WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Monmouth 81,
Tennessee State 70 (Atlanta, Ga.)
Gardner-Webb 72,
Austin Peay 62 Cancun, Mexico)
Rochester College 59,
@Eastern Illinois 56
@#7 Kentucky 81,
Morehead State 70
MONMOUTH 81, TENNESSEE STATE 70
ATLANTA - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team (1-5) committed 26 turnovers en route to a 70-81 loss at the hands of the Monmouth Hawks.
Monmouth had 31 points off of TSU’s miscues and the Hawks used 30 points from its bench to improve to 3-3 on the year.
Tennessee State’s clumsiness with the basketball marred a great game on the boards and a career day for Kellen Thornton.
Thornton finished the game with a career-high 27 points on 12 of 18 shooting and his 15 boards allowed the Tigers to crush the Hawks on the glass, 46-24.
TSU’s other options shot just 34 percent (14-41) and committed 23 turnovers.
Guard Patrick Miller was second on the team with 15 points and Robert Covington wasn’t too far behind with 12. However, Covington made just three of his 14 field goals.
Tennessee State won the tip and Miller nailed a jumper at the 19:44 mark to give the Tigers an early advantage. Jordan Cyphers canned TSU’s only three-pointer of the half a couple minutes later to extend the Tigers’ lead to three, 5-2. A strong two-handed dunk by Thornton with 16:32 left in the frame made the score 9-4 in favor of TSU, but Monmouth would take over from there.
The Hawks had eight three-pointers in the last 15 minutes of the first half, starting with a break-away three by Jesse Steele. The breakaway was started on one of Tennessee State’s 16 opening-period turnovers.
TSU had no answer for the Monmouth shooting barrage, and even Thornton’s 12 first-half points and a 22-15 rebounding advantage could not save the squad. The Tigers trailed the Hawks 31-38 at the break.
Monmouth finished the opening frame with a 47.1 (8-17) shooting percentage from behind the arc while TSU shot just 10 (1-10) percent. Monmouth came out hot to start the second half, making the first two baskets of the frame. This put TSU down, 31-42.
Tennessee State just could not mount a charge, as the team committed a foul or a turnover on seemingly every-other possession. TSU had 10 turnovers and 15 fouls in the second half alone.
Thornton continued to be a force during the second half, scoring 15 points down the stretch. The one highlight for TSU during the second period was an impressive alley-oop by Covington with 8:49 left in the game. The play left jaws dropped, but Monmouth still led, 58-51.
A 6-0 Monmouth run down the final stretch of the game put the Hawks up 81-66 with only a minute to play. With Thornton sitting on the bench with five fouls, TSU lost its second game in a row, this one by 11 points.
GARDNER-WEBB 72, AUSTIN PEAY 62
CANCUN, Mexico - Gardner-Webb used a 12-3 second-half run to break open a close game and then held off Austin Peay State University, 62-52, Wednesday afternoon, to claim the Mayan Division title in the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge, played at the Moon Palace Resort.
With Gardner-Webb clinging to a 47-46 advantage in a back-and-forth game with 11:01 left, the Runnin’ Bulldogs utilized the inside-outside combination of forward Donta Harper and guard Max Landis to pull away from the Governors.
Harper, who dominated inside much of the afternoon, produced an inside field goal and two free throws before Landis hit back-to-back jump shots during the run. All the Govs could manage in those 2 ½ minutes were a trio of free throws.
The loss drops the Govs to 2-3 on the season while Gardner-Webb improved to 4-3 in the first meeting between the two programs.
After falling behind by double digits, the Governors nibbled back at the deficit and got it down to three points twice at 60-53 after a Herdie Lawrence jumper and a Will Triggs layup with 2:49 remaining. Triggs joined APSU late Tuesday in Mexico after getting passport issues cleared up.
But then it was the littlest man on the court, Tyler Strange, who put the finishing touches to the game. On consecutive trips the 5-8 point guard bulled his way to the basket to hit layups. All of a sudden, the Governors deficit was at seven with 1:16 left. It proved to be too much to overcome.
Harper finished with 21 points and Landis 16 to lead the Runnin’ Bulldogs while Strange had 11. Gardner-Webb shot 52 percent (16 of 31) in the second half.
