College of Charleston 62, Vermont 50
BURLINGTON, Vt. - Senior Andrew Lawrence scored a game-high 21 points as College of Charleston kept its road streak intact with a 62-50 victory over 2012 NCAA Tournament participant Vermont on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium.
The Cougars (8-4) have now won three-straight and remain an undefeated 4-0 on the road this season. It was only the second loss for the Catamounts (7-5) on their home court this year as they attempted to avenge an 85-70 blowout in both team's last meeting in a nationally-televised ESPN BracketBusters game held in the Lowcountry in 2011.
Sophomore Anthony Stitt added 19 points, while redshirt junior Willis Hall brought down a game-high 12 rebounds for the Cougars.
The game was close for the majority of the first and early second half as there were 12 lead changes in the ballgame and five ties. CofC, who led by only three at halftime, finally got out in front of Vermont on a layup by Lawrence with 5:58 remaining in regulation, 50-41.
Vermont was led by 11 points from Clancy Rugg off the bench and 10 points from Sandro Carissimo.
Lawrence and Hall previously played against the Catamounts in 2011, but knew it would be a whole different ballgame against this year's UVM squad, who had held opponents this year to 32.2 percent accuracy from beyond the arc. The Cougars went 7-of-14 (.500) which tied a season-best from three next to their road upset at No. 21-ranked Baylor on Nov. 24.
Davidson 70, Richmond 64
RICHMOND, Va. - In addition to tying the school record for career blocks, Jake Cohen led four Davidson players in double figures with 19 points as the Wildcats held on for a 70-64 victory over Richmond in non-conference men's basketball action Saturday evening at the Robins Center.
Cohen, who is now tied with Jamie Hall (1978-82) on Davidson's all-time blocks list with 159, finished 6-of-11 from floor and made all seven of his attempts at the line to go along with a game-high eight rebounds.
The Wildcats also got double figures from De'Mon Brooks (14), Clint Mann (11) and JP Kuhlman (10).
Darien Brothers paced the Spiders with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
With the game deadlocked at 61-61, Nik Cochran drilled his only field-goal of the contest, a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:20 left to put the Wildcats up for good. The senior point guard scored the final nine points for Davidson (7-5), including six straight free throws in the final 20 seconds.
As a team, the Wildcats went 23-of-25 (.920) at the charity stripe, while shooting 45.7 percent overall.
To go along with its strong performance at the line, Davidson held a 33-21 edge on the glass.
Highlighted by nine early points from Cohen, Davidson raced out to a 13-0 lead and didn't allow the Spiders on the board until the 12:40 mark of the first half. The Wildcats extended the margin to 23 (35-12) on a Brooks' layup with 2:02 remaining, before heading to the break up, 37-18.
Cohen (15) and Brooks (11) combined for 26 points in the first 20 minutes of action.
Richmond (9-5) opened the second half 14-of-19 (.737) from the floor and used a 25-7 run to cut the deficit to one, 54-53, with just under seven minutes to play.
After the Wildcats pushed their lead back to six, the Spiders responded with six straight to tie the game, 61-61.
Richmond shot 63 percent in the second half to finish the contest at 46 percent (23-50) overall.
Georgia Southern 68, Georgia State 64 (OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball overcame a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation to take a 68-64 overtime win over Georgia State at Hanner Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles spotted the Panthers a 17-0 lead, but rallied to force overtime. Big three-pointers down the stretch and in overtime gave the Eagles their 32nd victory all-time against Georgia State in the 45th game of the series
"We told the team to keep 'chopping wood' and to stay in the game to see what happens," said Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We made a great run late to get the win. When we weren't playing well we didn't put our heads down, we stayed together and found a way to get the win. I'm really proud that we showed the character and toughness that Georgia Southern teams should show."
Eric Ferguson came up two points shy of a career-high as the junior dropped a season-high 24 points against the Panthers. He scored six points in the final 90 seconds of regulation including a three-pointer which sent the game to overtime. In the extra frame, he added another bucket from downtown to cement the victory.
Tre Bussey scored 17 points with five rebounds as the Eagles improve to 6-7 at the end of 2012. Brian Holmes had a breakout game for the Eagles, adding a season-high eight points including his first three-pointer in a Georgia Southern uniform. C.J. Reed had a slow night offensively, but added a clutch three-pointer in overtime to post seven points with a season-high five assists.
Georgia State put four players in double-figures with R.J. Hunter and Devonta White each scoring 14 points, while Manny Atkins and James Vincent scored 11 points each. Vincent had nine rebounds and five blocks in the game while starters Hunter and Rashaad Richardson fouled out of the contest. The Panthers fall to 5-8 on the season.
