College of Charleston 85, Marist 75
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The College of Charleston men's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to close out 2012 on a high note with an 85-75 road win at Marist on New Year's Eve at McCann Arena.
The Cougars (9-4) are an undefeated 5-0 on the road this season which currently leads the nation among NCAA Division I schools, who remain unbeaten on the road. The Red Foxes (4-9) lost their third-straight contest as CofC racked up its highest-scoring output of the season (85).
Four players scored in double figures led by senior Andrew Lawrence who registered a team-high 22 points - his second-straight 20-point outing in three days.
Sophomore Anthony Stitt added 19 points including a pivotal steal and fastbreak layup at the 3:07 minute mark of the second half which put the Cougars ahead for good, 84-75.
Redshirt junior Willis Hall turned in his fourth career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while sophomore big man Adjehi Baru had 12.
CofC never trailed in the ballgame aside from the opening bucket made by Manny Thomas. Marist, however, made 9-of-20 three-pointers which kept them within striking distance of the Cougars for most of the two halves. Chavaughn Lewis fouled out, but led all scorers with a game-high 23 points.
Elon 84, Manchester College 49
ELON, N.C. - Behind four players in double figures, the Elon University men's basketball team claimed an 84-49 blowout victory over the visiting Manchester University Spartans on Monday, Dec. 31, inside Alumni Gym. The Phoenix improves to 8-5 with the victory, while Manchester drops to 4-7.
"I'm pleased with the way we competed for 40 minutes today," said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "We were able to play quite a few guys in several different lineups, which was our hope coming into today's game. As a team, we were locked in and focused on the game plan. Today was the best we've looked in the open court all season and I'm happy with the progress we continue to make."
Ryley Beaumont recorded his second double-double of the season in the win with 11 points and 12 boards, while Jack Isenbarger scored a team-best 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Lucas Troutman finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks in the win, while Austin Hamilton ended the day with 11 points and a career-high nine assists, just missing his first career double-double.
Elon shot 51 percent from the field, including a 10-of-33 clip from three-point land. The Phoenix held the Spartans to 35 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers that led to 23 points. In all, Elon put 12 players in the scoring column, as Kevin Blake, Aaron Smith and John Moody all reached career-high scoring marks.
Elon also won the battle on the boards, 41-33, as the team improves to 3-1 on the year when outrebounding its opponent.
Ryan Winters put Elon ahead 24-8 with less than eight minutes to play in the first after Isenbarger found him underneath the basket for the up-and-under layup.
The Phoenix went ahead by 30 points with 1:03 to play after an Isenbarger fast-break layup made it a 38-8 game.
Elon went into the locker room with a 40-11 advantage after limiting the Spartans to 19 percent shooting in the first half on 5-of-27 field goal attempts. Elon connected on 17-of-36 (47 percent) from the field in the opening frame, including a 5-of-18 clip from beyond the arc. Beaumont recorded a double-double in the first half with 11 points and 10 boards.
The 11 points scored by Manchester is the lowest by an Elon opponent this season. The Phoenix held Dartmouth to 21 points on Dec. 4, the previous season low.
Liberty 63, Western Carolina 62
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Rallying from a seven-point deficit, Trey Sumler handed Western Carolina a four-point lead with 10 seconds remaining in regulation with an old-fashioned three-point play. However, Liberty scored the final five points of the game including two on technical foul shots as the Flames escaped the Ramsey Center with a 63-62 victory over the Catamounts in nonconference play.
Sumler established and broke the game's fifth tie with a pair of free throws with just under a minute to play in regulation. WCU's defense forced a turnover on Liberty's next possession as Brandon Boggs swiped a lob pass into the right low post, giving the Catamounts the ball with a one-point advantage. Working the shot clock to its limit at the other end of the court, Sumler managed a drive down the right side of the lane and found the bottom of the bucket on a fall-away runner on which he was fouled.
After Sumler drained the free throw - capping an 11-to-0 WCU run -- Liberty's John Caleb Sanders responded by driving the length of the floor, connecting on a lay-up and drawing a blocking foul. He stepped to the line and completed the three-point play, answering Sumler's.
On WCU's ensuing inbounds play, the Catamounts were tagged with a technical foul for calling an excessive timeout - one it did not possess. Liberty's Tavares Speaks stepped to the charity line and sank both free throws, handing the Flames the one-point lead.
With five seconds remaining in regulation, Sumler raced the length of the floor and put up a runner from the right side that just rimmed out at the buzzer, halting the Catamounts five-game home winning streak and relegating WCU (4-9) to its third-straight defeat on the season.
"We have inbounds play that we use in that situation and there was some confusion about that, but the game should not have come down to that," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter on the end of the game scenario during post-game comments on the Catamount Sports Network. "The last three minutes of the game were the only time I actually thought we played the way we should've played. It was like pulling teeth all day today to get our guys to play the way that we want them to. We just didn't look like one of our teams."
"I give Liberty a lot of credit - they stepped up and made some big shots when they needed. But I don't think we played very well today, bottom line," Hunter added.
Sumler paced three Catamounts in double figures with 23 points including three 3-pointers. Tawaski King, who was saddled with foul trouble in the first half, returned to double-figure scoring with 12 points and six rebounds while James Sinclair finished with 11 and a team-best eight boards. King added a career-high tying four steals as WCU forced 24 Liberty turnovers - their season high.
