Chattanooga 110, Hiwassee 53

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - One of the core values of the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team is “unselfishness”. You could tell Friday night in McKenzie Arena just how important that is to this year’s squad in a 110-53 season opening win over Hiwassee.

Six Mocs scored in double figures led by Greg Pryor and Duke Ethridge with 13 apiece. Casey Jones added 12 points. The Tigers, who fell to 0-7, was paced by Joel Bailey with 14.

“We had six guys in double figures and three more with I think nine, so that’s what we want,” coach Will Wade shared after the game. “We don’t want to be so reliant on one person. We were very reliant on one person last season, and we don’t want to be like that this year. It was nice to see the balance with the guys that way you never know who’s going to be able to step up or who’s going to be able to make plays each night.

“You want to see that balance, and we had that tonight.”

Chattanooga scored the game’s first nine points and never looked back. Justin Tuoyo got it started with a three-point play on a strong move to the basket. Pryor made a steal on the in-bounds play and buried a three-pointer to get the Mocs moving.

Leading 29-15 with just under 10 minutes to go in the half, Chattanooga went on a 17-2 run to see its lead swell to 29, 46-17, on Eric Robertson’s jumper at 5:41. It out-scored the Tigers 26-4 to go into intermission with a 62-21 advantage courtesy of a thunderous Ethridge alley-oop slam on a feed from Robertson.

The lead reached 49, 74-25, on Ronrico White’s three-pointer at 15:49. Hiwassee trimmed it to 38, 83-45, after Joel Bailey’s three at 10:58. But it was all Mocs from there. Tre’ McLean’s jumper at 9:24 made it 40 for good. Alex Bran drilled a three-pointer at 2:40 to push the lead past 50. Robertson ended the scoring with a three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining.

Tuoyo dominated the boards earning his first double-double with 11 points and 13 boards. The Mocs doubled up their visitors on the glass 54 to 27. Robertson and Shaq Preston each posted 11 points as nine Mocs had nine or more points this evening.

UNCG 76, Chowan 62

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s basketball team opened the 2014-15 regular season Friday night as the Spartans posted a 76-62 victory over Chowan in a game played at Fleming Gymnasium on campus. The Spartans held a 44-25 lead at halftime before the second half was slowed by a total of 60 fouls and 68 free throws attempted in the game.

“I am glad we came out with a win,” head coach Wes Miller said. “With such a young team we need to learn how to close out games, which we were able to do tonight. We are really injured right now and our last injury to Diante Baldwin has really hurt us in terms of ball-handling. We need some guys to step up to the challenge and I think we have players ready for that challenge.”

Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler and redshirt sophomore center R.J. White combined for 41 points. Saddler led the way with 21 points, three assists and five steals on the night as he was 5-of-13 from the field but hit 10-of-12 from the free throw line in 34 minutes of play. White came just shy of a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes of action. He connected on 7-of-10 from the field and hit 5-of-8 from the free throw line.

The Spartans finished the night shooting 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from long range in the victory. UNCG was strong at the free throw line, hitting 77.8 percent (28-of-36) while only committing nine turnovers. Chowan connected on 44.2 percent (19-of-43) from the field but only hit 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the charity stripe. Michael Adams led the Hawks with 16 points while Josh Mellette added 12 points as Chowan had four players disqualified due to fouls.

Both teams came out slowly in the first game of the season with the Spartans holding a 17-14 lead over 11 minutes into the game. The Spartans posted a 9-0 spurt to take the lead to double figures as senior Jamal Mitchell hit a three-pointer and four different Spartans scored during the spurt.

The Spartans opened the game up with an 18-3 run to take a 44-21 lead with 1:16 left in the first half. White scored six points during the run with an old-fashioned three-point play and a traditional 3-pointer while Saddler added five points, all from the line, to take the lead to 23 points.

The second half saw the game slow to a crawl as there were 35 total fouls called in the final 20 minutes and 43 free throws attempted. The Spartans were able to keep the Hawks at an arms distance throughout the second half, finding an answer each time Chowan made a push. White battled through foul trouble in the second half to score 10 points while Saddler added nine points in the second half.

