Samford 57, Georgia Southern 48
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team opened Southern Conference play in impressive fashion Saturday as the Bulldogs battled to a resounding 57-48 home victory against the Georgia Southern Eagles in an early-season league contest held at the Pete Hanna Center.
With Saturday's victory, Samford (2-7, 1-0 SoCon) moved to 2-2 in home games this season and remained undefeated in SoCon play. The Bulldogs also picked up their second straight win against Georgia Southern (2-5, 0-2 SoCon), both of which were played in the Pete Hanna Center.
Georgia Southern shot a sizzling 57.9 percent from the field in Saturday's first half of play and built a 10-point lead, 24-14, with 4:49 remaining in the opening period. Despite its early struggles, Samford weathered the Eagles' early rally and used a dominant 12-2 half-ending run to head into the locker room tied at 26-26.
The Bulldogs' stifling 12-2 run was sparked by a deep 3-point basket from Clide Geffrard, Jr., a pair of free throws from Raijon Kelly, a three-point play from Russell Wilson and back-to-back layups from Tim Williams and Brandon Hayman.
Samford shot 47.6 percent from the floor in the first half and scored 14 of its 26 points in the paint. The Bulldogs also out-rebounded Georgia Southern, 11-10, and tallied 11 points off turnovers.
In a back-and-forth second half of play, Samford received a pair of key free throws from Geffrard, Jr., with 4:46 left in the game to give the Bulldogs a 46-39 advantage. Williams, Samford's highly-acclaimed true freshman from Chicago, Ill., then scored on a layup and a fast-break dunk to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 52-41 with 1:15 remaining.
Down the stretch, Samford's Kelly knocked down four straight free throws to secure the Bulldogs' 57-48 triumph.
Samford finished Saturday's SoCon opener with three players scoring in double figures. Williams paced the team with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Geffrard, Jr., and Kelly both finished with 11 points. Williams, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 forward, played all 40 minutes and turned in a stellar 9-of-11 shooting performance from the field.
Geffrard, Jr., and Kelly did most of their damage from the free-throw line and combined to shoot 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.
Samford's Wilson, a true freshman from Lake Wales, Fla., scored a career-high nine points Saturday and turned in a 3-of-4 shooting performance from the field. He also went a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line and tallied four assists and two rebounds.
Hayman, the Bulldogs' athletic 6-foot-3 guard from Braselton, Ga., went 2-for-2 from the floor and finished with four points and a steal.
Georgia Southern's Eric Ferguson, an All-SoCon preseason selection, scored a game-high 23 points Saturday, but the Eagles' remaining four starters only combined to score 15 total points.
Samford finished the game shooting a season-high 51.4 percent from the field and out-rebounded Georgia Southern, 25-20. When it counted in the second half, the Bulldogs limited the Eagles to a 37.5-percent shooting performance.
UNCG 84, The Citadel 54
GREENSBORO, N.C. - On the night with junior Trevis Simpson became the 19th Spartan all-time to score 1,000-career points, the UNCG men's basketball team turned in a dominating 84-54 victory over The Citadel Saturday night in its Southern Conference opener at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Spartans connected on a season-high 58.9 percent (33-of-56) from the field and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from three-point land to open league play with a 30-point victory.
Simpson became the 19th player to reach 1,000 career points when he connected on a free throw at the 17:54 mark of the second half. Simpson became the third fastest Spartan all-time to reach the 1,000-career point mark, needing just 64 games to accomplish the feat. Only former Spartans Yusuf Stewart (59 games) and Kyle Hines (61 games) reached the 1,000-point mark faster.
The Spartans' 58.9 percent shooting from the field (33-of-56) is their highest field goal percentage since hitting the same mark January 17, 2009 at Elon. UNCG had 12 different players score in the victory, including seven players with at least six points. The 52.4 percent (11-of-21) shooting from long range was a season-high for the Spartans and their best percentage from long range since hitting 52.4 percent against Miami last year.
Junior Drew Parker led the Spartans with a career-high 15 points as he was 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point land. Simpson added 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting in 26 minutes of action while sophomore Nicholas Paulos scored a season-high 11 points off the bench, hitting three three-pointers.
The two teams started slowly with the Spartans holding just a 6-5 lead at the 15:13 mark of the first half. UNCG broke the game wide open at that point as it scored 10 straight points on its way to a 33-9 run to take a 39-14 lead with 4:15 left in the half.
The Spartans' 33-9 run encompassed 10:58 and they shot 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the field and 80 percent (8-of-10) form three-point land in the dominant stretch. Seven different Spartans scored in the run with Simpson leading the way with eight points while Paulos and Parker each added six points on the strength of two three-pointers apiece.
