UNCG 55, Virginia Tech 52
BLACKSBURG, Va. – For just the second time in program history, the UNCG men’s basketball team has notched a victory over the Atlantic Coast Conference as the Spartans rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to upset Virginia Tech 55-52 at the Cassell Coliseum.
The Spartans out-scored Virginia Tech 23-9 over the final 10:06 of the game to pick up their first win over the ACC since beating Georgia Tech Nov. 9, 2007, snapping a 23-game streak against the conference. UNCG will play its third straight game against an ACC foe Monday night when it hosts NC State at the Greensboro Coliseum.
“These are the type of wins that are big for program like ours that is trying to rise up with a bunch of young kids,” head coach Wes Miller said. “This win should give us a lot of belief that we can play against anyone on our schedule. I am really proud of our group for a great team win and it really means a lot for our program to beat an ACC program.”
The Spartans were able to make their comeback successful by hitting clutch free throws, finishing the game shooting 87.5 percent (14-of-16) from the free throw line. Additionally, UNCG only committed 13 turnovers and matched the Hokies on the glass with a 34-34 rebounding battle despite Virginia Tech coming in as one of the top rebounding teams in the ACC.
Junior forward Kyle Cain and sophomore forward Kayel Locke combined for 33 points in the victory, including 23 in the second half as they took control of the game for the Spartans.
Cain posted his team and Southern-Conference leading fifth double-double of the season to lead the Spartans to the victory. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes of action as he was 8-of-14 from the field and hit both free throws. Locke added 15 points in 29 minutes before fouling out of the game. He scored 13 points in the second half, including the final two field goals made by the Spartans, which gave UNCG the lead for good.
UNCG (7-7) trailed 43-32 with 10:06 remaining in the game as Virginia Tech opened the second half out-scoring the Spartans 21-10 in the first 10 minutes of the frame. The Spartans did not back down in front of 4,847 fans at the Cassell Coliseum and started to chip away at the deficit. UNCG scored the next seven points to pull within four when sophomore Jordan Potts nailed a three-pointer to force the Hokies into a timeout.
Virginia Tech responded with four straight points to run the lead to 47-39 before the Spartans scored seven straight to make it a one-point game at 47-46. Cain scored on back-to-back possessions to pull within four before Locke hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line to narrow the margin to one point.
The Hokies took a 49-46 lead as Marshall Wood scored in the paint with 2:21 left. The Spartans came down the floor and went inside to Cain who quickly scored to bring it back to one. Junior Nicholas Paulos came up with a key defensive stop on the ensuing possession, stripping Jarell Eddie of the ball to give UNCG a chance for the lead. Potts drove down the lane and gained the attention of the defense, before dropping the ball off to Locke for the easy basket and a 50-49 lead.
Once again the Spartans came up with a stop on the defensive end and again they went into Locke in the post. He went to work on the Hokie defense and powered his way to the rim for the basket and a 52-49 lead with 34 seconds remaining.
After just one of two free throws made by the Hokies, senior Drew Parker was fouled and after missing the first free throw, hit the second to keep it a three-point game at 53-50. Devin Wilson drove the length of the court for Virginia Tech and scored the basket but missed the free throw, which would have tied the game with 10 seconds left.
Redshirt freshman center R.J. White muscled his way for the rebound off the missed free throw and was quickly fouled. White calmly stepped up and hit both of his free throws to make it a 55-52 lead, despite only hitting 12-of-21 from the line in the previous 13 games this year before the biggest two makes of his young career. Virginia Tech came down on the final possession and got a deep three-point look off, but it was well wide and Parker grabbed the rebound to seal the victory sending the Spartans into a huge celebration.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the field and just 3-of-12 from long range in the victory, but did their work on the defensive end. UNCG held the Hokies to just 36 percent (18-of-50) shooting from the field and only 20 percent (3-of-15) from long range. Virginia Tech also hit just 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the free throw line and just 9-of-17 in the second half.