Senior Nicholas Paulos added eight points and five rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Clay Byrd made his first career start and added seven points and three assists in 28 minutes of action.


VMI 66, The Citadel 65

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Led by a game-high 25 points from sophomore guard QJ Peterson, archrival VMI snatched a 66-65 victory over The Citadel on Friday night in the opening round of the All-Military Classic.

Trailing 65-63 with 34 seconds remaining, VMI was awarded possession following an official review on a turnover by Quinton Marshall. The Keydets took advantage of the call when Peterson found Trey Chapman for a 3-pointer that gave VMI the one-point lead.

The Citadel had an opportunity to win the game, but Ashton Moore missed a jumper as time expired. The victory allowed VMI to collect consecutive wins over The Citadel for the first time since it rattle off four-straight from 2000-02 as a member of the Southern Conference.

Moore was a vital part of The Citadel's offense as he poured in a team-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor. He was joined in double figures by P.J. Horgan (14), Marshall (12) and Brian White (10).

The Bulldogs were led in rebounding by Horgan, who pulled down six boards, and in assists by Warren Sledge who tied Peterson for game-high honors with five.

The Citadel managed to knock down 23-of-42 (54.8%) from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers, and was successful on 17-of-22 (77.3%) attempts at the charity stripe.

The biggest chunk of VMI's offensive attack came through Peterson, who knocked down 10-of-23 from the field and 3-of-11 from beyond the arc. Senior Brian Brown also topped the double-digit mark for the Keydets, registering 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Brown led the way for VMI with four treys.

Trailing 51-44 just beyond the midpoint of the second half the Bulldogs turned to Moore who singlehandedly scored the team's next 13 points as they assumed a slim 57-56 advantage with 6:11 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Jordan Weethee gave VMI forged VMI back in front, 60-57, but the lead quickly evaporated when C.J. Bray converted a trey to deadlock the game at 60-all with just under four minutes left.

The Citadel stretched its lead to three following a series of free throws by Horgan and Moore, before VMI countered with a 3-pointer off the hand of Brown to force the seventh and final tie.

The Citadel took a six-point lead into the half after hitting 16-of-25 (64%) from the floor. It marked the first time since a meeting with Samford on Jan. 7, 2012, that the Bulldogs enjoyed such a successively shooting performance in an opening frame.

Clinging to a one-point lead at the 10:18 mark of the first half, The Citadel used a 14-4 run highlighted by six points from White to assume a 34-23 advantage.

During that stretch the Bulldogs held Peterson, who finished the opening frame with 18 points, to just one bucket, and added four points each by Marshall and Horgan to take its biggest lead of the game.

 

Mercer 88, Piedmont 48

MACON, Ga. – A sell-out crowd was on hand at Hawkins Arena on Friday evening as the Mercer men's basketball team unveiled its 2014 championship banners and rolled to a season opening 88-48 victory over Piedmont.

Mercer won its seventh-straight home opener under head coach Bob Hoffman and moved to 1-0 for the seventh time in the last eight years.  NCAA Division III member Piedmont classified the game an exhibition.

Junior Ike Nwamu led all scorers with 22 points, including 16 in the first half.  Junior Phillip Leonard scored 10 and handed out a career-high seven assists in his debut as starting point guard, while freshman Jordan Strawberry chipped in 11 points off the bench.

Throughout the night Mercer got easy looks inside, outscoring Piedmont 44-14 in the paint.  Senior Darious Moten, senior T.J. Hallice, and freshman Niklas Ney combined for 23 of the paint points.

After a festive pregame ceremony revealed three championship banners, Mercer supporters roared with approval as Hallice hit the first bucket of the year, stepping into a straightaway three at the 17:44 mark.  Mercer grabbed its first lead just moments later, when Nwamu sliced the defense for an and-one layup and a 6-4 Bears advantage.

