Chattanooga 87, IUPUI 76
LAS VEGAS, Nev.---The Chattanooga Mocs (3-5) ran away with an 87-76 win over IUPUI (1-7) in the Las Vegas Invitational in Orleans Arena. Senior Z. Mason led a quintet of Mocs in double digits tying his career high with 27 points.
Mason was joined by Casey Jones and Gee McGhee with 14 apiece. Lance Stokes tied his career high with 13 points which was matched by freshman point guard Greg Pryor.
“Our guys did a great job today - especially on such a short turnaround like that,” Head Coach Will Wade commented. “We did a phenomenal job of following the scouting report, and I thought we were in great shape. We wore them down.
“This was one of those games where you win it in June, July and August with your training.”
Chattanooga built on its 12-point halftime cushion early in the second half. Mason made it a 15-point affair, 55-40, with 15:25 to play. The Jaguars rallied.
Donovan Gibbs capped a 16-3 run with a layup with 10:59 to play. That’s as close as it would get. The lead went back to eight in a mere minute after three consecutive possessions with Mason’s three-pointer from the corner making it 64-56 at 9:59.
The Mocs slowly pulled away from there. They took their largest lead of 16 points, 79-63, on a Jones jumper in the lane with three minutes remaining. They went six-for-six from the free throw line down the stretch to preserve the 87-76 win.
Chattanooga’s work on the glass was a key in the win. It dominated the boards by 16, 37-21, grabbing more defensive rebounds (27) than IUPUI had total (21) for the game. Mason and Jones shared game-high honors with nine, while Stokes added another seven. Marcellus Barksdale led the Jaguars with five.
Ja’Rob McCallum came off the bench to keep IUPUI in the game. He tallied 25 points including three-of-five from three-point range. Ian Chiles had 15 points, while Khufu Najee added 13.
The Mocs shot 58.8 percent (30-51) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-11) from three-point range. Both numbers are season highs. The squad has now shot 50 percent or better in three of the last four contests.
“I am really happy for the guys,” Wade added. “We have been making progress incrementally. As a coach, you see the progress and want the progress to be about the process. It’s a bottom line deal for players.
“The progress has to be wins or losses,” he concluded. “It was really good for our guys to get a win and see that what they’re doing is paying off.”
Samford 79, Campbellsville 68
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- In the final game of the 2013 First Bank and Trust Company Roundball Showcase, the Samford University basketball team used career-high performances in scoring from sophomore Tim Williams and true freshman Isaiah Williams to defeat the Campbellsville Tigers, 79-68, at the Pete Hanna Center.
“This was a good win tonight and a good way to open a four-game homestand,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “We’ll review this film tonight and get ready for the quick turnaround game against Kentucky State on Sunday. I’m happy with our win. I’m excited about it and now it’s time to move on to the next one.”
With Friday’s victory, Samford (2-6) improved to 2-0 at home this season and will continue its current four-game homestand Sunday at 2 p.m. (CST) against Kentucky State.
Campbellsville (2-2), which has played against four Division I opponents as exhibitions this season, moved to 0-4 versus higher-level foes. The Tigers opened the 2013-14 campaign at No. 5-ranked Oklahoma State and only lost by 10 points, 80-70, in front of 5,500 fans in Stillwater, Okla.
Campbellsville was also defeated in road games at Western Kentucky, 87-73, and UNC Wilmington, 72-55.
Samford’s duo comprised of Isaiah and Tim Williams combined to score 53 of the team’s 79 points Friday.
Tim Williams, the Bulldogs’ dynamic 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, Ill., exploded for a career-high 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and added six rebounds. His personal-best scoring performance topped his previous high of 23, which was accomplished in his college debut, Nov. 9, 2012, at Austin Peay.
Isaiah Williams scored 19 of his career-high 26 points in the first-half Friday and finished a near-perfect 9-of-11 from the floor. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-1 point guard from Buford, Ga., concluded the game with an unblemished 5-of-5 performance from 3-point range and tallied five rebounds and four assists.
Samford took control of the game early and built a 10-point lead, 32-22, with 5:31 remaining in the first half. Isaiah Williams then scored nine-straight points for the Bulldogs as they extended the advantage to 45-31 with 36 seconds left to play in the opening period.
Following a rebound from Isaiah Williams and a timeout from Seltzer with four ticks remaining in the half, Samford perfectly executed a full-court inbounds play as Tim Williams took the ball 75 feet for the buzzer-beating layup.
The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 58.1 percent from the field in the first half and took a 47-31 advantage into the locker room.
Samford limited Campbellsville to a 33.3-percent outing from the floor in the opening period. Jordan Myers led the Tigers with 12 first-half points and finished the game with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Myers also knocked down a team-high four 3-point baskets.
Early in the second half, Campbellsville used an 11-4 run to trim the Bulldogs’ lead to 51-44 with 15:32 left to play.
Samford’s Connor Miller then answered with a huge 3-point shot to shift the momentum back to the Bulldogs.
With 4:09 left to play in Friday’s game, Miles Rice dropped in a 6-foot jumper to cut Samford’s advantage to 68-63, but the Bulldogs quickly bounced back consecutive layups from Tim Williams and Brandon Roberts, as well as a pair of free throws from Tim Williams.
Samford’s late run gave the Bulldogs a decisive 11-point lead as they followed through with the 79-68 non-conference victory.
