Appalachian State 91, Lees-McRae 63
BOONE, N.C. – Mike Neal scored a game-high 21 points to lead five double-digit scorers in Appalachian State University men’s basketball’s 91-63 victory over Lees-McRae on Tuesday night at the Holmes Center.
Neal made 9-of-17 shots, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, to help lead Appalachian State (1-3) to its first win of the season. The junior point guard also added six assists and four steals (both game highs) in the triumph.
The Mountaineers dominated from the opening tip, racing out to a double-digit lead (18-7) just a little over seven minutes into contest (12:47).
After the Bobcats cut the deficit to eight points (22-14), Michael Obacha put in a layup to extend the lead back to 10 points (24-14) and Appalachian never saw its lead drop below double digits the rest of the way.
App State led by as many as 16 points (33-17) when Obacha scored at the 7:57 mark and went into the locker room with a 47-33 halftime lead.
The Mountaineers would push the lead to 20 points (68-48) when Tommy Spagnolo hit a layup with 11:09 left to play in the game en route to an emphatic win and its fifth-straight against Lees-McRae.
In addition to Neal’s 21, Tab Hamilton poured in 19 points, Mike Kobani added a career-high 12 and Obacha and Frank Eaves chipped in with 11 apiece to round out the Mountaineers’ five scorers in double-figures. The frontcourt tandem of Kobani and Obacha combined to make 10-of-12 shots to pace Appalachian’s 52.7-percent shooting effort as a team.
Obacha and Tevin Baskin led all rebounders with eight apiece as the Mountaineers finished with a 39-38 edge on the glass.
Lees-McRae was paced by a team-best 18 points from Mike Chambers while Darryl Bond added 13 and tied Raul Tutton with a team-high six rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot 52.7 percent (39-of-74) on the night while holding the Bobcats to 40.0 percent (22-of-55) and finished with 20 turnovers to Lees-McRae’s 10. In addition, the Apps turned the ball over just seven times while forcing the Bobcats into 16 turnovers.
Canisius 86, Elon 85
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Canisius’ Billy Baron’s buzzer-beating three pointer spoiled a valiant effort by the Elon University men’s basketball team on Tuesday night, Nov. 19, as the Golden Griffins escaped the Rutgers Athletic Center with an 86-85 decision over the Phoenix in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Following an Elon (2-3) turnover with 10.1 seconds left, Baron took the ball up the court and buried a three from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, allowing his Canisius (2-2) squad to escape with a one-point win.
The Phoenix turned the ball over three times in the final 1:32 of the game, leading to six Canisius points and spoiling what was a solid second half by the maroon and gold.
“Tonight was heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “We fought and responded very well from a disappointing loss yesterday, but made some mistakes down the stretch and they hit a big shot to win it.”
Elon went on a 15-0 run in the second half to come back from five points down, which largely sparked by the play off the bench by rookie Luke Eddy. Eddy scored eight for Elon during the run and stifled the Griffs on defense to give the Phoenix momentum and a 10-point lead with 10:00 remaining.
The Phoenix led by eight, 85-77, with 2:43 remaining, but the Griffs closed the game on a 9-0 run, capped off by Baron’s game-winner, to hand Elon its third straight loss.
Eddy scored a career-high 23 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and an impressive 11-of-11 performance at the free throw line. As a team, Elon knocked down 24-of-27 (89 percent) from the charity stripe.
Lucas Troutman matched Eddy with a game-high 23 points, as the senior knocked down 8-of-16 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
Elon outrebounded Canisius 34-25, grabbing 13 offensive boards that led to a total of 17 second-chance points.
Elon ended the night shooting 46 percent from the field, including 47 percent (9-of-19) from beyond the arc.
Tanner Samson ended the night with 16 points, while Ryley Beaumont finished with 14. Rookie Christian Hairston grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Phoenix.
Kennesaw State 73, Chattanooga 69
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs (2-2) came back from a nine-point second half deficit but could not prevail against visiting Kennesaw State (2-4) Tuesday night. The Owls claimed the win in the final minute of the game.
Casey Jones hit the first of two free throws to tie the game at 69-all with 1:16 to play. The Owls’ Yonel Brown drove to the basket on the ensuing possession only to have Southern Conference blocks leader Z. Mason swat the shot and Jones corral the rebound.
Mason then turned the ball over near midcourt as Delbert Love started a two-on-one break for the Owls. Mason got a piece of Love’s layup attempt, but Willy Kouassi was there for the follow dunk and a two-point lead, 71-69, with a little more than 20 seconds to play.
The Mocs called timeout with 18.4 seconds left in the frontcourt to set up for the final possession. Gee McGhee drove to the basket and kicked it back to Eric Robertson at the top of the key. Robertson then drove but the Owls defense made a steal and Nigel Pruitt ended up at the line with 4.4 to go and the two-point lead.
He missed the one-on-one attempt, but the ball bounded off the rim and KSU was able to keep it alive for Pruitt to get the rebound. He sank two free throws with 2.3 to go for the final margin of 73-69.
“I think the credit for the comeback goes to our effort and fight to get back into the game,” Mason stated. “We out-rebounded them, which if you told me going into the game, I wouldn’t have believed you based on their size compared to ours. We crashed the glass hard and our press helped us slow them down and get a few turnovers. It helped us fight back.”
Jones notched career-highs with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. McGhee recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and a new high of 10 boards. The Mocs held a 48-30 advantage on the glass for the game.
“We did a phenomenal job on the backboards,” Head Coach Will Wade added. “We worked our tails off rebounding the last couple of days. They battled, and we were all over the glass.”
Brown led the Owls with a game-high 21 points and five steals. Bernard Morena added 15 with 11 coming in an impressive first half. Pruitt chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Turnovers were the undoing for Chattanooga. It gave it back to the Owls 22 times on the night with the visitors getting 22 points off those miscues. KSU managed just nine offensive boards, but it had a slim 18-16 margin in second chance points.
Mason overcame just four minutes of first half playing time, due to foul trouble, to have 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Greg Pryor had 10 points and three assists, while Robertson collected a career-best seven rebounds.
KSU led by one at the break before taking control early in the second half. Its lead swelled to eight three times in the first eight minutes of the second period. Brown’s jumper at 9:41 made it a nine-point affair, 62-53.
But Chattanooga chipped away slowly, but surely. McGhee hit a three-pointer 74 seconds later to make it a five-point game, 64-59. His free throw at 5:19, cut it to two, 66-64.
Pruitt got the margin back to four before Mason took over. His tip dunk at 4:18 and then jump shot on the next possession tied it at 68-all with 3:23 remaining. Chattanooga held the Owls without a field goal for nearly five minutes and allowed a single point over 4:45, but it could not get take the lead before the Owls heroics over the final 20 seconds.