Elon 65, South Carolina 53
COLUMBIA, S.C. - For the second straight year, a knock down, drag out battle between the Elon men's basketball team and the South Carolina Gamecocks ended in favor of the Phoenix, as Elon came away with a 65-53 victory over USC inside Colonial Life Arena on Wednesday night, Nov. 21.
Elon (4-1) held on to a double-digit lead for most of the game tonight, sustaining an 8-0 second-half run by South Carolina (3-1) that put the Gamecocks within five late. But the maroon and gold held tight, closing the final 5:45 of the game on an 8-1 run to secure its fourth straight win. Elon held South Carolina without a field goal make in the final 7:02 of the game.
"This was a very good win for us tonight, but what's exciting for me is that we had a game plan going in and we executed it for most of 40 minutes tonight," said Phoenix head coach Matt Matheny. "We knew in order to win tonight we would have to match South Carolina's intensity and we did that. Offensively, it wasn't pretty at times, but we played tough and battled all night."
Lucas Troutman led all players with 17 points in the win to go along with six boards, three steals and two blocks. Troutman has registered 15 blocked shots during Elon's four-game winning streak.
Jack Isenbarger and Austin Hamilton each finished the night with 13 points, while Sebastian Koch had an efficient evening with nine points, seven boards and five assists.
The Phoenix shot 46 percent from the field in the win and limited the Gamecocks to just a 32-percent night on 18-of-56 field goal attempts. Elon won the turnover battle, 22-14, which it has accomplished in every game so far this season.
Koch gave the Phoenix early momentum after hitting a deep three from the left wing with 10:44 remaining in the first period to give his team an 18-12 lead, forcing USC head coach Frank Martin to call a timeout.
The Phoenix carried an eight-point lead, 31-23, into the locker room at intermission after forcing the Gamecocks into 14 turnovers in the period that led to 12 points. Elon shot 42 percent (14-of-33) from the field in the opening frame, knocking down half of its three-point attempts (3-of-6).
Ryley Beaumont gave the maroon and gold a jolt and a 13-point lead with 12:17 remaining in the second half after hitting a jumper in the paint to make it a 48-35 game, forcing another Gamecocks timeout.
Troutman put the breaks on South Carolina's 8-0 charge with less than five minutes after sinking a jumper in the paint to make it a 59-52 game.
The Phoenix led by as many as 16 points in the win, a lead which was capped by a Troutman dunk at the 10:42 mark that put the Elon faithful in attendance on its feet.
Elon plays its second of three straight road games on Saturday, Nov. 24, when it heads to Lexington, Va., to face VMI. Tip is set for 5 p.m.
Western Carolina 69, Howard 67
CANCUN, Mexico - Tom Tankelewicz drained a pair of free throws in the final second to break the game's fifth tie to lift Western Carolina over Howard, 69-67, to take third place in the Mayan Division at the 2012 Triple Crown Sports Cancun Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort.
Erasing a 10-point WCU second half lead, Howard tied the game on a driving lay-up by Simuel Frazier with nine seconds remaining in regulation. On the ensuing possession, the Catamounts put the ball in the capable hands of redshirt junior point guard, Trey Sumler. The Rocky Mount, N.C., native drove at the right elbow against the Bison defense, constricting the zone which forced 20 WCU turnovers.
With the defense collapsing, Sumler then dished back to Tankelewicz who gave a shot fake then moved to his left around his defender to get a shot. On his attempt, the Apex, N.C., native was fouled by Frazier with one second remaining, stepped to the foul line and sank both charity tosses to propel WCU to the victory.
All told, the Catamounts shot a season-high 80-percent from the free throw line, connecting on 16-of-20 attempts in the victory.
Tankelewicz finished with 17 points and five assists, while junior post Tawaski King added 19 points and Trey Sumler netted 17 for the Catamounts (2-4), who snapped a three-game seasonal slide. Sumler added six assists and four steals with Brandon Boggs rounding out four in double figures with 11 points and three steals.