A feisty Piedmont team wouldn't go away, trading scores over the next few minutes before taking a 9-8 lead into the first media timeout.

Mercer finally took control as a Hallice tip-in at the 11:22 mark sparked a 15-0 run elapsing over six minutes of game time.  The Bears forced five turnovers during the span and led 27-12 with less than five minutes before intermission.

After the Bears took a 42-21 lead into halftime, Piedmont nailed five of its first six 3-pointers to get within 17 at the 14:29 juncture.  Hallice and Leonard scored the game's next four points, and the Bears cruised the rest of the way en route to the fifth 40-plus point victory in the last three seasons.

Nwamu was an efficient 7-of-12 from the floor while adding three rebounds and a block in 25 minutes of work.  Hallice led the way on the glass, grabbing a game-high eight rebounds to go along with seven points.

Strawberry scored his 11 points in just 16 minutes of action for the bulk of Mercer's 33 bench points.  All told, 12 of Mercer's 15 active players scored on Friday night.

Mercer continues non-conference play on Sunday, traveling to Seton Hall for a 12 p.m. tip.

 
Mississippi State 66, Western Carolina 56

STARKVILLE, Miss. -  The Western Carolina men's basketball team opened up the 2014-15 season at Southeastern Conference member Mississippi State Friday evening. The Catamounts trailed by just one at the half but 29 second half free throw attempts by the Bulldogs helped MSU pull away late and claim a 66-56 victory.

Four of WCU's five starters had five combined starts between them coming into the game. Freshman Tucker Thompson and junior Torrion Brummitt made their first collegiate starts while junior Rhett Harrelson made his second and junior Mike Brown achieved his fifth career start.

Proven veteran James Sinclair led the way for the Catamounts as he connected on 7-of-14 shots, including going 3-for-6 from 3-point range, to score a game-high 20 points. He added three rebounds, two steals and an assist. Harrelson turned in a career-best 14 points while draining three shots from beyond the arc. He also had three assists and a pair of steals. Western Carolina's only other double-digit scorer was Brown who turned in 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Catamounts (0-1) came out strong in the opening period, connecting on their first three 3-point attempts. After five minutes of action, WCU led 16-10. The Catamounts would hold onto the lead until the 9:55 mark of the first half when a 3-pointer by the Bulldogs (1-0) tied the game at 18. MSU would hit another three to go up 21-18 but Brummitt quickly answered with a jumper in the paint to cut the lead to one. The score would remain in the Bulldogs favor over the next eight minutes but a 3-pointer by Sinclair with 1:28 left in the half gave WCU a 28-27 lead. After a pair of Bulldog free throws, Brown hit a jumper to put the Catamounts back on top but a tip-in at the buzzer by MSU gave the Bulldogs a 31-30 halftime lead. 

WCU was 11-27 from the field in the opening period including 5-10 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs connected on 11-21 from the field and were 3-5 from beyond the arc.

The second half saw the Bulldogs go to the free throw line 29 times while they connected 22 times. The Catamounts were only able to get four free throws in the period and made only two.

MSU opened the second half with a 14-5 run to open up a 10-point advantage. A 3-pointer by Sinclair ended the run but the Catamounts were unable to cut the Bulldogs lead to a single possession the rest of the game. Mississippi State led by as many as 12 points in the second half but closed the game with a 66-56 advantage.

The Bulldogs controlled the glass, outrebounding WCU 39-27 but it was the Catamounts who won the turnover battled 16-11.

Mississippi State was led by Gavin Ware who scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.

In addition to Thompson, freshmen Devin Peterson, Ashley Williams and Charlendez Brooks made their collegiate debuts. All four were unable to find their first basket but Thompson was able to collect his first career rebound and Brooks picked up his first career assist.

 

Purdue 80, Samford 40

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Samford University basketball team opened its 2014-15 season on the road against the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday and dropped an 80-40 decision in the first game of The Padgett Era held at Mackey Arena.

Friday’s contest marked the inaugural game for Samford head coach Scott Padgett. Padgett took the reins to the Bulldogs’ basketball program on June 8.

