high with 19 points while classmates Tawaski King and Brandon Boggs finished with 15 and nine points, respectively.
T.J. Price and Jamal Crook led the way for the Hilltoppers with 26 points apiece in the win. Price added nine rebounds while Crook dished out four assists for Western Kentucky (2-1). George Fant recorded 12 points and Teeng Akol 10 in the winning effort.
WCU took an early 4-2 lead before WKU used a 10-to-3 run to take a 12-7 lead, and later added a quick 5-0 spurt to jump ahead 21-12 following an Akol basket with 8:19 left in the first half. WKU used an additional 11-0 run in the second half to expand a 47-39 lead to 58-39 to pull away for the win.
WCU nearly matched the field goals of the Hilltoppers, making 26 shots from the field against 28 by WKU. However, Western Kentucky shot 51-percent from the floor against 45-percent for the Catamounts including just a 5-for-21 showing from beyond the 3-point line.
Western Carolina (1-3) travels to the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico, for two games in tournament play on Tuesday, Nov. 20 and Wednesday, Nov. 21. The Catamounts face Austin Peay at 1:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm CT on Tuesday afternoon.