Western Carolina 98, Niagara 90
KENT, Ohio – Three Catamounts notched career-highs in points led by senior Trey Sumler’s 35 points in Western Carolina’s 98-90 win over Niagara in the second game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Friday in the M.A.C. Center on the campus of Kent State University.
Sumler made his first four shots from the floor including a three and made his first seven free throws en route to his career-high 35 points. Sumler finished 10-of-20 from the floor and 14-of-16 from the free throw line. He also handed out ten assists to pick up WCU’s first double-double of the season.
Mike Brown and Brandon Boggs followed with 17 points each. Boggs’ 17 points came on 7-of-10 shooting including three 3-pointers. His performance Friday pushed the senior guard over the 1,000 point mark as he became the 43rd Catamount to cross the plateau. Brown, who made his first start of the season filling in the injured James Sinclair, made all seven of shot attempts including three from behind the 3-point line to earn his career-high. Rhett Harrelson was the fourth Catamount in double-digits, and third to record a career-high with 12 points on two 3-pointers and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Catamounts won the opening tipoff and scored on a Kenneth Hall jumper in the paint -- his only points of the game -- as WCU took a lead they would never relinquish over the remaining 39:26 in the game.
Hall’s basket sent the Catamounts on a 20-9 run through the first five minutes of play. Sumler had 12 points during the stretch including two old-fashion three-point plays. Antoine Mason converted a layup on the Purple Eagles’ next possession as Niagara mounted an 11-2 run to trim the lead down to two points, 22-20, with 10:23 left before the half.
However, WCU responded as the Catamounts pushed the lead out to 38-26 in five-minute span sparked by seven points from Torrion Brummitt, who would finish with the game with only nine points. Over the final 5:34 to play in the first half, the Catamounts would stay in control of the game and take a 16-point, 56-40, lead into the half.
Niagara chipped away at the WCU lead until the Purple Eagles dwindled the margin down to 76-73 following a Marcus Ware three-point play with 7:41 showing on the clock, but an 11-3 run by the Catamounts highlighted by two big threes from Harrelson quickly pushed the WCU lead back to double figures, 87-76, four and a half minutes later.
The Purple & Gold (4-3) would run out the clock as the Catamounts made 7 of their final 10 free throw attempts to seal the 98-90 win.
Mason was the Purple Eagles’ leading scorer with 35 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the floor and 8-of-10 from the line. Niagara got 16 points from Ware and Ramon Snowdown, and had Rayvon Harris chip in 11 points in the loss.
WCU shot a sizzling 59 percent from the floor knocking down 33 of its 56 field goal attempts, while Niagara was 49 percent overall on 29-of-59 shooting. The Catamounts made 10 of their 16 attempts from behind the arc for 63 percent compared to the Purple Eagles’ 38 percent on 8-of-21 shooting from long range.
The Purple & Gold held a narrow rebounding margin, 36-29, but the telling stat for the Catamounts was 26 points in transition compared to only two for the Purple Eagles.
N.C. State 76, Appalachian State 70 (OT)
DURHAM, N.C. – Frank Eaves nailed a three-pointer with one minute left to send the game to overtime, but Appalachian State University men’s basketball was unable to overcome a high-flying North Carolina Central squad in a 76-70 loss on Friday night at McDougald-McLendon Gym.
Despite seeing their double-digit halftime lead erased late in the second half, the Eagles (4-1) were able to come away with their fourth-straight win of the season in their first-ever matchup against the Mountaineers (1-4).
Appalachian found itself in an early double-digit hole as NC Central grabbed a 10-point lead (12-2) less than five minutes into the ballgame and held Appalachian without a field goal until the 13:13 mark en route to their fourth-straight victory.
After Mike Neal cut the deficit to 5-2 on a pair of free throws at the 17:53 mark, the Eagles would hold Appalachian scoreless until Tevin Baskin's layup nearly five minutes later.
Appalachian entered the half facing a 14-point deficit (32-18), but was able to cut the deficit to just six points (39-33) thanks to a 9-0 run four minutes into the second half.
Baskin got things started with back-to-back layups before Chris Burgess hit a layup and nailed the ensuring free throw. Tommy Spagnolo would cap off the run with a layup of his own with 13:41 left to play.
After being held scoreless for just over three minutes, the Eagles would regain momentum thanks to several key defensive stops and pushed the lead back to double digits (45-35) with just over 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
Appalachian continued to fight over the final 10 minutes as Burgess brought the Mountaineers within three points (48-45) after connecting from beyond the arc with 8:51 on the clock and it was game on from there as the squads treated fans to a thrilling finish.
The Apps gained their first lead of the contest (55-54) when Burgess connected from long range with just under six minutes to play and led by two points (58-56) when Tab Hamilton nailed a jumper with 4:08 on the clock.
The Eagles responded with back-to-back buckets to grab a 60-58 lead with 2:09 remaining and led by one (61-50) with 1:13 to go, but Eaves put the Mountaineers on top with a three-pointer with just one minute remaining.
Despite missing two buckets in the waning seconds, NC Central knotted the score at 63-63 when Jeremy Ingram drove through the lane and hit a layup with 10 seconds to play before Burgess missed a long three-point attempt at the buzzer as the game headed to overtime.
