Chattanooga 61, Robert Morris 46
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -The Chattanooga Mocs got the Battle 4 Atlantis mainland meetings off to a great start with a 61-46 win over two-time defending Northeast Conference Robert Morris. The Mocs defense stymied the Colonials, while the offense benefitted from a trio of double-digit scorers.
Casey Jones, Greg Pryor and Justin Tuoyo each tallied 13 points for the home team with Jones posting a double-double with a game-high 10 points. It was the second double-double of the season for a Moc (Tuoyo) as the squad moves to 2-3.
Lucky Jones led RMU with 11 points, while Rodney Pryor added nine. Chattanooga limited the Colonials to 27.8 percent shooting for the game making 15 of 54 shot attempts.
It was an eight-point game early in the second half when the Mocs took firm control. Greg Pryor started a 10-0 run with a three-pointer from top left. Duke Ethridge capped it with two free throws at 12:53 for a 45-27 advantage.
After two free throws from Marcquise Reed, Chattanooga got back-to-back baskets from Tuoyo and Pryor. The latter’s was a trey with 10:10 to go as the lead swelled to 21, 50-29.
RMU answered with a 10-0 run of its own. Stephen Bennett snapped a 6:35 cold snap for the Colonials with a jumper at 9:40. He followed with a layup less than a minute later to spark the spurt. Rodney Pryor’s three-ball at 4:23 cut the margin to 11, 51-40.
That’s when Jones took over. He scored eight of the Mocs’ final 10 points while grabbing three rebounds and adding a block during the final 4:23.
The Mocs got off to a fast start with a 7-0 run right out of the gate with five coming from Tuoyo in the post. The Colonials battled back to take the lead on two Bennett free throws, 17-16, at 9:03.
Jones hit a jumper at 8:46 which gave the Scenic City lads a 19-17 advantage. Elijah Minnie’s three-pointer at 6:22 swung the pendulum back in the Colonials favor, 20-19. The Mocs scored 11 unanswered points to go up 10, 30-20 on a Tre’ McLean three-pointer with 3:14 left in the half. Reed scored five straight for the visitors before Eric Robertson sent the home team into intermission with a 32-25 advantage.
Ronrico White had a season-high seven assists in his first start since March 8, 2013 against UNCG at the Southern Conference Championship. Tuoyo added six rebounds and three blocks to his stat line as the Mocs won the battle of the boards by a single rebound, 37-36. The team shot a season-best 77.4 percent from the free throw line making 24 of 31.
Western Carolina 66, Chicago State 61
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Playing their third game in three days at the CBE Hall of Fame Classic Regional Round, the Catamounts of the Western Carolina men’s basketball team built up a 23 point lead five minutes into the second half against Chicago State. The Cougars fought their way back into the contest but the Catamounts would not fold as WCU hung on to win 66-61.
Four of WCU’s five starters reached double-figures including juniors Torrion Brummitt, Mike Brown, Justin Browning and Rhett Harrelson. Brummitt led all scorers with 14 points while also tying for the team lead with five rebounds. Brown added 13 points and five boards while Browning had 12 points and five rebounds. Harrelson chipped in 11 points and six assists.
Browning, Harrelson and senior James Sinclair tied for the team lead in steals with three each while Browning added three blocks.
The Cougars controlled the boards, 40-30, while picking up 19 offensive rebounds compared to WCU’s six.
The Catamounts improved their record to 3-3 on the year while the Cougars fell to 2-4 overall.
Western Carolina shot 51.2 percent from the field including 60.0 percent in the second half. The Cougars connected on just 36.1 percent of their attempts while hitting 25.0 percent from beyond the arc.
The Catamounts dominated the opening half, out-scoring the Cougars 34-22 but the second half would be another story. The first five minutes went in Western Carolina’s favor as the Catamounts built up a 48-25 lead with 14:52 to play.
From 14:52 to 8:56 the Cougars went on a 18-4 to cut the Catamounts lead to nine. The Cougars would keep it close the rest of the way but they would never cut the game to a single possession as the Catamounts hit key shots down the stretch. The closest they would get would be the final possession when a 3-pointer cut WCU’s lead to 66-61.
The Cougars were led by Trayvon Palmer who had 13 points and five rebounds. Clarke Rosenberg added 10 points and six rebounds.
Kennesaw State 84, Samford 71
KENNESAW, Ga. -- The Samford University basketball team was outshot 60 percent to 33.3 percent Wednesday on the road against the Kennesaw State Owls as the Bulldogs only led for a total of six seconds in an 84-71 non-conference loss held at the KSU Convocation Center.