Simuel Frazier scored a game-high 23 points for the Bison. Prince Okoroh netted 17 points and Tre Lee poured in 14 for Howard (0-5), which remained winless on the season. Mike Phillips finished with eight points and a game-high seven rebounds.
Western Carolina (2-4) closed the first half on a 13-to-5 run to take a 30-27 lead at the break before opening the second half with an 11-to-4 push to jump ahead by double digits, 41-31. However, Howard answered with a 9-1 run to close the gap to 42-40, but the Catamounts scored the next four points to regain some cushion.
The Catamounts were able to maintain at least a four-point lead from there until Frazier finished a old-fashioned three-point play and after a pair of free throws from Boggs, Lee drained a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to make it a 65-63 game.
WCU then went 2-for-4 from the charity stripe over the next two possessions before the Bison pulled even on Frazier's layup with nine seconds left. But Frazier fouled Tankelewicz with one second left on the other end and he connected on both free throws for the win.
The Catamounts were able to convert 19 Howard turnovers into 26 points while the Bison scored 19 second chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
Western Carolina returns to action on Nov. 28 as it opens Southern Conference play in Greenville, S.C., against the Furman Paladins. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm from Timmons Arena.
Georgia Southern 62, Kennesaw State 46
KENNESAW, GA. - Georgia Southern took a much-needed road victory with a 62-46 win over Kennesaw State on Wednesday night inside the KSU Convocation Center. The Eagles trailed by one at the interval, but answered the bell in the second half, shooting 58 percent from the field in the final stanza to earn the program's first win over the Owls on the hardwood.
"I was very proud of our team effort tonight," said Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We did a great job contesting every shot and we improved on some of the areas we have been deficient in. We're starting to figure out who we are as a team and a lot of our guys that have been banged have gotten back to practice and performed very well for us."
The victory takes the Eagles to 2-2 on the year entering Saturday's contest at Maryland. The Owls are 1-4 on the year and host Chattanooga after the Thanksgiving break.
Cleon Roberts led the Eagles in scoring with 12 points with a pair of steals in 29 minutes of work. He made a pair of three-pointers on the night as the Eagles shot 60 percent from downtown in the second half and posted a 48 percent mark from the field overall. It was his fourth double-figure scoring game to start his career with the Eagles.
Junior Eric Ferguson scored 11 points with seven rebounds while fighting foul trouble for his seventh-consecutive nights in double-figures. The Statesboro native played 32 minutes and tallied a block and a steal.
Both the Eagles' seniors had solid nights with C.J. Reed scoring nine points, making three buckets from downtown in the second half. Cameron Baskerville led the Eagles with nine rebounds and chipped in eight points on the game. Tre Bussey scored eight points with a pair of three-balls.
The Owls led 25-24 at the intermission behind 16 points from Kennesaw State's all-time leading scorer, Markeith Cummings. He went on to finish the game with 20 points
Out of the break, GSU continued its run to close the opening period and took its first lead of the game with 19:07 remaining on a three-pointer from Reed. GSU strung the lead out to seven points, 39-32, with 13:55 left.
GSU's hot shooting from the bonusphere in the second half continued throughout the second half, giving the Eagles its largest lead of the night, 18 points, with 7:44 left. The Owls made a small run to cut the lead back to 14 points at the 2:58 mark.
The Eagles, however, closed out the evening strong by extending the advantage back to 18 points inside the final two minutes.
The win for the Eagles was the first non-conference road victory since December 2nd, 2006 when the Eagles trumped Winston-Salem State on Tobacco Road.
After the Thanksgiving break, Georgia Southern faces Maryland to close an eventful week for the Terrapins. Saturday's game from College Park starts at 7 p.m.
Toledo 82, Samford 69
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Samford University basketball team used a four-point play from true freshman Clide Geffrard, Jr., to trim Toledo's lead to 63-61 midway through the second half Wednesday, but the Rockets took advantage of some Bulldog foul trouble to knock down 26 late free throws en route to an 82-69 victory at Alico Arena.