The Spartans also turned up the pressure on The Citadel on the defensive end during the run as they limited the Bulldogs to just 25 percent (3-of-12) shooting and forced them into five turnovers. UNCG continued to push the pace as it went into the locker room with its largest halftime lead of the season at 46-21.
UNCG connected on 66.7 percent (18-of-27) from the field and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from three-point land in the first half. Simpson led all scorers in the first half with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting while Parker added eight points. Paulos chipped in six points while freshman R.J. White scored a career-high six points in the first half as he was 2-of-3 from the field and hit both free throws he attempted.
The Citadel was limited to just 27.3 percent (6-of-22) shooting from the field and 16.7 percent (1-of-6) from three-point land in the first half. The Bulldogs were led by Mike Groselle who scored 13 points as he was 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Bulldogs came out of the break and posted an early 9-2 run to force the Spartans into a timeout at 48-30. The Citadel forced the Spartans into three early turnovers to lead to the mini-spurt. Groselle started the half with another basket before Matt Van Scyoc hit a three-pointer in transition to cut the lead under 20 points.
The Spartans took the momentum back though as they posted a 10-0 run to extend the lead to 65-36. Paulos ignited the run with a three-pointer on his way to five points during the stretch. Freshman Kayel Locke scored four points during the stretch, including a wide-open layup off a stellar pass in the interior from White.
The Spartans closed out the victory down the stretch as they didn't allow the Bulldogs any closer than 24 points in the final 15 minutes of the second half. UNCG dominated all aspects of the game as it out-rebounded The Citadel by a 41-22 margin and dished out 18 assists compared to just nine assists for the Bulldogs.
The Spartans' bench also out-scored The Citadel's bench by a 39-11 margin in the victory. White finished the game with six points and four rebounds in 12 minutes of action while Locke added six points and five rebounds. Senior Brian Cole also added four points in five minutes while fifth-year senior Kelvin McNeil chipped in seven points.
The Citadel was led by Groselle who scored a game-high 20 points as he was 6-of-12 from the field and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe but only grabbed four rebounds. Ashton Moore was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures in scoring, adding 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field.
College of Charleston 56, Elon 54
ELON, N.C. - It came down to the wire for the second straight season, but the Elon University men's basketball team could not get over the hump late against the College of Charleston Cougars this time, as the Phoenix fell, 56-54, on Saturday night, Dec. 1, in Alumni Gym.
Trailing by two points with 5.4 seconds left, Elon (5-3, 1-1 Southern Conference) managed to get off a 40-footer from Austin Hamilton as time expired off the inbound underneath its basket. But unlike his game-winner against Navy last season, Hamilton's potential walk-off shot ricocheted off the rim as the buzzer sounded, allowing College of Charleston (5-2, 1-0 Southern Conference) to escape with the win.
The Phoenix held the Cougars to just one field goal make in the final 6:38 of the game, an Adjehi Baru dunk with 1:30 left that put College of Charleston ahead, 54-52.
After Andrew Lawrence split a pair of free throws with 54 seconds remaining, Lucas Troutman pulled the Phoenix within one after getting inside the Cougars defense for a layup to make it a 55-54 game.
But after Anthony Stitt split a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining, the Phoenix just missed tying the game after Ryley Beaumont's layup after a strong baseline drive to the basket missed. Beaumont led the Phoenix with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with a team-best seven boards.
Troutman was the only other Phoenix player in double digits, as the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week ended the night with 12 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.
After sitting most of the first half due to foul trouble, Jack Isenbarger finished the night with nine points after sinking three shots from three-point land.
Elon forced the Cougars into 19 turnovers in the setback that led to 25 points. But CofC won the battle on the boards, 35-31, and limited Elon to just 35 percent shooting from the field. College of Charleston shot 47 percent from the field on the night on 21-of-45 field goal attempts.
Tony Sabato gave the Phoenix a four-point lead with 6:35 remaining in the first period after converting an old-fashioned three-point play on a left-handed hook in the paint to make it a 22-18 game.
But the Cougars went on an 11-2 run to close the half and take a five-point lead at intermission, 29-24. The Phoenix went cold in the opening half, shooting just 27 percent from the field on 8-of-30 field goal attempts.
The Phoenix answered quickly after falling behind by nine points in the second half, as back-to-back Isenbarger three-pointers made it a 38-35 game and put the maroon and gold faithful in Alumni Gym on its feet.