Paulos finished the game with six points but earned his stripes with his defensive work. He played primarily on Eddie and limited the Hokies’ top scorer to just four points on 1-of-12 shooting. Eddie entered the game averaging 18.6 points per game and averaged 23.3 points over the last three games. Freshman guard Tyrone Outlaw added six points in his third start of the year. Potts finished with five points, four assists and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench.
Wood led Virginia Tech with 14 points, but only hit 4-of-13 from the field in the loss. Joey van Zegeren added 11 points and seven rebounds while Ben Emelogu added 11 points and five rebounds.
The came out of the gate and opened on an 8-3 run to take the early lead. Outlaw made his third start of the season and scored the Spartans’ first four points of the game while Cain notched back-to-back baskets to secure the early advantage.
Virginia Tech responded with a 9-2 run to take a 14-10 lead and force UNCG into a timeout. Emelogu scored five straight points to cap the run before Miller slowed the momentum with the 30-second break. The Spartans answered right back with a 10-2 run of to retake the lead at 20-16. Paulos hit three-pointers on consecutive possession to put UNCG back in front while Cain added a floater in the lane to force the Hokies into a timeout.
The teams went into the locker room at halftime tied at 22-22 as the evenly played first 20 minutes also saw the rebounding battled tied at 17-17. The Spartans connected on 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from the field and hit 2-of-9 from long range in the first half. Cain led the team with eight points and six rebounds while both Paulos and Outlaw added six points apiece.
Virginia Tech connected on 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from the field and also hit just 2-of-9 from long range. The Hokies committed nine first half turnovers. Van Zegeren led Virginia Tech with six points and four rebounds while Devin Wilson and Emelogu each chipped in five points.
Georgia Southern 66, North Carolina A&T 63
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Southern Men’s Basketball picked up a crucial 66-63 win over North Carolina A&T on Saturday afternoon in the Triad. Jelani Hewitt scored 23 points with nine rebounds off the bench while Tre Bussey had 15 for the victorious Eagles.
“It would be easy to say that our good shooting won that game, but I felt it was our defense that won us this game,” said Head Coach Mark Byington. “We only had a few things to correct at halftime and those changes helped our flow. We played very well defensively in the second half and I think that should be a springboard for us.”
The Eagles trailed 31-28 at halftime, but a three-pointer out of the locker room leveled the score at 31-31. The Eagles took the lead with 16:04 remaining and did not trail for the rest of the contest.
Georgia Southern led by six with two minutes and the Aggies got the lead down to just one with 25 seconds left, but a pair of free throws from Hewitt gave the visitors a three point lead with 15 seconds left. A pair of desperation three-pointers by the Aggies in the final seconds were unsuccessful as the Eagles rolled out of Greensboro with the win.
The win lifts the Eagles to 7-7 on the year with one non-conference game remaining on the docket. A&T falls for the first time at home this year and is 3-10 on the season.
Hewitt was instrumental to the win, making a pair of late free throws to go a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. The redshirt junior played 24 minutes, coming off the bench for the first time this season. Bussey played 37 minutes and scored nine of his 15 points from beyond the arc.
Brian Holmes and Marvin Baynham each added eight points to the cause with Holmes posting a team-best three assists and Baynham fouling out with less than two minutes remaining.
Georgia Southern was efficient shooting the ball, going 45.5 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from downtown on the afternoon. North Carolina A&T went 21-of-72 from the field, but grabbed 28 offensive rebounds to go with 20 on the defensive glass.
Lamont Middleton led all scorers with 25 points, scoring 16 of those in the first stanza. Bruce Beckford and Jeremy Underwood each posted 11 points for the home side.
Marquette 71, Samford 48
MILWAUKEE -- The Samford University basketball team faced the BIG EAST’s Marquette Golden Eagles for the first time in school history Saturday and dropped a 71-48 decision at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in the Bulldogs’ final non-conference road game of the 2013-14 regular season.
“Marquette is a very good team, but I thought that we had a lot of opportunities to keep it close early on,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “The turnovers, missed free throws and missed wide-open shots are what hurt us today. Defensively, I thought we did some good things, especially in the first half. We didn’t get many opportunities for wide open shots, but when we did, we needed to knock them down. Because of that, we didn’t shoot the ball too well today.”