Freshman Mike Brown scored eight points off the bench for WCU.
Neither team seemed in rhythm early in the first half which saw four ties and seven lead changes. After leading by two twice in the opening moments of the game, the Catamounts wrestled the lead back from Liberty as Sinclair converted a Tom Tankelwicz steal into a lay-up to put WCU ahead by three, 22-19, with 3:24 remaining in the opening stanza.
Yet, the Flames responded with 10-straight points to close the half, erasing the Catamounts' edge and carrying a seven-point, 29-22, lead into the halftime locker room.
In the second half, Liberty's lead grew to a game-high nine points on a 3-pointer by Davon Marshall at the 13:32 mark. Western Carolina methodically chipped away at the Flames advantage, twice pulling to within two points only to see Liberty open it back up to a seven-point lead. A four-point play by Sumler made it a two-point margin midway through the second half before Liberty responded with five-straight points. The second occasion came following an offensive stick-back by freshman Mike Brown at the 5:40 mark only to see Liberty score seven of the next nine points to reclaim its seven-point edge.
WCU finally managed to knot the game and to reclaim the lead on a pair of Sumler free throws that followed a defensive steal by King, 59-58. Sumler's ensuing three-point play gave the Catamounts their largest lead of the game, setting up the finish.
Liberty (4-10) matched WCU with three players in double figures led by 13 from Speaks including 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Tomasz Gielo posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Marshall also scored 10 points. Joel Vander Pol and John Caleb Sanders both finished with nine points apiece.
WCU managed to go perfect from the free throw line on Monday - 12-for-12 - but were outscored by six from the stripe as the Flames finished 18-of-22. Liberty also won the battle on the boards 39-to-28, matching the Catamounts with 12 offensive rebounds.
NC State 89, UNCG 68
RALEIGH, N.C. - Despite missing the nation's 15th leading scorer, the UNCG men's basketball team battled No. 23 NC State tough in an 89-68 loss New Year's Eve at the PNC Arena on ESPNU. Freshman forward Kayel Locke scored a team-high 21 points of the bench to lead the way for the Spartans, while C.J. Leslie posted 21 points for the Wolfpack who improved to 11-2 on the season.
"I was really proud of our guys' effort today," head coach Wes Miller said. "Playing without the nation's 15th leading scorer, our guys really came together competing and making plays as a team. We did a nice job as team trying to replace Trevis, as everyone stepped up their game collectively. NC State is a big-time basketball club. In my opinion, they may be the most gifted team in the country, one-through-six, and I thought we competed with them the majority of the game."
Locke fell one point shy of tying his career-high as he finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes of action off the bench. He connected on 10-of-17 from the field in the loss while continually going against taller defenders. Fifth-year senior Kelvin McNeil posted his third career double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing team-high 10 rebounds.
UNCG (2-9) connected on 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the field but hit a season-low 11.8 percent (2-of-17) from three-point land. NC State conversely connected on 53.3 percent (32-of-60) from the field and hit 44.4 percent (8-o-18) from long range in the victory. Leslie finished with 21 points and eight rebounds as he was 8-of-14 from the field while Richard Howell posted a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Spartans played without the Southern Conference's leading in junior guard Trevis Simpson at 20.3 points per game, who missed the game due to an injury. Despite the absence, the Spartans went back and forth with the Wolfpack in the first half and took a 26-23 lead with six straight points to force NC State into a timeout.
Locke pulled the Spartans within one as he scored in the post before McNeil scored on back-to-back possessions to give UNCG a three-point lead. McNeil's second basket came on the fast break after senior Korey Van Dussen forced a turnover at midcourt forcing the Wolfpack into a timeout.
The teams traded baskets with the Spartans owning a 32-30 lead as Nicholas Paulos got out on the break and scored in transition. NC State responded with 10 straight points to take a 40-32 lead as Scott Wood and Rodney Purvis connected on consecutive three-pointers. Locke and senior Derrell Armstrong answered with two baskets before Lorenzo Brown scored at the buzzer to send the Wolfpack into the locker room with a 43-36 lead.
UNCG connected on 45.7 percent (16-of-35) from the field, despite just hitting 2-of-10 from three-point land. The Spartans out-rebounded the Wolfpack by an 18-13 margin, including eight offensive boards as they scored nine second-chance baskets. Locke led the way with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench as he was 6-of-9 from the field while McNeil added eight points.
NC State connected on 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the field and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from three-point land in the first half. C.J. Leslie led the Wolfpack with 12 points while Brown chipped in eight points and four assists.
NC State came out of the halftime break and after an early basket by McNeil narrowed the gap to five points, the Wolfpack posted a 12-2 run to take a 55-40 lead. Leslie and Wood each scored five points in the run to give the Wolfpack a double-digit lead.
NC State out-scored the Spartans 46-32 in the second half as they out-rebounded UNCG 24-16 in the half while shooting 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the field. The Spartans missed all seven three-point attempts in the second half and connected on just 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from the charity stripe.
Armstrong finished the game with 16 points in his first start of the season as he was 5-of-13 from the field and hit all five of his free throws. Freshman guard Jordan Potts scored a career-high seven points off the bench as he played a career-high 14 minutes in Simpson's absence.
Brown added 15 points and a game-high nine assists for the Wolfpack who placed five players in double figures scoring. Wood chipped in 15 points while Warren added 13 points off the bench to round out the NC State players with at least 10 points.