Chattanooga 108, Montreat 51
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs (2-1) ran away from visiting Montreat (3-3) 108-51 this evening in McKenzie Arena. Five Mocs scored in double digits in the 57-point win.
“I thought that we did some good things,” Head Coach Will Wade noted after the game. “Forcing 20 turnovers is good, but I thought we took some steps back in other areas. Our half-court defense was better tonight than it has been.
“I was disappointed that we couldn’t get our full court pressure going tonight, we just didn’t have it tonight,” Wade continued. “We weren’t as into it as we needed to be. We’ve got to work on starting the games better. We haven’t started well all season.”
Gee McGhee led the way with 16 points and a career-high five steals. Z. Mason had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Casey Jones (New Orleans, La.) contributed 12 points with career highs in rebounds (7) and steals (3).
Mason and Jones paced a Chattanooga glass clearance tonight. The Mocs held a 47-25 margin on the boards and scored 26 second chance points on 19 offensive boards.
It was a two-point game early, 16-14 with 12:27 to go in the first half, when the Mocs defense changed the game. They went on a 31-11 run holding Montreat without a field goal for more than 10 minutes leading to a 21-point halftime cushion, 55-34.
A 10-0 run to open the second 20 minutes pushed the lead to 65-34 capped by a McGhee lay-in at 15:45. It swelled to 42, 87-45, on an Andrew Houts three-pointer at 8:27.
The sequence of the night came from freshman post T.J. Williams. He blocked Myles Marshall’s shot in the paint and hustled down court. He was rewarded by Jones who hit the big man for a thunderous slam making it a 52-point game, 101-49, with 3:50 to go.
La’Bris Adams scored 17 to lead the Cavaliers with 11 of his 17 coming at the free throw line. Melvin Irvin added 12 points.
Lance Stokes also had a career high tonight with eight rebounds. Alex Bran and Martynas Bareika came off the bench to score 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Chattanooga shot 55.7 percent (39-70) from the field including 43.5 percent (10-23) from beyond the arc. It limited its visitors to 37.8 percent shooting, a mere 29.2 percent (7-24) after the break.
The Citadel 83, North Greenville 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Behind a combined 40 points from the duo of Ashton Moore and Matt Van Scyoc, The Citadel earned its second straight victory at McAlister Field House as it downed North Greenville 83-53.
Moore connected on 7-of-11 from the field, knocking down a career-high five 3-pointers in the process, to finish with 21 points. He also dished out a team-high nine assists and climbed the glass for five rebounds.
Van Scyoc came through with 19 points for the Bulldogs, hitting 6-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Fellow sophomore Quinton Marshall was also instrumental, providing the Cadets with 10 points off the bench, after hitting 4-of-11 from the field, to go along with five rebounds.
The Citadel (2-2) capped off their third 30-point victory under head coach Chuck Driesell by hitting 44.6 percent (29-65) from the floor. That included a 12-for-26 performance from downtown. Along with Moore and Van Scyoc, Marshall Harris III (2-4) and Raemond Robinson (2-2) also knocked down at least one 3-pointer.
Chris Dean and Micah Parker each reached double figures in scoring for the Crusaders, with 16 and 14 points, respectively. North Greenville (2-3), playing in their third game in as many days, converted 17-of-54 from the field and 5-of-23 from 3-point range.
The Crusaders did manage to out-rebound the Bulldogs (43-39) behind solid performances by Keith Johnson (nine rebounds) and Dean (eight). Brian White's layup following a pass from Tom Koopman ended a scoreless drought to open second half as The Citadel gained a 46-26 advantage. The Crusaders answered with a 3-pointer off the hand of Dean, sparking an 11-3 run that included three points each from Parker and Johnson, as the lead was narrowed to 49-37.
A 3-pointer by Harris got the Bulldogs' offense back on track, while the defense held North Greenville to just two points over a span of 3:16 to extend the lead to 61-40.
The Crusaders ended their scoring drought with back-to-back buckets by Jai Jencks and Patrick George, but a series of 3-pointers by Robinson and Van Scyoc made for a 21-point difference.
