Samford 81, Presbyterian 71
CLINTON, S.C. -- The Samford University basketball team connected on a season-high 14 3-point baskets Tuesday as the Bulldogs coasted to an 81-71 road non-conference victory against the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in a pivotal late December win held at the Templeton Center.
Samford (4-8) trailed, 34-33, at the intermission and then exploded for 48 second-half points to trump homestanding Presbyterian (4-7) in only the teams’ second all-time meeting. With the win, the Bulldogs remained undefeated against the Blue Hose and improved to 2-0 in the series.
Samford drained seven 3-point field goals in each half Tuesday as the Bulldogs finished 14-of-30 from beyond the arc. Samford shot 48.3 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from long range. The Bulldogs limited Presbyterian to a 23.1-percent shooting performance from 3-point range.
Samford’s 14 3-point field goals proved to be its best shooting performance of the season and the Bulldogs’ top tally since Jan. 19, 2012, when they finished 16-of-30 from beyond the arc in an 86-80 road victory at Elon.
Senior forward Tyler Hood paced Samford with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-6 sharpshooter from Lenoir City, Tennessee, also tied his career high with six 3-point field goals. Hood finished 6-of-9 from beyond the arc Tuesday and evened his performance from at Pittsburg earlier this season on Nov. 16.
Additionally, Hood led the Bulldogs with five rebounds against Presbyterian.
Samford finished with four players scoring in double figures for the first time this year. After Hood’s season-high 22 points, guards Christen Cunningham and Brandon Roberts added 11 apiece. Junior guard Darius Jones-Gibson chipped in with 10 points, while also handing out five key assists.
Cunningham, the Bulldogs’ highly-touted true freshman from Georgetown, Kentucky, tallied a career-high eight assists Tuesday and upped his Southern Conference-best total to 58.
Defensively, Samford limited Presbyterian’s leading scorer Jordan Downing to nine points on a dismal 2-of-15 shooting performance from the field. Downing entered Tuesday’s contest averaging a team-best 17.2 points per game this season.
The Bulldogs forced the Blue Hose into 12 turnovers and only committed five miscues in the victory. So far this season, Presbyterian is winless when committing more turnovers than the opposition.
Samford outscored Presbyterian in points off turnovers, 14-2, and bench scoring, 31-11. All six Bulldogs coming off the bench scored at least two points Sunday and were led by Roberts’ quick 11 points in 22 minutes of playing time.
ETSU 63, Eastern Kentucky 60
RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior guard Rashawn Rembert scored a game-high 30 points and the ETSU men’s basketball team tied the school record for 3-pointers in a single game, but the Buccaneers still had to hold off a frenetic rally by Eastern Kentucky to capture a hard fought 63-60 win over the Colonels in non-conference play Tuesday night at McBrayer Arena.
With Rembert hitting nine 3-pointers himself and the Buccaneers tying the school record for threes in a game with 15, ETSU built an 18-point, second-half lead only to see the Colonels close on a 19-3 run to make it 62-60 with a minute left. The game was not decided until a free throw by sophomore guard Devin Harris made it a three-point game and EKU’s Corey Walden’s last-second 3-pointer fell short.
While Rembert finished with 30 points and junior forward Lester Wilson added 15, sophomore Isaac Banks was certainly a bright spot. Playing a career high 40 minutes, Banks grabbed nine rebounds, scored six points, dished out four assists and swiped one steal.
Defensive intensity and seesaw offensive runs highlighted the first half, as EKU (5-4) forced seven ETSU turnovers in the first seven minutes and built a 16-9 lead thanks to an early 11-0 run. However, the Bucs picked up their own defensive effort at that point and Rembert found his range from beyond the arc, as ETSU outscored the Colonels 24-10 the rest of the way and ultimately led 33-26 at the break.
By the end of the first half, Rembert had seven 3-pointers which accounted for his 21 points. As a team, the Bucs shot 48 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes and ended the half with just 10 turnovers following the shaky offensive start.
The Bucs also outrebounded the Colonels 17-11 before the break, thanks in big part to the play of Banks, who responded to getting his first career start by grabbing five rebounds, dishing out three assists and scoring four points by the intermission.
In the second half, Wilson took over where Rembert left off in the first half, opening the Bucs’ scoring with four 3-pointers over the first eight minutes of play and helping ETSU build a 48-35 advantage with 12:39 left in regulation.
The Bucs remained hot from outside, as Rembert’s ninth 3-pointer of the game tied the program’s team record for threes, and helped stake the Bucs to their 59-41 advantage. At that point, EKU connected on three straight threes of its own, as the Colonels went on a quick 11-0 run to make it 59-52 with five minutes left in the game. Wilson was then fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit the three foul shots, stopping the run momentarily. But the Colonels kept coming, as a 3-pointer by Jaylen Babb-Harrison, followed by a steal and three by Corey Walden made it 62-60 with 1:31 left in the game.