Travis Betran led the Govs with 18 points, including a quartet of three pointers. Freshman Chris Horton added 10. Both Betran, who had 40 points in the tourney, and Horton, who had eight blocked shots in two games, were named to the all-tournament team.
ROCHESTER COLLEGE 59, EASTERN ILLINOIS 56
CHARLESTON, Ill. - After playing well for three straight games over the weekend at the ICE Man Classic in Ypsilanti, Mich., Eastern Illinois shooting was cold on the day prior to Thanksgiving as the Panthers (2-4) fell to Rochester College, 59-56, on Wednesday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
EIU shot 37 percent for the game from the floor and only 47 percent from the free throw line. Three Panthers finished in double figures with Sherman Blanford just missing a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Rochester College held a 29-25 lead at the half due in large part to the Warriors work on the glass. RC had a 20-12 first half rebounding margin including seven offensive boards. The Warriors also forced nine EIU turnovers as they took the lead with 4:58 left in the first half on a Dramell Hogan jumper. A lay-up by Hogan with 24 seconds left extended the lead to 29-22 before Malcolm Herron closed the half for EIU with a 3-pointer.
EIU committed only three second half turnovers but was unable to take advantage of getting into the bonus midway through the first half. The Panthers were 8-of-16 from the stripe in the second half.
Hogan hit a jumper on the baseline with 18:54 to play giving RC a 34-25 lead. He was one of two players to score 17 points for the Warriors. Stavros Schizas also had 17 hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
EIU chipped away at the lead and tied the contest at 8:45 with a pair of Morris Woods free throws at 43-43. Josh Piper drained a 3-pointer with 5:38 to knot the game at 50-50. The final tie of the game came on a pair of free throws by Blanford with 2:55 left at 52-52. EIU was never able to gain the lead in the second half.
RC held a two-point lead with ten seconds left after Woods hit a lay-up. The Panthers nearly stole two inbounds passes before fouling Hogan. After Hogan hit one of two from the line, Piper missed a 3-pointer for the Panthers as the buzzer sounded.
Woods had 11 points and Piper ten for EIU. Drew Maynard had a double-double for RC with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
#7 KENTUCKY 81, MOREHEAD STATE 70
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The No. 8/7 Kentucky men’s basketball team knocked down 31-of-41 from the free-throw line en route to an 81-70 victory over Morehead State in front of 21,897 on Wednesday evening at Rupp Arena.
The Southeastern Conference Wildcats improve to 3-1 on the year with their 54th straight home win. The Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 3-2 overall. UK also improves to 10-0 in the series and 35-0 all-time vs. the OVC.
Kentucky freshman Archie Goodwin led all scorers with 28 points on 8-of-13 from the field and 12-of-17 from the free-throw line, while classmate Alex Poythress added 20 on 6-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Morehead State was whistled for 32 fouls in the contest, while Kentucky committed just 12 infractions. The Eagles have now been called for 127 fouls through five games this season, while their opponents have committed just 70.
Senior Milton Chavis paced Morehead State with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Junior Maurice Lewis-Briggs added 13 on 5-of-10 from the field, while classmate Drew Kelly contributed 10.
Kentucky connected on 51 percent (24-of-47) overall, while Morehead State drilled just 37 percent (25-of-68) for the night. The Wildcats managed a 40-28 advantage in the paint, but the Eagles tallied a 29-4 upper hand off the bench.
Kentucky opened the affair with six quick points, but Morehead State answered with a 16-0 run to build a double-figure lead midway through the first period. With the help of 14 charity tosses, UK held a 32-31 lead at intermission.
Morehead State led by six points on two occasions in the second half, but Kentucky chipped away at the deficit to knot the tilt at 48-all with 13:28 to play. From there, the Wildcats used a 12-2 run to pad the cushion and never looked back.
The game featured six ties and eight lead changes. Morehead State’s big lead of 11 came at the 6:11 mark of the first half. Kentucky’s largest advantage of 14 points came with 3:43 remaining on the second-half clock.
Kentucky recorded an 11-1 advantage in blocked shots, thanks to six rejections by freshman Nerlens Noel. He also collected nine points, four assists, all three of his team’s steals and a game-best 11 rebounds in 35 minutes.
The Eagles committed a season-low nine turnovers, which was more than eight below their season average. Freshman Jarett Stokes added eight points for MSU and registered a game-high five assists with no turnovers.