Leading 67-48 with 7:24 remaining, the Bulldogs took advantage of six points from Marshall and four by Van Scyoc to move to .500 on the season with an 83-53 win.
Moore accounted for a bulk of The Citadel scoring in the first half, connecting on 5-of-6 from the floor, all from beyond the arc, en route to 16 points. The junior guard also dished out six assists to go along with two rebounds.
Van Scyoc joined Moore in double figures, knocking down 5-of-9 from the field and connecting on two from long distance to close out with 12 points.
The Bulldogs, who struggled to open the game, completed the half by hitting 17-of-34 from the floor and 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. Another key in the success of The Citadel's offensive output was its ability to limit itself to three turnovers.
The lone North Greenville player to reach double figures was Parker, who knocked down 3-of-7 from the floor to close with 11 points. He was joined in scoring by Dean, who added six points, while Johnson crashed the boards for five rebounds. Unable to handle The Citadel's defensive pressure, the Crusaders hit just 9-of-29 from the field and were a dismal 2-of-13 from 3-point range.
Trailing by one at the 15:14 mark of the first half, Moore connected on the first of four straight 3-pointers to ignite a 15-2 Citadel run that gave the Bulldogs a 21-9 advantage.
North Greenville answered with a flurry of baskets by Parker and Johnson, trimming the deficit to six, 24-18, before Moore found Van Scyoc for a jumper that pushed the margin back to eight.
The two teams traded baskets before a Van Scyoc buried a 3-pointer from the corner and followed with a running jumper in the lane and provided the Dogs with a 37-24 advantage.
The Citadel closed the opening frame on a 7-2 run, highlighted by a Moore 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer, to take a 44-26 lead into the half.
Western Carolina 68, Liberty 63
Lynchburg, Va. – Senior guard Tom Tankelewicz came off the bench and knocked down 23 points as the Western Carolina men’s basketball team ended a four-game, six day spurt with a 68-63 road win over Liberty Saturday night in the Vines Center in a nonconference game.
Led by Tankelewicz’s 23 points the Catamount bench outscored the Flames’ bench 39-15. WCU’s bench received six points from Justin Browning, five points from Torrion Brummitt, three points from Rhett Harrelson and two points from Mike Brown. Tawaski King was the only other Catamount in double-figures as the senior forward added ten points.
Trailing 11-10 at the 11-minute mark, Tankelewicz went on a 6-0 run with a three and a three-point play to give WCU a 16-11 lead a minute later; it was a lead they would never relinquish over the remaining 30 minutes of basketball.
Following a Liberty free throw, the Catamounts mounted a 6-0 run on two baskets by Browning and a jumper by Brown to push the WCU lead out to double-digits, 22-12, with less than eight minutes to play in the first half.
WCU extended the margin to as high as 12 points twice, 29-17 and 31-19, before Liberty trimmed the gap down to seven points, 33-26, when John Caleb Sanders made a layup at the halftime buzzer for the Flames.
Coming out of the half, Liberty continued to chip away at the WCU lead until a three by Davon Marshall pulled the Flames within one point, 45-44, with 11:55 left on the clock. Three free throws by Harrelson and a Trey Sumler layup quickly pushed the Catamount lead back to six points, 50-44, a minute and a half later.
Over the final ten minutes of play WCU led by as high as seven points four times and as low as two points once as the Catamounts escaped with the 68-63 road win. The game avenged a 63-62 loss last season suffered by WCU in the Ramsey Center.
The Purple and Gold shot 37 percent from the floor, 35 percent from three and a season-high 85 percent from the free throw line. The Catamounts converted on 17 of their 20 free throws in the game including the final four by Sumler with under 13 seconds to play.
Liberty ended at 37 percent overall, 23 percent from three and 75 percent from the line. The Flames made 18 of their 24 free throw attempts.
WCU barely won the turnover battle forcing 12 turnovers while only handing the ball over 11 times. However, the Catamounts capitalized with 21 points off of the Flames miscues.