"They definitely outplayed us tonight," said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. "We have to come out of the locker room ready to play in the second half. We didn't come out ready to play and they beat us in all of the toughness stats. They shot 40 free throws and they out-rebounded us by 14 in the second half. If those things continue to happen, it will be very difficult to win."
Toledo (1-3) earned its first win of the season Wednesday and will face the winner of Alcorn State and Florida Gulf Coast in the championship game of the Atlantis on the Mainland Tournament at 6 p.m.
After Geffrard, Jr.'s, 3-point basket and ensuing free throw trimmed Toledo's lead to 63-61, the Rockets used a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 70-61 with 4:09 remaining in the game. Samford's Raijon Kelly and Geffrard, Jr., were able to then connect on a trio of free throws down the stretch, but Toledo answered with seven free throws of their own to tally the 82-69 victory.
Samford, backed by 14 points from Geffrard, Jr., in the first half of play Wednesday, held a 31-27 advantage over Toledo at the intermission.
The Rockets then exploded to start the second half with an 11-0 run to make the score 43-32. They later took their largest lead of the game, 52-37, with 12:27 to play before the Bulldogs made their come-from-behind effort to cut the advantage to 63-61.
During Samford's offensive dominance midway through the final period, Kelly scored 10 points and Geffrard, Jr., added six of his own, including a thunderous one-handed fast-break dunk.
"On the offensive end, that's where our identity is right now," Seltzer said. "That can't be our identity. Our identity must be that we are a tough basketball team that plays hard and defends. When that's the case, then we'll have the ability to make runs, but right now we don't have what it takes to hold for an entire game. We need to get a lot tougher as a team and we're working on that every day."
Geffrard, Jr., scored a career-high 24 points to lead Samford in scoring Wednesday. The Bulldogs' true freshman native of Pompano Beach, Fla., also went 5-of-8 from 3-point range en route to his career-high scoring performance.
Samford's Kelly added a season-high 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field, while Tim Williams added 14 points and nine rebounds despite being constantly double-team in the low post. Williams, also a true freshman for the Bulldogs, came just one rebound shy of registering his third double-double of the young 2012-13 campaign. Samford's 6-foot-8 native of Chicago, Ill., went 4-of-8 from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
As a team, the Bulldogs only shot 10-of-17 from the free-throw line, while Toledo amassed 31 points on a 31-of-40 outing from the stripe.
The Rockets' leading scorer on the season, Julius Brown, proved why he was the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 2012, as he finished with a game-high 25 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, despite only scoring four in the opening period. Toledo's 5-foot-11 guard tallied 11 of his 25 points from the free-throw line.
Also scoring in double figures for Toledo Wednesday were Rian Pearson and Dominique Buckley. Pearson only turned in a 4-of-12 shooting performance from the field, but went 9-of-13 from the charity stripe. Buckley knocked down a trio of 3-point baskets and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Samford was whistled for 28 personal fouls, while the Rockets were called for 19.
The Bulldogs shot 46.2 percent from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes of play to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room. Geffrard, Jr., was on fire in the first half from beyond the arc and knocked down all four of his attempts from long range. Samford's native of nearby Pompano Beach, led all scorers with 14 points at the intermission and was 5-of-6 from the field.
Along with Geffrard, Jr.'s game-high 14 points at the half, the Bulldogs were also aided offensively by sophomore Kelly's six points and Williams' five points and six rebounds.
Samford forced Toledo into nine first-half turnovers and limited the Rockets to a 35.7 shooting percentage from the field. Toledo only knocked down a pair of 3-point baskets and turned in a 2-of-7 mark from beyond the arc in the opening period.
The Rockets did outscore Samford, 14-10, in the paint, but the Bulldogs led Toledo pretty handily in bench score, 18-4, behind the stellar play of Geffrard, Jr, in the first 20 minutes of action.
"We'll definitely show up tomorrow and I'm certain that we'll play a lot harder than we did today," said Seltzer. "That's what we have to do and we'll be there tomorrow to face one of these teams out there on the court."