From there, Riley missed a layup in the final seconds and gave EKU a chance to tie. However, the Colonels’ Timmy Knipp committed a turnover giving the ball back to the Bucs with less than 10 seconds left. EKU ultimately fouled Harris, who hit one of two free throws to make it 63-60, setting up the desperation three by Walden that missed the mark.
Chattanooga 93, Northern Kentucky 81
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Greg Pryor and Ronrico White combined for 44 points to lead the Chattanooga Mocs to a 93-81 win over Northern Kentucky in a shootout. Pryor’s 24 was a career high as his Mocs shot a season-high 62.8 percent making 27 of 43 shots.
Pryor added four rebounds, four assists and two steals in his 36 minutes of playing time. White tallied 20 with five assists against just one turnover. Casey Jones chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Tayler Persons and Jalen Billups combined for 46 points off the bench for the Norse, who fall to 4-6. Persons had a career-high 30 including a 14-14 performance at the free throw line.
It was a see-saw battle early with four ties and eight lead changes in the game’s first nine-and-a-half minutes. Anthony Monaco’s three-pointer at 7:41 pulled the Norse to within one, 29-28, but the Mocs continued to score.
Martynas Bareika’s three at 5:45 marked seven unanswered points for the home team. Two Persons free throws at 3:37 got it back to three, 40-37, but the Mocs responded with a 14-5 spurt to end the half up 54-42.
After a 72.7 percent (16-22) shooting display from the floor in the first half, Chattanooga showed no signs of ending its heat wave to start the second. Jones’ basket at 16:05 extended the margin to 19, 62-43. The Norse got it back to 12, but could not get stops.
Eric Robertson canned his second three-pointer of the game with 10:58 left to push the lead to a game-high 21 points, 77-56. It was still 19, 84-65, with 7:09 to go when the Norse made it interesting. Persons capped a 9-0 run with two free throws at 2:24, to cut it to 84-74. White made two free throws a minute later, to slow the Norse, but they kept charging.
Persons sliced the lead to nine three times in the final 1:23, but the Mocs would not break. The win is the third straight for the squad and improves the record to 6-5. All six wins have been by 11 or more points.
The 62.8 percent shooting performance is the best for the program since shooting 66.7 percent in the 2010 Southern Conference Tourney in Charlotte against Georgia Southern. Chattanooga hit a season-high 13 three-pointers and was an amazing 14 of 17 inside the arc.
NKU shot 49.1 percent from the floor in the loss. It did make all but three free throws shooting 88.9 percent (24-27).
Dartmouth 67, Mercer 51
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s basketball team suffered its first non-conference loss at Hawkins Arena in over three years on Tuesday night, succumbing to Dartmouth by a 67-51 margin. Junior Ike Nwamu led Mercer’s scorers with 13 points.
Mercer fell to 5-5 on the year while Dartmouth improved to 4-5.
Nwamu scored his 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and also posted two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Freshman Jordan Strawberry tied his season-high scoring total with 11 points in 14 minutes of action off the bench.
After hitting three of their first four shots to take an early 10-6 lead, the Bears managed to hit just four of their final 17 attempts of the first half and ultimately took a 33-22 deficit into halftime.
Mercer appeared to regain the shooting touch out of the break, hitting 5-of-7 field goals in a fast-paced start to the second half. The Bears got within eight of the lead at the 14:12 juncture, but the Big Green responded with a 3-pointer the next trip down and maintained a double-digit advantage from then on.
Prior to Tuesday, the Bears had not lost a non-conference home game since falling to South Dakota State, 74-61 on Nov. 23, 2011.
Strawberry hit three 3-pointers on the evening and also added two steals and an assist. Junior Phillip Leonard finished with six points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal. Freshman Stephon Jelks corralled four rebounds and scored two points in just four minutes of work.
North Carolina 79, UNCG 56
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s basketball team hosted North Carolina for the first time in program history Tuesday night as the Spartans fell to the Tar Heels 79-56 at the Greensboro Coliseum in front of 11,108 fans, the second-largest crowd for UNCG since moving to the Greensboro Coliseum full time in 2009-10. The Spartans had their three-game winning streak snapped with the loss as they fall to 4-7 on the year while North Carolina improves to 7-3.
Junior forward Kayel Locke led three Spartans in double figures with a team-high 17 points as he was 6-of-7 from the field but just 5-of-12 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Diante Baldwin added 13 points, a career-high nine rebounds, four assists and two steals off the bench in 34 minutes of action. Senior Nicholas Paulos rounded out the Spartans in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from long range.