Georgia Southern 104, Toccoa Falls 50
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Men’s Basketball rolled to a 104-50 win over Toccoa Falls on Saturday night in the final game before opening domestic play in the 2013 Cancun Challenge on Thursday night at West Virginia. Tre Bussey led the way for the Eagles with a career-high 29 points.
“We did a great job of sharing the ball again tonight,” said Head Coach Mark Byington. “Defensively we did a great job in the first half to hold them to 16 points. Overall, I was happy to get a bunch of different guys some minutes because everyone will be counted on this season at some point.”
The Eagles improve to 2-1 on the year and a perfect 2-0 at Hanner Fieldhouse. Toccoa Falls’ record remains at 0-4 with the contest counted as an exhibition for the visitors out of the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association).
Bussey 20 of his 29 points in the first half and finished one rebound shy of his first career double-double. With nine rebounds he did match a career-high for rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Overall, he was 11-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 from downtown. He is the first Eagle to score seven three-pointers since Antonio Hanson in 2010.
Jelani Hewitt scored 23 on the night, making four baskets from beyond the arc. The junior also added a career-high seven assists and grabbed seven steals. The steals mark was also a career-high and was one shy of Johntavious Rucker’s school record of eight steals in 2010.
Freshman Kyle Doyle scored 11 points, reaching double figures for the second time in his young collegiate career. He also snared seven rebounds. Brian Holmes had nine points and five assists on the night while Kameron Dunnican posted a career-best eight points off the bench.
The Eagles never trailed in the game and led by as many as 61 points on the night. Georgia Southern scored 42 points in the paint and 20 in transition while making 17 three-pointers. As a unit the Eagles shot 56.6 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from downtown.
Toccoa Falls was led by 15 points from Derek Westfall while Devian Clark scored 13.
Virginia 70, Davidson 57
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Mike Tobey led four Virginia players in double figures with 18 points and the nationally-ranked Cavaliers shot 52.1 percent to defeat Davidson 70-57, in non-conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Tyler Kalinoski, De’Mon Brooks and Brian Sullivan all finished with 13 points to lead Davidson (0-3), while Kalinoski pulled in a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double and was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers.
For Virginia (2-1), Malcom Brogdon (17), Justin Anderson (12) and Akil Mitchell (11) joined Tobey in double figures. Tobey and Brogdon were efficient from the field going 8-for-11 and 7-for-10, respectively, and pulled in seven rebounds each. Mitchell and Anderson led on the glass with nine and eight boards, respectively.
Leading 29-27, Virginia opened the second half on an 18-6 streak to extend the margin to 47-33, with just over 12 minutes to play. The Cavaliers maintained a double-digit margin and grew the lead to 16 points with 6:05 remaining before four free throws, a triple from Kalinoski and a layup from Brooks cut the deficit to nine with 3:38 to go. Droney then answered an Anderson 3-ball with one of his own with 2:56 to go to keep it within nine, but that was as close as Davidson would get.
Davidson struggled at the offensive end, shooting just 30.6 percent overall. The ‘Cats saw most of their success from beyond the arc, hitting at 37.9 percent (11-for-29). Virginia blocked off the paint defensively, allowing just eight points from close range.
After the Cavaliers used a 20-5 run midway through the opening period to take a 24-13 advantage, the Wildcats responded with a 14-1 spurt, highlighted by four 3-pointers, to go back in front, 27-25, with 2:22 left. Virginia closed the first half with consecutive baskets to lead 29-27 at the break.
In addition to outscoring the Wildcats 36-8 in the paint, Virginia held a 42-30 advantage on the boards and got 31 points from its bench.
Cincinnati 77, Appalachian State 49
CINCINNATI – After falling behind 9-0 in the first four minutes, Appalachian State University men’s basketball was able to battle back and cut the deficit to 13-11, but a late first-half surge would give Cincinnati a 77-49 win on Saturday at FIfth Third Arena.
The Mountaineers (0-3) found themselves in an early hole as the Bearcats (3-0) dominated the pace of play over the first four minutes with their signature full-court pressure defense, but Appalachian would slow things down and mounted an 11-4 run to cut the gap to just two points (13-11) with 12:02 remaining in the open period.