In overtime, the Eagles led by as many as four points (69-65) with 3:09 to play before a free throw from Michael Obacha and layup form Hamilton cut the deficit to one (69-68). Hamilton was fouled on the layup and missed the free throw, but the ball bounced off an NC Central player and the Apps retained possession with 1:20 to play.
Eaves, who was fouled on his jumper in the ensuing possession, made both shots from the charity stripe to give the Mountaineers a 70-69 edge with just over a minute to play. Ingram would convert a pair of free throws on the other end to put the Eagles back up by one (71-70) and a turnover on Appalachian’s next possession gave NCCU the ball with 49 seconds remaining.
Reggie Groves would drill a three-pointer and Ingram would knock down a pair of free throws to finally put the dagger in the Mountaineers and lead the Eagles to their fourth-straight win.
Baskin led the Mountaineers with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Burgess poured in 16, Eaves scored 14 and Hamilton finished with 10. Ingram led all players with 36 points while Alfonzo Houston tallied 16 for the Eagles.
Appalachian shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the floor while NCCU made 43.6 percent (24-of-55) of its shots. The Apps had a 40-39 edge in rebounds and forced 14 Eagle turnovers.
Clemson 85, Davidson 54
CHARLESTON, S.C. – In addition to shooting 61.1 percent, including 10-of-19 from long range, Clemson opened the second half on a 31-5 run as the Tigers defeated Davidson, 85-54, in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic Friday evening at TD Arena.
The Wildcats will face nationally-ranked New Mexico in Sunday’s third-place contest at noon on ESPNU.
The Tigers, who led by as many as 36, opened the second half 12-of-16 from the floor, including four 3-pointers to put the game out of reach.
K.J. McDaniels and DaMarcus Harrison paced Clemson (5-0) with 22 and 20 points, respectively, while combining to go 16-for-19 overall and 6-of-8 from behind the arc.
Chris Czerapowicz led Davidson (1-4) with a season-high 14 points, while De’Mon Brooks added 12.
Clemson, which shot 60.7 percent in the first half, including 5-of-9from three, scored eight unanswered late in the period to go up by 13 before take a 43-33 lead into the break.
McDaniels was perfect in the first 20 minutes of action going 7-for-7 from the floor and making all three of his tries from deep.
Davidson struggled at the offensive end shooting just 41.8 percent, while missing nine of its 11 attempts from the charity stripe for a .182 clip.
The Tigers finished with a 36-23 advantage on the glass.
Nevada 83, Chattanooga 81
RENO, Nev.---The Chattanooga Mocs (2-3) led for a majority of the game, but Nevada (3-2) got the play of the game to claim an 83-81 win over the visitors from the Scenic City. Wolf Pack guard Deonte Burton banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Mocs to Los Angeles with the loss.
“It’s disappointing to lose,” Head Coach Will Wade said. “But like I told our guys, we are doing things the right way and we prepared well. This is the best team we’ve played all year – by far – and we played our best game. We played really well but didn’t make a play there near the end. The kid banked in a 25-footer.
“There are certain things we could have done better, but one thing I am proud of is our execution down the stretch,” he added. “It was much better today than it was against Kennesaw, and we ran the same plays today that we ran against Kennesaw. We just keep improving and I am proud of our guys.”
It was a nail-biter to the finish. There were two ties and eight lead changes in the final minutes of the contest. Burton’s free throw with 46 seconds left made it 80-78 Wolf Pack.
Z. Mason drained a three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to put the Mocs up one, 81-80. It was a wild finish from there.
Burton dribbled the ball off his leg with 14 ticks left. Greg Pryor hit the floor, collected the loose ball and called timeout. The Mocs struggled to get the ball in, however, succumbing to a five-second call.
The Wolf Pack answered with a turnover of his own. Michael Perez drove to the basket but took an extra step to give the ball back to Chattanooga. The Mocs got it deep to Mason who was immediately fouled with around eight seconds to go.
Mason’s free throws were off the mark, but Nevada struggled to get the ball up the floor. With 2.4 remaining, Nevada got the ball to Burton who launched his effort from 25 feet. The buzzer sounded as the ball banked its way in for the win.
Mason led the Mocs with 24 points and a game-high eight rebounds. He scored 15 of his points in the second half keying his squad down the stretch. Pryor added a season-high 19 points, five assists and three steals.
Burton had a game-high 28 points for the Wolf Pack. He added five assists as Perez (12), Jerry Evans (11) and Marqueze Coleman (10) also scored in double digits.
It was a great start for Chattanooga scoring on its first five possessions. It led by as many as eight in the first half before taking a two-point lead, 41-39, into halftime. Lance Stokes made it a seven-point affair, 53-46, on a layup at 13:10.
The Wolf Pack went on a 12-3 run to take their first lead of the game, 58-56, on a layup at 9:56. Mason tied it with two free throws 23 seconds later before Nevada looked to take control of the contest. Its lead swelled to five twice, but the Mocs would not go away. Pryor’s three-point play at 5:14 tied the score at 71-all setting up the chaotic ending.