Marvin Baynham led the team with six rebounds while Kameron Dunnican recorded a career-high three blocks. Georgia Southern forced 23 turnovers on the afternoon, converting them into 28 points. Georgia State out-scored the Eagles 34-18 in the paint and carried a 39-34 advantage in rebounds.
The Eagles got off to their slowest start of the season going 0-of-7 with five turnovers to start the game. Georgia State, meanwhile, went on a 17-0 run making seven of their first eight baskets from the field. Ferguson put the Eagles on the board with 13:26 left in the first half on a 10-foot jumper.
Despite the slow start, the Eagles fought back to bring the lead within six inside of six minutes to play with a 17-6 run. Georgia Southern, however, would get no closer than six points in the first half and trailed by eight at the halftime intermission, 29-21.
In the first five minutes of the second half the Eagles got within six points at 35-29 with 14:48 remaining before the Panthers stretched the lead back to 10 points just over a minute later. The teams traded baskets as the lead stayed close to 10 points inside of the eight-minute media timeout.
Georgia State scored its final points of regulation with 1:58 remaining, to go up by a 55-45 margin. From there the Eagles went on a 10-0 run to force overtime. Holmes started the run with a layup, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by Ferguson to cut the lead to six with 1:21 left. Ferguson scored two more the free throw line with 49 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
Another Panther turnover gave the Eagles the ball back with 29 seconds remaining. Ferguson hit a spot-up three-pointer to bring the teams level with 21 seconds remaining. Georgia State got the ball back and missed their three-point opportunity in the final seconds as the Eagles forced overtime for the first time this year.
In the extra frame the teams traded early free throws before Reed gave the Eagles their first lead of the afternoon with 2:16 left on a three-pointer from the corner. After a pair of free throws by State, Ferguson knocked down another three-pointer to give Georgia Southern a four-point lead at 64-59 with 1:37 left.
Georgia Southern wouldn't look back, making three of their final four free throws and adding a layup from Bussey to take the 68-64 victory over in-state rival Georgia State.
Chattanooga 76, Utah Valley 69
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Z. Mason powered the Chattanooga Mocs (5-8) to the Dr. Pepper Classic Championship with a 76-69 win over Utah Valley (7-9) Saturday evening. Mason, who earned tourney MVP honors, posted a career-high 26 points while tying his high of 13 rebounds.
The UTC win overshadowed one of the great individual performances in McKenzie Arena history. UVU's Holton Hunsaker scored 37 points hitting eight three-pointers in a duel with Mason and the Mocs. Hunsaker's 37 is the most by an opponent in the Roundhouse since Tennessee State's Darryl Brooks' 42 on December 8, 1989, a 102-98 TSU win.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle throughout. The Mocs' largest lead was seven, while their biggest deficit was four. After Alex Bran put UTC up 47-45 with 13 minutes remaining, the Wolverines struck. Hunsaker hit a three followed by an Alfonzo Hubbard steal and layup to flip the scoreboard to a 50-47 UVU advantage.
Mason scored two layups and on a fall-away jumper to put the Mocs back up one, 53-52 with 9:06 to go. Nick Thompson tied it up with a free throw nearly a minute later before Mason made it a two-point game with another mid-range jump shot with just over eight minutes remaining.
Hunsaker answered with a three-pointer a minute later swaying the margin back in front by one. That was matched just 14 seconds later by Ronrico White for the Mocs. Mason scored on UTC's next possession thanks to Sam Watson's work on the offensive boards to make it a four-point game again.
White started and ended a 10-2 Chattanooga run with three-pointers to put his squad up 65-58 with a little more than five minutes to play. Utah Valley would not go away. The Wolverines closed to within three, 67-64, on Taylor Brown's three, but the Mocs made it count at the free throw line. UTC hit nine of 12 in the final two minutes while playing tight defense to claim the win.
Gee McGhee chipped in 11 points and a career-best nine rebounds for the Mocs. He made nine of 12 from the charity stripe. White also scored 11 with three assists.
Hubbard added 12 points for the Wolverines. Ben Aird matched Mason for game-high honors on the boards with 13 to go with four assists, four blocks and three steals.
The Mocs opened the game strong leading by five three different times early in the game. It was 16-11 on a Mason layup at 11:36 when UVU made its move. The Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to take a 20-16 lead at 8:37 on a Hubbard layup.