Samford (2-4), which played its fifth road game out of six total contests this season Wednesday, got off to a slow start against Kennesaw State (2-4). The Owls knocked down their first three 3-point baskets of the game and jumped out to a quick 9-1 lead.
Despite falling behind early, Samford battled back throughout the first half and eventually took the lead, 26-25, following a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Brandon Roberts. Roberts finished the game with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field in 17 minutes of playing time.
Just six seconds after the Bulldogs garnered their lone advantage of the day, Kennesaw State’s Nick Masterson answered with a 3-point basket regain the lead at 28-26 with 4:18 remaining in the opening half.
The Owls took a 35-30 advantage into the locker room and turned in a 51.9 percent shooting performance from the field.
Kennesaw State shot the ball even better in the second half and opened the final period with a 15-2 run. The Owls recorded a brilliant 69.6 shooting percentage in the second half and extended their lead to 54-34 with 11:13 remaining in the game.
Down the stretch, Samford cut Kennesaw State’s lead to 67-56 at the 4:30 mark, but then the Owls were able to hold off the Bulldogs’ late charge and earn an 84-71 victory in their home opener.
Both teams finished with four players scoring in double figures Wednesday.
Kennesaw State’s Pruitt led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, while Delbert Love and Yonel Brown both added 13, and Orlando Coleman finished with a double-double at 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Samford was paced offensively by freshman point guard Christen Cunningham’s 16 points in 28 minutes of playing time. He also added three assists and three rebounds, but shot 5-of-15 from the floor.
Senior forward Tyler Hood added 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and pulled down a trio of rebounds. Sophomore guards Nnamdi Enechionyia and Roberts both finished with 13 points Wednesday. Enechionyia led Samford with four 3-point baskets, while Roberts scored all 13 of his points in 17 minutes.
In the first all-time matchup between the teams, Samford outnumbered Kennesaw State in second-chance points, 15-4, but the Owls outscored the Bulldogs, 42-27, in points in the paint.
Additionally, Samford bettered Kennesaw State in points off turnovers, 20-11, but ended up trailing the Owls in fast-break points, 16-7.
Duke 93, Furman 54
DURHAM, N.C. -- Freshman Jahlil Okafor scored 24 points and Amile Jefferson added 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead fourth-ranked Duke to a 93-54 victory over Furman in front of a crowd of 9,314 on Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils shot 57.6 percent from the floor and outscored the Paladins in the paint, 54-18, to improve to 6-0 on the season. Furman, led by 13 points from Kendrec Ferrara and 12 points from Stephen Croone, dropped to 1-3.
Jefferson hit all six of his first half shots to score 12 points in the opening 20 minutes as Duke opened a 50-22 advantage at the break. Okafor keyed a 24-8 Blue Devil run early in the second half with eight points to propel Duke to a 74-32 lead with 11:25 to play when Rasheed Sulaimon buried a three-pointer.
Ferrara, 5-for-11 from the field, tallied 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second half, including a pair of three-pointers. Croone connected on 4-of-4 free throws to reach 12 points while Kris Acox grabbed a team-best five rebounds.
Despite being out-rebounded 40-27, Furman pulled down 10 offensive boards and got 24 points from its bench.
Duke held Furman to 33.9 percent shooting and capitalized on 14 Paladin turnovers by netting 26 points off of turnovers. Matt Jones scored 13 points and Quinn Cook added 11 to join Okafor and Jefferson in double figures.
West Virginia 103, VMI 72
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers forced 36 turnovers en route to a 103-72 win over the VMI Keydets in men's basketball action Wednesday night at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W. Va.
The Keydets (2-3) stayed close early and were still within single digits with 2:17 left in the first half, 40-33. West Virginia (6-0) blew the game open with a 13-2 run to close the period, helped by four turnovers during that time, and VMI got no closer than 20 the rest of the way.
In the setback, the Keydets saw QJ Peterson (13) and Craig Hinton (10) finish in double figures. WVU saw five players score 10 points or more, led by Jevon Carter's 28-point night that saw him shoot 12 of 14 from the floor.
The Keydets shot the ball fairly well in the loss, going 26 of 58 from the floor and 11 of 31 from long range. VMI made nine of its 10 free throws for a 90 percent success rate.
In addition to Carter, Juwan Staton added 17 points and Jonathan Holton (13), Daxter Miles Jr. (12) and Tarik Phillip (12) finished in double figures for the Mountaineers, who shot 42 of 81 from the field and scored 62 points in the paint. WVU made 8 of 18 from three-point range, and went just 11 of 22 from the foul line.
Wednesday's contest was VMI's first 30-turnover game since committing 30 miscues against High Point on Jan. 12, 2006. The 36 turnovers were five shy of the most on record for a Keydet hoops team, 41 committed in a 1984 game against Marshall.