FRIDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 79, Rochester College 64
Texas-Pan American 81,
Tennessee Tech 78 (Corpus Christi, Texas)
@Old Dominion 70,
Murray State 60
@Xavier 79,
Morehead State 56
UT MARTIN 79, ROCHESTER COLLEGE 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior forward Myles Taylor netted 20 points off the bench in his season debut as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team chalked up a 79-64 victory over Rochester College at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The game served as a “Character Counts” event for local elementary, middle and high school students who earned the chance to come to the game because of good behavior.
Taylor, who tore his ACL in the regular season finale last season and had previously missed the first three games in 2013-14, made nine of his 15 shot attempts in 20 minutes played. It was the 14th career game with at least 20 points for the Little Rock, Ark. native.
Marshun Newell went 10-for-10 from the free throw line and tallied 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for UT Martin (1-3). Terence Smith (13 points, team-high seven rebounds, three assists) and Bobby Jones (season-high 12 points) also reached double-figures in the scoring column for the Skyhawks, who battled back from a 33-30 halftime deficit by hitting 94.7 percent of their free throw attempts (18-for-19) in the final 20 minutes.
Rochester College (7-1) was led by Stavros Schizas’ 23 points and 10 rebounds. UT Martin limited the Warriors – the defending United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division-I national champions – to only 12.5 percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc (2-for-16) and forced them into 17 turnovers.
Rochester College jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the first media timeout. After a pair of Newell free throws at the 14:16 mark, the Warriors would go on a 7-1 run to go on top by a 13-5 margin.
Taylor would check in for the first time all season at the 12:10 mark and his presence was immediately felt. He snared a rebound on his first defensive possession and followed that with a bucket in the paint on his first touch on the offensive end.
Four straight points by Tobias Dowdell cut the Skyhawk deficit to 15-11 with 8:34 to go before the break. However, a 12-5 run by Rochester College would soon follow and the Warriors held a 31-19 lead with 2:28 to play in the first half.
UT Martin then accounted for 11 of the final 13 points of the half, as Taylor scored the Skyhawks’ final nine points of the half to make the score 33-30 in Rochester College’s favor at the break.
Taylor’s 13 points in nine minutes led all scorers at the half while Schizas and Zef Deda each had nine points to lead the Warriors.
The Skyhawks began the second half on an 8-3 run, as a pair of free throws by Smith gave UT Martin its first lead of the contest (38-36) with 17:30 remaining.
After Schizas made a pair of free throws on Rochester College’s next possession, Jones converted a tough layup at the 16:38 mark to give UT Martin a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. Jones would score six of the Skyhawks’ eight points in a span of 2:30 to help UT Martin run its lead out to double-figures at 50-40 with 13 minutes to go.
The Warriors posted a 9-2 run to get within four points with just under eight minutes left but Taylor answered with an old-fashioned three-point play off an offensive rebound on the Skyhawks’ next possession.
Rochester College would get within five points at the 6:31 mark, back-to-back trifectas by Smith and Jones extended the Skyhawk lead out to a dozen (69-57) with five minutes left to play. The Warriors would not get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way, as a pair of Newell free throws with 13 seconds remaining gave the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the game and provided the final scoring margin of 79-64.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN 81, TENNESSEE TECH 78
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Just when overtime had become all but a certainty, the Tennesse Tech men's basketball team saw its chance at an extra period dashed as Texas-Pan America's Shaquille Boga hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give UTPA an 81-78 victory in the first game of the Holliday Inn Downtown Marina Islanders Tournament.
Up by as many as nine points in the first half, the Golden Eagles saw its lead slowly dwindle through the last 14 minutes of the period as it became evident the Tech squad just wasn't at its usual strength. With several Tech players dealing with an undisclosed illness, the Broncs took advantage late in the first stanza, driving the ball into the lane, leaving the Golden Eagles no choice but to converge on the attack.
Texas-Pan American used that decision to make four straight jumpers to close out the half with Tech nipping at the heels, 44-39.
The Broncs came out firing in the second half, extending their lead to as much as 11 points with 15:40 to play. Tech refused to give in, despite racking up six fouls in the first 4:20 of the second stanza.
The Golden Eagle comeback started with a spark from JUCO transfer Ladon Carter, who finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and three monster rejections. With 15:09 to play in the game and Tech trailing 59-50, Carter grabbed a missed shot attempt midair and slammed it down with authority. He followed with an excellent hustle play, blocking a lay-up attempt by UTPA's Javorn Farrell clear into another zip code.