App State’s run began when Mike Neal hit a layup for the Mountaineers’ first points of the game at the 15:45 mark and was capped off by Tevin Baskin's three pointer with 12:02 remaining, but the Bearcats would turn up the pressure on defense and caught fire from the floor to outscore the Apps 27-10 over the final 12 minutes of the half.
Cincinnati grabbed its first double-digit lead (22-11) when Troy Caupain hit a layup with 9:03 to go in the first. The bucket was part of a 14-0 Bearcat run that extended UC’s lead to 27-11 with 7:25 on the clock en route to a 19-point (40-21) advantaged at the half.
Despite scoring the first two points of the second half on a pair of free throws by Neal, the Mountaineers were unable to get any closer than 19 points after Michael Obacha tipped in an offensive rebound with 14:43 to go in the second half as Cincinnati pressed the entire time and continued to stay hot on the offensive end.
Mike Kobani and Baskin led the Mountaineers with 11 points each while Tommy Spagnolo ripped down a team-best seven rebounds and Neal dished out four assists.
Caupain and Troy Rubles led the Bearcats with 13 points each while Sean Kilpatrick scored 12 and Shaquille Thomas and Jermaine Sanders poured in 10 apiece. Rubles and Thomas co-led Cincinnati with seven boards while Justin Jackson came away with four blocks.
Appalachian shot just 29.2 percent (19-of-65) from the floor while the Bearcats connected on 46.3 percent (31-of-67) of their shots. Cincinnati finished with a 47-35 edge in rebounds and came away with 21 offensive boards, which it converted into 21 second-chance points.
Iona 76, Wofford 55
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford men’s basketball team was defeated 76-55 by Iona at the Hynes Center. The Terriers were down by four at the half, but the Gaels shot 68 percent from the floor in the second half to put the game away.
Wofford is 1-2 to open the season. Iona is 1-1 after reaching the NCAA Tournament last season. Spencer Collins led the Terriers with 23 points, one shy of his career-high. Lee Skinner had ten rebounds. The Gaels were led by Season Armand with 20 points. Isaiah Williams had 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the three point arc and eight rebounds.
“They have some really good players,” said head coach Mike Young. “The pace and tempo of the game was a big deal for us coming in. We could not play fast against a team like this on the road. I thought we did a heck of a job taking care of the ball. I thought we did some nice things and shot selection was very good in the first half. In the second half we had good shots, but we missed a number of them and Iona did not. There is a lot to be encouraged by, but we are still feeling our way through.”
The Terriers had an early 5-1 lead after a three pointer by Spencer Collins. A dunk by Collins at the 15:09 mark gave Wofford a 7-4 lead. After Iona tied the game at nine with 12:27 on the clock, a three by Spencer Collins made it a 12-11 lead for the Terriers. Iona answered with a three for a 14-12 advantage at the midpoint of the first half.
With under six minutes left, two free throws gave Iona a 22-15 lead. Two free throws by Spencer Collins and two lay-ups by Justin Gordon cut the score to 24-21 at the 4:10 mark, but once again the Gaels answered with a three pointer. Three pointers by Zac Grossenbacher and Karl Cochran made it a 31-29 game with 1:33 left in the half, but Iona took a 35-31 lead at the break.
To open the second half, Spencer Collins made it a two-point game. The Gaels had a 39-36 lead after three minutes of action. C.J. Neumann had a lay-up and a free throw at the 13:37 mark for a 44-39 score, but just two minutes later the Iona lead was 54-43. Over the next five minutes, the Gaels hit three three-pointers and pushed the lead to 67-49 with 5:39 remaining. Karl Cochran hit a three, however Iona scored the next nine points and led 76-52 with one minute remaining. Zac Grossenbacher made a three pointer with 32 seconds left to make it a 76-55 final score.
Wofford shot 42.0 percent from the floor while Iona shot 46.4 percent overall. The Terriers were 6-of-21 from with three, while the Gaels were 9-of-23 from behind the arc. Iona was 15-of-18 from the line while Wofford was 7-of-9 on free throws. Iona had a 37 to 24 lead on the glass. Wofford had 14 turnovers on the night, while Iona had eleven.