But Willis Hall put the Cougars ahead by nine points again with 6:30 remaining and forced a Phoenix timeout after sinking a jumper in the paint to make it a 52-43 game. Hall finished with a game-high 19 points.
The Phoenix went on a 9-0 run from that point forward and tied the game on a Tanner Samson layup following a missed three by Hamilton, but could pull no closer.
Tonight was the first meeting between the two squads since the double-overtime thriller last season in Alumni Gym in which Elon won, 99-98.
Davidson 81, Chattanooga 55
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Davidson placed four players in double figures and drilled a season-high 14 3-pointers as the Wildcats cruised past Chattanooga, 81-55, in both team's Southern Conference opener Saturday evening at The McKenzie Arena.
Tyler Kalinoski led the Wildcats with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from long range in 23 minutes off the bench. De'Mon Brooks added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Clint Mann and Jake Cohen added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
In addition to shooting 48.3 percent (14-29) from behind the arc and 46.6 percent overall, Davidson (4-3, 1-0 SoCon) held the Mocs to just 15 field goals and a 30.0 percent clip.
Kalinoski's fourth triple of the contest gave the Wildcats their largest lead, 81-50, with just under two minutes to play.
Davidson jumped out to a 14-5 lead to start the game and stretched it to as many as 18, 35-17, on JP Kuhlman's second and the Wildcats' seventh trey of the first half before going to the halftime break with a 39-26 advantage.
Both teams pulled down 37 rebounds, while the Wildcats recorded 21 assists on 28 field goals and finished with 33 points from their bench.
Gee McGhee paced the Mocs with 15 points.
Chattanooga (2-5, 0-1 SoCon) got to the free throw line 35 times, but only made 22 of its tries.
Loyola-Chicago 77, Furman 50
CHICAGO, Ill. - Devon Turk came off of the bench to score a game-high 19 points and Loyola used a 20-0 run early in the second half to top Furman, 77-50, in men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Gentile Arena in Chicago, Ill.
Trailing 29-27 at the half, Furman pulled even on Stephen Croone's driving layup just 29 seconds into the second half, but the Ramblers reeled off 20 straight points as part of a 33-5 run to take control of the game en route to a 27-point victory over the Paladins.
Ben Averkamp opened the run for Loyola with three baskets in an eight point stretch before Turk, Matt O'Leary and Cully Payne all added three-pointers. The Ramblers raced out to a 49-29 lead and extended it to a 62-34 advantage on Turk's trey with 7:55 remaining.
Loyola forced Furman into eight of its 20 turnovers on the night during an 11 possession stretch early in the second half and the Paladins failed to connect on their second field goal of the second half until Bobby Austin scored with 11:06 to play. Turk, who had two points at the break, buried five second half threes to lead the Ramblers in scoring while Jordan Hicks and Averkamp added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Ramblers, just 10-of-31 from the floor in the first half, converted on 64.5% of their shots over the final 20 minutes to shoot 47.6% from the field for the game. Loyola hit 11-of-24 three-point attempts and outscored the Paladins 32-20 in the paint.
Furman fell behind 14-2 in the first six minutes, but the Paladins chipped away at the margin with treys from Charlie Reddick and Larry Wideman. Furman trimmed the deficit to four points and Colin Reddick netted back-to-back baskets to send the Paladins into the locker room down two points.
The Paladins, who shot 35.8% for the game, made only 9-of-27 field goal attempts after the break and were out-rebounded 38-31. Loyola pulled away by scoring 23 points off 20 Paladin turnovers and 14 points in transition to just two for Furman.
Charlie Reddick paced Furman with 12 points while freshmen Larry Wideman and Kendrec Ferrara added 11 and 10, respectively. Colin Reddick grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss.
Furman's four freshman combined for 27 of the team's 50 points while the Paladins' three seniors scored only seven points combined.
Furman will be idle for seven days during exams before returning home to host Presbyterian College on December 9, at 3 p.m. on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.
No. 16 Missouri 72, Appalachian State 56
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Appalachian State University men's basketball was unable to overcome a high-powered offensive attack as it fell to No. 16 Missouri by a 72-56 final on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
The Mountaineers (1-6) fell into an early 7-0 hole to the Tigers (6-1) before notching their first points of the game on a Nathan Healy jumper with 17:42 on the clock.
It would be all the closer that Appalachian would get as Mizzou dominated the first half of play, shooting a solid 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the floor and limiting the Mountaineers to just 25.0 percent (8-of-32) shooting.