UTC turned the tables with an 8-0 run of its own for a seven-point lead, 30-23, on a layup by Drazen Zlovaric. Utah Valley snapped out of a six-and-a-half-minute stretch without a field goal by scoring the last four points, all by Hunsaker, to send the game into intermission with the Mocs up three, 30-27.
High Point (5-7) claimed a 76-74 win in the consolation game over Austin Peay (4-10). John Brown led the Panthers with 25 points and six rebounds, while Allan Chaney added 10 points and five boards off the bench. The Govs were paced by Anthony Campbell's 23 points and nine rebounds. Will Triggs (14), Chris Horton (13) and Travis Betran (10) also scored in double digits for Austin Peay.
Mason as MVP was joined on the All-Tournament Team by White. Hunsaker and Nick Thompson made it from UVU. Brown (High Point) and Campbell (Austin Peay) rounded out the squad.
Wisconsin 87, Samford 51
MADISON, Wis. - In its final nonconference game of the 2012-13 regular season, the Samford University basketball team suffered an 87-51 defeat against the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday in a tough, physical matchup held in front of 16,376 fans at the Kohl Center.
"Coming into the game, I knew that Wisconsin was a very tough, well-coached basketball team," said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. "This is my seventh straight year going against (Wisconsin head coach Bo) Ryan and you know exactly what you're going to get from those players. There's nothing fancy, but those guys just come out, do their job with a workmanship attitude. I admire that. They play hard, they play smart, they're tough and they do things the right way, so we'll see if our team can try to emulate that for the rest of the season."
Samford (3-11) faced Wisconsin (9-4) for the first time in school history and couldn't overcome a cold 21.4 -percent shooting performance from the field in the first half of play. The Bulldogs trailed 47-19 at the half before playing much better in the final 20 minutes of action.
Samford shot 52.2 percent from the field and scored 32 points in the second half, but Wisconsin was able to continue its hot shooting in the final period. The Badgers closed out the contest shooting 52.5 percent from the field and a blazing 54.5 percent from long range in the second half.
With the Bulldogs' strong second-half performance, Samford finished with three players scoring in double figures and was paced offensively by Raijon Kelly's 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. Kelly, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from St. Paul, Minn., also tallied three rebounds and a trio of assists, while draining 4-of-5 attempts from 3-point range.
Samford's Connor Miller returned to his home state of Wisconsin on Saturday and finished with 12 points, four assists and three rebounds. The Bulldogs' native of nearby Stanley, Wis., went 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc in front of nearly 300 friends and family.
"I thought Connor played well today," Seltzer said. "He really shot the ball well and that's because he's been in the gym working really hard. He went through some struggles a couple weeks ago shooting the ball, but his good performance today was a direct performance of the all the hard work he's put in. We depend on Connor a lot. He plays a lot of minutes and he's a key member of our basketball team. Without complaints, he tries to do everything that we ask him to do, so I'm glad that he played well today."
Tim Williams, Samford's talented 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, Ill., registered his 14th-consecutive double-digit performance of his young career Saturday. Only a true freshman, Williams scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in his 14th game as a collegiate player.
Wisconsin knocked down 12 3-point baskets against Samford and finished with five players scoring in doubles figures. The Badgers concluded the game with 14 players earning action and 11 scoring at least one point. Wisconsin used its depth to outscore Samford, 38-3, in bench points.
The Badgers' Frank Kaminsky came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points in only 12 minutes of game action. Wisconsin's 6-foot-11 sophomore forward drained a career-high four 3-point baskets and turned in an unblemished 4-of-4 outing from long range. Heading into Saturday's contest, Kaminsky was 3-of-13 from long range.
Starters Ryan Evans, Mike Bruesewitz and Jared Berggren added 14, 13 and 10 points, respectively for the Badgers on Saturday, while highly-touted freshman Sam Dekkar tallied 12 points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Wisconsin shot a sizzling 58.1 percent from the field in the first half and took a 47-19 lead into the locker room. The Badgers went 6-of-10 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes of play and were led offensively by Bruesewitz's 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 outing from the floor.
Samford only shot 21.4 percent from the field in the first half, but knocked down a trio of 3-point baskets. Kelly turned in a team-high eight points in the opening period as he went 3-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long range.
The Bulldogs only committed two turnovers in the first half, but Wisconsin didn't commit any. The Badgers entered the game averaging only 9.5 turnovers per contest this season.
Wisconsin out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 43-22, on Saturday and outscored Samford, 32-18, in points in the paint. The Badgers led the game wire to wire and their biggest lead of the contest was 41 points, 80-39, with 4:49 remaining in the contest.