Appalachian State 71, Milligan 51
BOONE, N.C. - Nathan Healy's career day helped lead Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 71-51 win over visiting Milligan on Sunday at the Holmes Center.
Healy, who grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and scored 17 points, was one of four players to notch at least 10 points for the Mountaineers (4-8) as the squad easily handled the Buffaloes (8-6) to close out 2012.
After Milligan led by two points early in the first half, Appalachian used an 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead and never trailed the rest of the way as it picked up its second-straight victory.
Healy's layup at the 7:32 mark of the first half gave the Apps their first double-digit lead (23-13) of the contest as the Mountaineers would lead by as many as 13 points (28-15) in the opening period of play.
A layup by Milligan's Tyler DeVault in the closing seconds of the first half would cut Milligan's deficit to just nine points, but the Apps took a 30-21 lead into the half.
The Mountaineers began the second half in dominating fashion, scoring the first six points to take a 36-21 lead with 18:34 left to play, but the Buffaloes reeled off a 19-9 run to draw within five points (45-40) with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Appalachian would clamp down defensively from there as it made several key defensive stops and scored 11-straight points to jump back out to a 56-40 lead on Tevin Baskin's layup with 6:51 on the clock.
The Mountaineers would eventually extend their lead to as many as 22 points (69-47) in the final two minutes en route to their second-straight win.
Healy led all players in scoring and rebounding while Baskin added 15 points off the bench. Jay Canty and Tab Hamilton each added 10 points and Chris Burgess dished out a game-high seven assists.
Milligan was paced by DeVault's 12 points and seven rebounds while Mickey Woods scored six points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists.
Appalachian shot 38.4 percent (28-of-73) on the day but connected on 45.7 percent in the second half while limiting Milligan to just 32.2 percent (21-of-65) from the floor.
The Mountaineers finished with a 54-44 edge in rebounds and recorded a season-best nine blocks while forcing Milligan into 19 turnovers.
Virgnia 74, Wofford 39
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Wofford men's basketball team was defeated 74-39 by Virginia on Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia used a 14-2 run to close the first half to build a lead that the Terriers were unable to overcome.
Wofford moves to 6-7 on the season, while Virginia is 10-3. The Terriers were led by Spencer Collins with 17 points, while Lee Skinner had four rebounds. The Cavaliers had three players in double figures, led by Mike Tobey with 19 points.
"That can happen sometimes in college athletics," said head coach Mike Young. "I was nervous about this one with twelve freshmen and sophomores who think you have it figured out, but this is a humbling game. Virginia got us in every way."
The Terriers opened the scoring with a three pointer by Karl Cochran and had a 5-0 lead after a lay-up by Aerris Smith. The Cavaliers answered with eight straight points for an 8-5 advantage with 15:30 on the clock. A three pointer by Spencer Collins tied the game at eight.
A bucket by C.J. Neumann tied the game at ten, but the Cavaliers led 12-10 with 10:40 left in the first half. A jumper by Spencer Collins cut the advantage to 15-12 at the 7:58 mark. Collins added a three to make it a 17-15 score, but Virginia used a 5-0 run for a 22-15 lead with 5:46 remaining. Collins hit two free throws, however the Cavaliers scored the final nine points of the half to take a 31-17 lead at the break. Wofford did not score a field goal in the last 6:28 of the half.
To begin the second half, Virginia went on a 9-2 run that included two three pointers for a 40-19 advantage with 16:03 on the clock. The Cavaliers continued to extend the lead and it was a 49-21 score with 11:30 left in the game. Virginia had a 16-0 run ended with two free throws by Spencer Collins, but the Cavalier lead was 56-23 at the ten minute mark. The lead grew to 63-25 with 7:32 left before two free throws by Karl Cochran made it 63-27. At the final buzzer, the Cavaliers had a 74-39 victory.
Wofford shot 33 percent from the floor while Virginia shot 64 percent overall. The Terriers were 5-of-19 from with three, while the Cavaliers were 8-of-15 from behind the arc. Both teams were 6-of-10 from the line. The Cavaliers had a 31 to 19 lead on the glass. Wofford had 17 turnovers, while Virginia had 22 assists.
SMU 72, Furman 52
DALLAS, Texas - Freshman Brian Bernardi came off of the bench to score a career-high 20 points and SMU scored the game's first 13 points as the Mustangs defeated Furman, 72-53, on Sunday afternoon at Moody Coliseum.
The loss, Furman's fourth straight, dropped the Paladins to 3-9 overall and 0-6 on the road this season. SMU upped its record to 10-4 and improved to 5-0 at home.
The Mustangs held Furman without a field goal for the opening 8:12 and built a 13-0 lead before Bryant Irwin buried three triples to key a 13-5 Paladin run that trimmed the SMU lead to 18-13 with 8:01 left in the first period. SMU finished the half on a 20-8 run, including eight points from Bernardi, to grab a 38-23 halftime lead.
Jalen Jones' basket with 14:48 left pushed the Mustang lead to 47-28, but Furman caught fire beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 11 points at 58-47 when Irwin connected on his fifth trey of the game with 7:31 to play. Ryan Manuel and Jones answered for the Mustangs by each draining a pair of free throws before Bernardi canned his fourth triple of the contest at the 5:10 mark to put SMU in front 65-49.
Bernardi connected on 4-of-7 treys to net his career-high 20 points while Jones added 14 points and eight rebounds. Cannen Cunningham poured in 13 points to go with nine boards and Shawn Williams added 10 points for SMU. The Mustangs shot 43.5% from the field and made 27-of-32 free throw attempts, including scoring 19 of their 34 second half points at the foul line.
Irwin drained 5-of-11 three-pointers to pace Furman with 15 points while fellow senior Colin Reddick added 12 points and seven rebounds. The Paladins shot a season low 28 percent from the field and made just 10 of their season-high 35 three-point attempts.