“I was really pleased with our effort, but our execution wasn’t great tonight,” said Padgett. “We didn’t do a really good job of getting into the paint and then making the extra pass. I also thought our guys weren’t really used to playing against Purdue’s height and that really affected the way they drove and shot the ball around the rim.”

Samford (0-1) was limited to 22.7-percent shooting from the field Friday and a 3-of-20 performance from 3-point range. The Bulldogs forced Purdue (1-0) into 16 turnovers and were led in scoring by true freshman Christen Cunningham.

“We turned over a Big Ten team 16 times and we only turned it over 12 times, but I’m pretty upset with our assist number and I’m sure that’s due to all of our missed shots,” Padgett said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well at all and we had some other issues, but they are all things that we can correct and do better. I think we got caught up in the moment a little bit and the nerves were there for the guys in playing in front of 10,000 people.”

Cunningham, Samford’s feisty 6-foot-2 point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, tallied 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor and pulled down five rebounds. He also finished a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe and only committed two turnovers in his first collegiate game.

“Christen is a big-time player and he’s going to have a great career for us,” Padgett said. “Quite honestly, he played well tonight, but he will actually do much better down the road. He’ll tell you the same thing. This was a bad night for him, and it’s not that he’s played bad, but just that he’s already played much better than that for us. When you play at this level, you can’t have just good or fine effort, it has to be extraordinary.”

Early in Friday’s matchup, Samford’s Tyler Hood drained a deep 3-point basket from the left wing to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead, but then Purdue responded at the 11-minute mark with a 24-3 run to put the game out of reach.

“During that stretch, I thought we took good shots, we just missed four point-blank layups and three wide-open threes, and sometimes it’s just not your night,” said Padgett. “We know you’re not going to make every shot, but maybe I built up the game a little too much for them; because I know we’re a much better team than what we showed out there tonight.”

The Boilermakers opened the stretch midway through the first half with a 19-0 run before eventually taking a 40-14 lead with 1:34 left to play in the period.

Purdue’s Kendall Stephens paced all scorers with nine points in the first half as the Boilermakers boasted a 43-16 advantage at the intermission. Stephens, who scored all nine of his points from beyond the arc in the opening stanza, was followed in scoring by teammates Vince Edwards (7), Dakota Mathias (6), Bryson Scott (5) and Isaac Haas (5).

In the second half, Samford scored 24 of its 40 points and turned in a slightly better 25-percent shooting performance from the floor. At one point, the Bulldogs trimmed Purdue’s lead to 29, but then the Boilermakers used a quick 8-0 run to extend their advantage to 37.

Purdue will continue its early-season, non-conference schedule Sunday at home against IUPUI.

The Boilermakers finished its 2014-15 opener with four players scoring in doubles figures. Raphael Davis and Edwards led the way with 13 points apiece, while Haas came off the bench to score 11 and Stephens finished with 10.

Cunningham proved to be Samford’s lone double-digit performer Friday. He scored 10 points as Hood dropped in seven and Jamal Shabazz registered seven as well for the Bulldogs.

Senior Michael Bradley finished with six points against Purdue, while Nnamdi Enechionyia chipped in with five, Alex Peters scored three and Evan Taylor rounded out the scoring with two. Taylor, the Bulldogs’ lithe 6-foot-4 freshman guard from Cincinnati, Ohio, also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

All 12 of Samford’s players that received playing time Friday logged at least 10 minutes of action.

Purdue only topped Samford in second-chance points by one, 12-11, but recorded a 32-10 advantage in points in the paint. Additionally, the Boilermakers’ bench outscored the Bulldogs’ reserves, 35-17.

 

College of Charleston 75, Furman 40

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- College of Charleston shot 52.5 percent from the field, including 11-for-21 from three-point range, and led wire-to-wire en route to a 75-40 victory over Furman in the men’s basketball season opener for both schools on Friday night at Timmons Arena.