Georgia 71, Appalachian State 53
ATHENS, Ga. – An early second-half scoring drought was too much to overcome as Appalachian State University men’s basketball dropped a 71-53 decision at Georgia on Friday at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (1-5) were held without a field goal for an eight-minute stretch in the second half, long enough for the Bulldogs (2-4) to take a double-digit lead in the opening stages of the final period en route to their first victory in nearly a month.
After battling UGA to a one-point game at halftime and grabbing a 36-35 lead in the opening minute of the second half, the Apps were held without a field goal for an eight-minute-and-nine-second stretch (19:16-11:07) with its only scoring coming on a free throw with 15:34 left to play.
The scoring drought allowed the Bulldogs to reel off a 12-1 run and jump out to their first double-digit lead (47-37) when Nemanja Djurisic connected on a layup at the 12:32 mark, and Appalachian would never regain its momentum from the first half.
Georgia extended its lead to as many as 16 points (59-43) with just under seven minutes to play as the Mountaineers were unable to come away with the victory despite hanging with the Bulldogs in the first half.
Both squads treated fans to an exciting first half that saw six lead changes as the Bulldogs snagged an early seven-point lead (20-13) midway through the opening period, but the Mountaineers reeled off a 7-0 run to tie things at 20-20 with 7:30 left on the clock.
Appalachians run began with a pair of free throws from Tab Hamilton at the 9:20 mark and tied the game two minutes later when he soared through the lane and threw down thunderous dunk off a missed three pointer from Chris Burgess.
The Apps would grab the lead late in the first half when Mike Neal drilled a shot from beyond the arc with 53 seconds remaining to make it 32-31 in favor of the Mountaineers, but UGA hit a pair of free throws with 33 seconds to go and took a 33-32 lead into the locker room.
Tevin Baskin led all players with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting while adding three assists and two steals. Hamilton scored 11 points and was 5-of-5 from the free-throw line while Michael Obacha paced Appalachian on the boards with six rebounds.
Georgia was co-led on offense by Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann, who each tallied 14 points while Brandon Morris and Donte Williams ripped down six rebounds each.
Appalachian was held to just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the floor while the Bulldogs connected on 55.1 percent (27-of-49) of their shots. The Mountaineers went 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) from the charity stripe, their best free-throw shooting performance of the season and hauled in 31 rebounds. The Bulldogs finished with 36 rebounds and forced 14 Mountaineer turnovers.
Towson 84, The Citadel 59
TOWSON, Md. – Towson used a 28-8 run that spanned both halves and lasted 14:12 to earn an 84-59 victory over The Citadel on Friday afternoon at the SECU Arena.
The Citadel (3-5) now finishes up the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. with a first time meeting against West Alabama.
Towson responded to a 21-21 tie late in the first half with a 10-3 run that included six points off the hand of Marcus Damas. That gave the Tigers a 31-24 lead at the 3:34 mark.
Eight points down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining by Rafriel Guthrie, allowed the Tigers to take a 39-25 lead into the intermission.
That momentum carried over into the second half as the Tigers capitalized on six points each from the duo of Jerrelle Benimon and Damas to establish a 54-29 lead in a 5:54 span.
Freshman Warren Sledge came through with a game-high 14 points for The Citadel, who slipped to 3-5 overall on the season. Sledge came off the bench to hit 5-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-2 from 3-point range. He was joined in scoring by classmate Brian White who scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Ashton Moore climbed the glass for a career-high seven rebounds including six on the defensive end. He was joined by the frontline of White and Tom Koopman who snagged five rebounds each.
The Citadel capped off the game by hitting 22-of-56 from the floor and 7-of-19 from 3-point range. The defensive-minded Bulldogs were also limited to 12 trips to the free throw line, converting only eight.
The Tigers (5-2) were led offensively by the combination of Four McGlynn (19 points), Mike Burwell (17), Marcus Damas (16) and Jerrell Benimon (13). Teammate Timajh Parker-Rivera pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to anchor a Towson unit that finished with a 48-33 edge on the glass. In total, the Tigers had six players finish with five rebounds or more in the contest.
As a unit the Tigers were 31-of-72 on the game, knocking down 10-of-22 from beyond the arc. They held decisive advantages in points in the paint (42-22), fast break points (18-2) and points off turnovers (19-9).
Both teams got off to a sluggish start after enduring a 10-minute delay because of lighting issues that took place during pre-game introductions at the SECU Arena.
Marshall Harris III opened up scoring for both teams by knocking down a 3-pointer from the left elbow 1:23 into the frame. Towson answered with a 12-0 run over the next 2:31 behind five points from Benimon to move in front 12-3.
White ended The Citadel drought with layup on a pass from Harris, sparking an 11-2 run that included a long range 3-pointer from Moore and a layup by Tom Koopman, knotting the contest at 14-14.
A quick trey by Burwell allowed Towson to move back in front by three but a Koopman jumper coupled with a C.J. Bray 3-pointer gave the Dogs their first lead of the game, 19-17, with just over nine minutes remaining. The Tigers scored four of the next six points, forcing the eventual 21-21 tie.
McGlynn's fourth field of the second half, a layup following a pass by Jamel Flash, allowed Towson to extend its lead to 80-42.
Sledge was responsible for 11 of The Citadel's final 17 points down the stretch as the Bulldog defense finished strong in Towson's 84-59 victory.