The Tigers grabbed their first double-digit lead (16-6) with 13:16 remaining in the first period and extended the lead to as many as 24 points (39-15) in the final two minutes before the Mountaineers scored six-straight to cut the deficit to 18 points (39-21) at the half.
Appalachian's run would continue into the second half as it scored the first four points to make it 39-25, but Mizzou responded with a 7-0 run of its own to push its lead to 21 points (46-25) and never looked back as it continued to pour in the buckets en route to its second-straight win.
Jay Canty led all players with a career-high 29 points while also grabbing six rebounds, swiping three steals and dishing out two assists. Healy scored nine points and swatted two shots while Jamaal Trice poured in six points and ripped down six boards.
Missouri was paced by a team-high 23 points from Laurence Bowers while Earnest Ross fell just shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Keion Bell (12) and Tony Criswell (10) each scored double digits off the bench while Phil Pressey finished with a game-high seven assists.
The Mountaineers shot 35.6 percent (21-of-59) in the contest including 48.1 percent (13-of-27) in the second half while connecting on 9-of-13 free throws. The Tigers shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) and knocked down six three-point buckets while finishing with a 45-31 edge in rebounds.
Appalachian State opens Southern Conference play against arch rival Western Carolina on Saturday. The game is set to start at 4:30 p.m. at WCU's Ramsey Center.
Eastern Kentucky 72, Western Carolina 70
Richmond, Ky. - Mike DiNunno broke just the third tie score with a slicing drive and lay-up to put Eastern Kentucky ahead by two as the home standing Colonels erased a 10-point second half deficit to upend visiting Western Carolina, 72-70, Saturday night in nonconference action at McBrayer Arena.
Leading by 11 at halftime, Western Carolina (3-5) held a tenuous 10 point advantage just inside of seven minutes remaining in regulation after an offensive rebound and tip-in by James Sinclair. But EKU, which is off to its best start in 66 years, would not go away. The Colonels were able to close to within four points on four separate occasions before an 8-0 spurt inside the final two and a half minutes gave the home squad a two-point lead - its first since early in the first half.
Corey Walden converted a WCU turnover into a transitional lay-up to make it a two-point game, 68-66, with two minutes to play. On the ensuing possession, the Catamounts missed three shots, pulling down a trio of offensive rebounds but were unable to convert to build upon the advantage. After the third offensive board, EKU capitalized on a Walden steal with Jeff Johnson sending a pass ahead to Glenn Cosey who converted a game-tying lay-up with 1:15 remaining.
Deadlocked at 68, WCU went back inside to try and find a bucket but were unable to break the tie. On the other end, Cosey found the range on a jumper with 27 seconds remaining to give EKU a two-point edge, 70-68, before Trey Sumler was able to force the third tie at 70 with a runner with 16 ticks showing on the game clock.
On EKU's final offensive possession, DiNunno took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the court, maneuvering through the Catamount defense to lay-in the game winner with 2.3 seconds remaining. Sumler tried to launch a three-quarter court length show at the buzzer but the desperation heave missed.
Junior post Tawaski King led three Catamounts in double figures with 18 points, taking over on both ends of the floor for WCU early in the second half. The Dublin, Ga., native scored eight-straight points for the Catamounts at one point after intermission and finished 6-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. King finished with six rebounds including four on the offensive end.
Freshman Mike Brown came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting while sophomore James Sinclair scored 10 with eight rebounds and five assists. Trey Sumler and Brandon Boggs both scored nine points in the loss with Tom Tankelewicz chipping in eight including a pair of 3-pointers.
Cosey, who entered the game averaging 18.3 points per game, was held in check for most of the contest before finishing with 15 points to lead EKU. DiNunno recorded 14 points including the game-winner while Walden and Jeff Johnson posted 11 and 10 points apiece, respectively. DiNunno added seven assists in the win.
WCU took control of the see-saw first half around the 12 minute mark, holding the lead until the final 1:15 in the second half. The Catamounts carried an 11-point, 43-32, lead into the halftime locker room after shooting 57.7-percent from the field which included a 6-of-11 showing from behind the 3-point arc.
The Catamounts out rebounded EKU, 35-to-25, but were outscored in the paint, 42-26. WCU converted 16 offensive rebounds into 22 second chance points.
Western Carolina wraps up its seven-game road swing on Tuesday, Dec. 4 as it travels to Champaign, Ill., to face its second-straight undefeated squad in the Illinois Fighting Illini. Illinois, which has been idle since Nov. 28, boasts a 7-0 overall record and is ranked 22nd in both major college basketball polls. Tip-off from Assembly Hall is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.