Senior Anthony Stitt connected on 7-of-11 field goal attempts to pace the Cougars with 19 points, while forward Adjehi Baru added 16 points and eight rebounds.  Donovan Gilmore came off of the bench to round out Charleston’s trio of double figure scorers with 12 points.

The Cougars led 24-19 with under two minutes left in the first half when Baru netted back-to-back baskets to key an 8-2 CofC run that upped the margin to 32-21 at the break.  Charleston shot 60.7% from the floor after intermission and held Furman to 6-of-23 shooting in the final 20 minutes to outscore the Paladins 43-19 in the second half.

Junior Kendrec Ferrara and freshman Daniel Fowler led Furman with eight points apiece, while sophomore Kris Acox and junior Kevin Chuisseu each grabbed eight rebounds.

The Paladins shot just 24.4% (10-41) from the field and converted on 18-of-35 trips to the charity stripe in the loss.  Furman managed a 12-8 edge in second chance points, but Charleston took advantage of 16 Paladin turnovers to post a 20-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Furman played without senior guard Aaron O’Neill and leading returning scorer Stephen Croone, who were sidelined due to concussions. 

Valparaiso 90, ETSU 76

VALPARAISO, Ind. – The ETSU men’s basketball team made it interesting, but timely long-range shots by Valparaiso in the closing minutes were the difference as the Crusaders took a 90-76 non-conference win over the Buccaneers in the regular season opener for both schools Friday night inside the Athletics-Recreation Center.

After cutting a 13-point Crusaders’ lead to just two at 66-64 with 6:45 remaining in the game, the Bucs looked on as Valpo hit a pair of long-range 3-pointers to cushion their advantage and hold on for the victory. While ETSU played well offensively, the Bucs’ defense allowed the Crusaders to shoot 50 percent from the floor, 56 percent from 3-point range and gave up 90 points on the night.

“I am proud of our team and thought we competed, but in that final stretch at the end it just got away from us,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, whose team was outscored 24-12 over the final six minutes of play.

The Bucs were led by a game-high 27 points from senior guard Jalen Riley (Racine, Wis.), who was playing in front of several friends and family that made the trip to Valparaiso from Wisconsin. Along with Riley’s effort, ETSU got double-figure scoring nights from sophomore guard A.J. Merriweather (Jackson) and junior forward Lester Wilson (Knoxville), who finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, fellow senior guard and preseason All Southern Conference selection Rashawn Rembert (Tampa, Fla.) struggled in the opener, netting just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting from the floor and a 0-of-6 clip from 3-point range.

 For Valpo, forward Alec Peters matched Riley with a game-high 27 points, while guard Darian Walker also netted 20 points and fellow guard Tevonn Walker pitched in 16. Forward David Skara also came off the bench to net 11.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle most of the way, with neither team holding an advantage of more than three points over the first 17 minutes of game play. The lead changed 15 times during that stretch, but unfortunately for the Bucs the final three minutes of the first half did not go well.

Leading 35-34 with 2:39 left before the intermission, the Crusaders got a 3-pointer from Darian Walker with 2:24 on the clock, sparking an 7-0 run to end the half and give Valpo a 42-34 lead at the break. Walker finished the first half with four makes from beyond the arc and 14 total points, while Peters had a game-high 15 points before the intermission.

Before the break, both teams played well offensively, with ETSU shooting 45 percent from the floor and Valpo hitting on 44 percent of its attempts. On the boards, the undersized Bucs held their own and were outrebounded by just a 21-18 clip.

After the break, the Bucs fell behind by as many as 13 points at 62-49, but Bartow changed up the ETSU defense and began to utilize the team’s full-court press, helping to manufacture a 15-4 offensive run that made it 66-64. However, at that point Peters hit a pair of 3-pointers to ignite the Crusaders offense once again and edge back out to a 78-69 lead. ETSU never threatened again.

For the game, the Bucs committed just seven turnovers, but were outrebounded 42-32. In addition, Valpo held a significant edge at the foul line, going 28-of-43 at the charity stripe compared to the Bucs’ 14-of-23 shots at the line.