UNCG connected on just 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the field, just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from long range and only 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from the free throw line. The Spartans were out-scored 40-19 in the first half but only were out-scored 39-37 in the second half.
North Carolina finished the game shooting 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the field but hit just 3-of-14 (21.4%) from distance. The Tar Heels did their damage on the glass, out-rebounding the Spartans by a 51-26 margin, including 20 offensive rebounds as they scored 44 points in the paint. Kennedy Meeks finished the game with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field while Joel James added 11 points.
North Carolina jumped out quickly on the Spartan, opening to a 23-4 lead just over 10 minutes into the game. The Spartans connected on just 2-of-19 to start the game and committed four miscues in the opening run. UNCG started to settle down in front of the large crowd but North Carolina extended the lead to a first-half best 39-12 with 3:09 remaining.
The Spartans closed the first half on a 7-1 run to head into the locker room trailing 40-19. Paulos started the run with a 3-pointer while sophomore forward Jordy Kuiper hit a pair of free throws. Baldwin closed out the half with a jumper after beating his defender off the dribble with two seconds remaining.
The Spartans hit just 27.6 percent (8-of-29) from the field and only 1-of-10 from long range in the first half. UNCG was also out-rebounded by a 30-12 margin, including 10 on the offensive glass for the Tar Heels. North Carolina opened the game shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field despite hitting just 1-of-9 from long range.
The Spartans narrowed the gap to 44-24 early in the second half as Paulos hit a 3-pointer but North Carolina was able to keep the Spartans at bay for most of the second half. UNCG was out-scored by only two points in the second half, 39-37, as Locke led the way with 13 points in the second half. Baldwin and Paulos each added nine second half points in the loss.
Vanderbilt 99, Western Carolina 79
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following a 10-day layoff, the Western Carolina men’s basketball team returned to action Tuesday night as the Catamounts faced their third Southeastern Conference opponent of the season in the form of Vanderbilt University. The Catamounts led by three at the half but the Commodores outscored WCU 58-35 in the second half to take a 99-79 victory.
The Commodores dominated at the free throw line and on the boards. VU was 38-43 from the charity stripe while the Catamounts took just 17 attempts from the line while making 11. Vanderbilt held a 34-18 advantage on the glass while scoring 20 second chance points.
Despite WCU being called for just five more fouls on the night, the Commodores outscored the Catamounts by 27 points at the free throw line including 13 in the second half.
Junior Rhett Harrelson started the game going 6-of-6 from the field including 5-of-5 from the 3-point line. His first miss came with 15 minutes to play in the second half. He finished with 22 points to go along with three assists and two steals. Junior Torrion Brummitt added a career-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Juniors Mike Brown and Justin Browning each had 14 points in the loss. Brown added three assists while Browning led the team with five rebounds and four assists while making a pair of steals.
The Catamounts fell to 3-7 on the year while the Commodores improved to 7-2.
WCU shot a season-best 52.6 percent from the field including 62.1 percent in the first half. The Commodores shot 55.3 percent from the field including 69.6 percent in the second stanza.
Harrelson and senior James Sinclair combined to score the first four points of the game as WCU jumped out to an early lead. The Commodores took their first lead at the 16:57 mark as a free throw put Vanderbilt ahead 7-6. Just over a minute later, the Commodores hit a 3-pointer to retake a one-point lead and it would be their final lead of the first half. The Catamounts began an 11-2 run which opened up a 20-12 lead for WCU with just over 13 minutes to play.
A Harrelson 3-pointer with 9:18 to play in the first gave WCU its largest lead of the game at 28-16. The Commodores slowly began to work their way back into the game and a pair of free throws by James Siakam with just over two minutes to play cut the lead to just three. It was the first one possession lead since the 14:33 mark. Brown and Browning held the Commodores off as the half ended. Brown hit a jumper while Browning threw down a dunk to answer VU scores. The half would end with WCU leading 44-41.
The Commodores took back the lead for the first time since the 15:52 mark of the first half with a pair of free throws just under two minutes into the second half. The Catamounts fought back until the Commodores took the lead for good at the 14:31 mark. A 12-0 run that lasted just under three minutes broke open the game for the Commodores as they took a 69-55 lead with 10:22 to play. WCU cut the lead to 10 before Vanderbilt went on a 11-0 run to take the first 20-plus point lead of the game. The lead would remain around the 20-point mark the rest of the game as the Commodores went on to win 99-79.
Vanderbilt was led by Riley LaChance who scored 26 points while Siakam added 20 points and seven rebounds.