With Saturday’s loss, Samford (5-9) dropped to 1-8 when playing away from home this season. On Monday, the Bulldogs will return to the Pete Hanna Center where they will face the Presbyterian College Blue Hose at 7 p.m. (CST).
Samford led Marquette (8-5), 11-8, early in Saturday’s contest, but the Golden Eagles used a 28-12 run to close out the first half and to take a decisive 39-23 halftime lead over the Bulldogs.
Tim Williams, Samford’s dynamic 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, Ill., led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, but the Bulldogs couldn’t trim Marquette’s advantage any lower than 13 points in the second half.
Williams nearly registered his second double-double of the young 2013-14 campaign Saturday as he finished with nine rebounds to go along with 16 points. He also added an assist and a steal in a game-high 37 minutes of playing time.
Samford’s Raijon Kelly scored six of his 10 points in the second half of play to finish as the second Bulldog to reach double figures in scoring.
Marquette improved to 6-1 at home this season and extended its winning streak at the BMO Harris Bradley Center to four-consecutive games. The Golden Eagles’ lone loss at home this year was a setback against No. 9-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 16.
Jajuan Johnson came off the bench for Marquette on Saturday and led his squad in scoring with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. He also handed out three assists and added a steal in 25 minutes of game action.
The Golden Eagles outscored Samford, 50-12, in bench scoring and 24-11 in points off turnovers. Marquette also posted a 21-10 advantage in fast-break points.
The Bulldogs committed 17 turnovers, while the Golden Eagles topped out at 14.
Samford’s Jordan Capps scored seven quick points in 11 minutes of playing time Saturday, while Tyler Hood and Russell Wilson registered six and four points, respectively. Sophomore guard Chris Longoria logged a career-high 28 minutes of playing time and finished with five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Marquette’s Johnson led four Golden Eagles in double-figure scoring Saturday. Following his 14 points, both Todd Mayo and Deonte Burton came off the bench to add 13 points apiece.
Davante Gardner played 21 minutes for Marquette head coach Buzz Williams and finished with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.
Samford’s Seltzer and the Golden Eagles’ Williams were both key assistants on Tom Crean’s 2007-08 staff at Marquette.
The Golden Eagles closed out the first half with a 28-12 run and took a 39-23 advantage into the locker room. Samford held an 11-8 lead early in the game, but finished the first half just shooting 34.6 percent from the field. The Bulldogs struggled from beyond the arc in the opening period and turned in a 1-of-7 performance from 3-point range.
Williams tallied 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field in the first half alone for Samford and turned in his 11th-consecutive game of scoring in double figures.
Marquette’s Mayo came off the bench to lead the Golden Eagles in scoring in the first half with nine points.
California 90, Furman 60
BERKELEY, Calif. – Senior Jeff Powers came off of the bench to score 18 points and Richard Solomon tallied a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds to lead the California Golden Bears to a 90-60 victory over Furman before a crowd of 9,143 on Saturday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.
Powers drained 6-of-7 three-point attempts in 13 minutes of action to spur the Bears to a 60.7 percent shooting effort from the field, including 10-of-21 from beyond the arc. Justin Cobbs and Tyrone Wallace added 18 points apiece while Jordan Matthews joined Solomon with 10 points to round out Cal’s double figure scorers.
Cobbs made 6-of-9 first half shots and helped key a 15-4 run to help Cal build a 34-15 lead before carrying a 43-25 lead into the halftime break.
Furman opened the second half with back-to-back buckets to trim the margin to 14 and trailed 64-47 with 10 minutes to play before Powers contributed three triples as part of a 22-4 run to give the Bears an 86-51 lead with under four minutes remaining.
Cal (9-4) shot 63.3 percent in the second half and finished the contest with a 33-27 edge on the glass. The Golden Bears outscored Furman 40-24 in the paint and netted 23 transition points to just two for the Paladins.
Freshman William Gates Jr. paced Furman with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Larry Wideman and Stephen Croone added 11 points apiece. The Paladins shot 41.8 percent from the floor and knocked down 6-of-14 three-point attempts.