 

Stanford 74, Wofford 59

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Wofford men’s basketball team opened up the 2014-15 season with a 74-59 loss at Stanford Friday night as part of the Northwestern Mutual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Maples Pavilion.

Wofford (0-1) held its own through the first 16 minutes of the game. The Terriers opened 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and led 17-13 as sophomore Jaylen Allen connected on his first two 3-point attempts of the season.

Stanford (1-0) closed the gap. The Terriers led 24-23 with 4:17 before halftime when the Cardinal used a 13-3 run to go into the locker rooms up 36-27. Stanford shot 4-of-8 during the run and forced the Terriers into four turnovers after they had only committed three through the first 16 minutes.

Stanford’s Stefan Nastic finished with a career-high 26 points. The 6-foot-11 center shot 11-of-14 and grabbed five boards to help the Cardinal outrebound Wofford 32-25. The big man was simply too overmatching inside and showed his mid-range game as well. After scoring the majority of his points in the paint, he pulled up for a couple 12-foot jumpers to score six straight Stanford points before exiting the game with four minutes to play.

Wofford allowed just one 25-point scorer all of last season – Davidson’s De’Mon Brooks scored 28 last January 4.

“They’re much better than we thought they were,” said 13th-year head coach Mike Young. “Nastic is a skilled player who concerned us heading in and we wanted to see if he could beat us. He did and sometimes you have to just tip your cap.

“We can still take a lot of positives from this game. These guys stayed in there and continued to fight through the second half. We never stopped competing.”

Allen led the Terriers with 12 points off the bench. The Johnson City, Tenn. native completed his sophomore opener 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-5 from long range, coming up one point shy of his career-high. He was joined in double figures with 11 apiece from senior Karl Cochran and junior Spencer Collins.

Wofford shot 44.7 percent to Stanford’s 52.8 percent. On top of Nastic’s 26 were Anthony Brown with 16, Travis Reid with 12 and Chasson Randle with 12. The Cardinal starters combined for all but five of the team’s 74 points.

Nastic’s size helped lead to a 34-24 Cardinal advantage in the paint. The Terriers also committed 16 turnovers, which they did just three times all of last season.

Sophomore Eric Garcia took Wofford’s first shot of the 2014-15 season, draining a 3-pointer to give the Terriers a lead two minutes in. Nastic then scored four of five Cardinal points to open up a two-possession lead, but Wofford responded with four straight to tie it up 7-7 with a steal and fast break by Collins.

Allen’s two 3-pointers fired up the bench and accounted for a 6-0 run that forced seventh-year Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins to burn a timeout. Wofford held the lead for nearly five minutes until a pair of Nastic free throws put the Cardinal back on top with 6:37 to go in the half.

Less than two minutes later, Wofford grabbed it right back. Allen was good for two and Collins scored off a Marcus Allen turnover to put the Terriers ahead 24-23.

Stanford’s 13-3 ensued. Brown got it started with Stanford’s first 3-pointer of the season and Wofford was held scoreless for nearly three minutes, taking just three shots the rest of the half. A Collins trey was the only break in the run, giving the home side a nine-point cushion at the break.

Nastic had 14 to lead all scorers at halftime and helped Stanford to an 18-11 rebounding edge. Allen led Wofford with eight on 3-of-4 shooting.

Nastic, Travis and Brown scored Stanford’s first eight points of the second half and pushed the lead to 15 less than four minutes in. Garcia stopped the bleeding with his second three of the game, but a costly 8-0 Stanford run followed, energizing the Maples Pavilion crowd as the Cardinal led by 20 for the first time, ahead 54-34.

The Terriers clawed back and got Stanford in foul trouble. Wofford was in the bonus with 12 minutes to play and scored six straight, capped by a Lee Skinner basket, to cut the deficit to 54-40.

It got as close as a dozen. Cochran knocked down a pair at the line with 6:37 remaining and Stanford led 63-51.

Nastic put it out of reach. He scored six straight to extend the Cardinal lead back to 18 and before being granted an early exit.