Elon 68, Columbia 65 (OT)
ELON, N.C. – Kevin Blake gave the Elon University men’s basketball team the spark it needed on Sunday, Dec. 1, against Columbia, scoring a career-high 12 points in a 68-65 victory over the Lions inside Alumni Gym.
After sitting on the bench for the game’s first 25 minutes, Blake gave Elon (4-4) momentum against a pesky Columbia (4-4) squad that would not go quietly. The junior from Toronto, Ontario, scored 10 points in the final 13 minutes of regulation to keep the Phoenix alive, as the Lions managed to tie the game on a one-handed desperation three by Alex Rosenberg with 0.4 seconds left on the clock to send it to overtime.
In overtime, Blake hit two key free throws with 2:02 remaining to put Elon by two, 63-61, and the Phoenix never trailed from that point forward. Blake connected on 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from the free throw line in 15 minutes of action.
Austin Hamilton scored a team-high 17 points in the win, while Lucas Troutman had an efficient day with 16 points, seven boards and five blocks.
“We’re very pleased to come out with the victory,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “Every game against Columbia has been a nail-biter over the last four years and this year was no different. Kevin Blake was sensational for us today. He was a huge lift off the bench, whether it was attacking the rim or getting offensive rebounds, and he defended well, too.”
The Phoenix began the game on a 15-0 run, holding Columbia without a field goal make until the 10:49 mark when Maodo Lo drove the basket for a layup to make it a 15-2 game.
The Lions narrowed Elon’s lead to five at intermission, as the maroon and gold carried a 29-25 lead into the locker room. The Phoenix defense stifled Columbia in the first half, holding the opposition to 36 percent shooting on 9-of-25 field goal attempts. Columbia ended the game shooting 42 percent from the field.
Blake pushed Elon out to a seven-point advantage with less than four minutes to play after slashing through the lane for a put-back following a Troutman missed jumper to give the Phoenix a 55-48 edge.
But the Lions roared back late in the second period and capitalized on missed free throws by Elon and Rosenberg’s desperation heave to send the game to overtime.
Columbia’s Lo connected from long distance with 14.1 seconds remaining to pull the Lions within one, 65-64, in overtime, but Tanner Samson hit both free throws to put his team ahead, 67-64.
Luke Petrasek missed a three-pointer from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, giving Elon the overtime win.
All four meetings between Elon and Columbia have been decided by five points or less.
Samford 76, Kentucky State 73
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- In its toughest home test of the young 2013-14 season, the Samford University basketball team tallied a hard-fought 76-73 victory against the Kentucky State Thorobreds in a non-conference matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center.
“Kentucky State is a very good basketball team and they gave us a tough game today,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “Regardless of what division they are in, that’s a really good basketball team. Head Coach Antwain Banks does a very good job of preparing his team and they came in with a quality game plan today.”
In Sunday’s win, Samford (3-6) rallied back from a 10-point second-half deficit and finished the contest with four players scoring in double figures.
The Bulldogs’ trio of Tim Williams, Isaiah Williams and Raijon Kelly all scored 15 points apiece, while true freshman Jordan Capps nearly registered his first career double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in only 23 minutes of action.
Tim Williams turned in a 6-of-11 shooting performance from the field, while Isaiah Williams did most of his damage from the free-throw line (7-of-8). He also grabbed five rebounds and played a team-high 33 minutes.
Kelly, Samford’s 6-foot-4 junior from St. Paul, Minn., came off the bench to drop in his 15 points. He also finished with two rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot. In just 20 minutes of action, Kelly went 5-of-9 from the field, knocked down a key 3-point basket and turned in a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the charity stripe.
“Raijon is a veteran player and he did a good job of using that experience to step up and I thought he turned in an outstanding defensive performance,” Seltzer said. “He had two steals and a block today and I thought he did a much better job of being aggressive. In fact, I think that also allowed him to play better on the offensive end as well.”
The score was deadlocked, 35-35, at the intermission, but Kentucky State (1-2), opened the second half with a quick 8-0 run to lead 43-35 with 17:33 remaining in the game.
During the Thorobreds’ streak, Quentin Henderson scored four points, while Ulysses Thomas III drained a deep 3-point basket. Thomas III finished Sunday’s game with 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting and connected on a pair of free throws to give Kentucky State a 49-39 lead with 15:27 left to play.
Samford then used a critical post-up jumper from Michael Bradley, a three-point play from Tim Williams and six straight points from Isaiah Williams to garner a one-point advantage at 52-51.
Throughout their pivotal 11-0 run, the Bulldogs forced the Thorobreds to miss four-consecutive shot attempts.
Midway through the second half, Samford led by as many as seven points, 63-56, but Kentucky State battled back to within a single point, 67-66, with 2:31 remaining in regulation.
From that point on, the Bulldogs’ Kelly knocked down back-to-back jumpers and Connor Miller swished through a momentous 3-point basket to give Samford a 74-68 advantage with just 16 seconds remaining.
Kentucky State’s Darquell Pulliam connected on an NBA-range 3-pointer with nine seconds on the clock to trim Samford’s advantage to 74-71, but Isaiah Williams calmly drained a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.
As a team, Kentucky State shot a sizzling 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs finished just 2-of-9 for 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. Samford outscored the Thorobreds, 42-33, in the paint and committed two fewer turnovers, 13-11.