The back-to-back plays, combined with a substitution of junior Mitchell Hill into the game, sparked a tremendous defensive effort that would not give up the remainder of the contest. Following Hill's entrance into the game, the Golden Eagle put together four consecutive stops on the defensive side of the ball, holding the Broncs scoreless for over five minutes. In the game, Tech forced three shot-clock violations by UTPA, including two during the final 10 minutes of play.
UTPA would gather a 10-point advantage twice more in the second half, using a cold streak from the Tech offense to try and seal the game away. But once again, the Golden Eagles stayed resilient, using clutch offensive plays and a stone-wall defense to rally back.
Down five with 1:00 to play, senior point guard Jeremiah Samarrippas drove quickly down the floor, pulling up and draining a 3-pointer with 55.9 seconds left to cut the lead to 78-76. Samarrippas would finish the contest with 13 points and team-highs in both assists (seven) and steals (three).
Head coach Steve Payne called his final timeout immediately following the bucket, and used the 60 seconds to draw up a brilliant defensive scheme that the Golden Eagles ran to perfection. On the ensuing in-bounds play, Samarrippas nabbed a loose ball and tossed it to redshirt sophomore Josiah Moore. The one-time transfer from Nebraska layed the ball in to tie things at 78 with just 48.1 seconds left in regulation.
Both teams would trade possessions before the Broncs took over with 4.5 ticks left on the clock. Boga collected the inbounds pass, drove up the left side of the floor and let a 45-foot prayer fly toward the hoop just before the final buzzer sounded. The ball banked in to give UTPA a stunning 81-78 victory.
The Broncs and Golden Eagles received offensive help from all over as each squad had four players in double-figures each. Josh Cleveland of UTPA led all scorers with 23 while Boga chipped in 17, Justin Leathers added 14, and Shaquille Hines finished with 11. Leathers also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
For the Golden Eagles, Carter put together a mammoth-game, finishing several highlight-reel dunks and alley oops for a career-high 17 points to go along with three huge blocks and six clutch rebounds. Ranked fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring, Ty Allen did not disappoint, scoring 16 points on 50 percent shooting.
Matt Marseille contributed 11 points in his first start of the season, hitting all seven of his shot attempts from the charity stripe and grabbing four boards. Samarrippas finished with 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three steals.
OLD DOMINION 70, MURRAY STATE 60
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Aaron Bacote scored 21 points to lead Old Dominion to a 70-60 win over Murray State on Friday night.
Bacote also had eight assists and was joined by two others in double-digits for the Monarchs. Keenan Palmore added 13 points and Richard Ross had 12 to help lift Old Dominion (2-1) its first win over Murray State, which had won both previous matchups. Denzell Taylor hauled in 12 rebounds.
The Racers (1-2) dominated early and led 36-29 at the break. But the Monarchs opened the second half with a 10-0 run, taking the lead 38-36 on a Bacote jumper with 17:23 remaining. Murray State tied it up at 38-38 on a Cameron Payne jumper, but couldn't regain the lead as the Monarchs steadily pulled away.
Payne led the Racers with 17 points, while Jarvis Williams added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
XAVIER 79, MOREHEAD STATE 56
CINCINNATI (AP) - Semaj Christon scored a season-high 20 points on Friday night as Xavier got back to full strength and remained unbeaten with a 79-56 victory over Morehead State.
The Musketeers (3-0) kept their momentum from a 67-63 win over Tennessee at the Cintas Center on Tuesday night. Xavier led 38-23 at the break and pulled away during a foul-filled second half. The officials called 56 fouls overall, and the teams combined for 68 free throws.
The Eagles (2-1) were trying for their first 3-0 start in 20 years, but couldn't make shots with any consistency against Xavier's man-to-man and zone defenses. Morehead State shot only 29 percent from the field. Chad Posthumus led the Eagles with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Matt Stainbrook had seven points and 10 rebounds for Xavier, which led by as many as 25 points.
Xavier was back to full strength with point guard Dee Davis in the starting lineup and forward Justin Martin coming off the bench.
Davis missed the first two games recovering from a concussion sustained during a preseason scrimmage. Coach Chris Mack opened with a three-guard offense. Freshman Brandon Randolph, who started the first two games in Davis' place, also was in the lineup along with Christon.
Martin, who missed the Tennessee game recovering from a blow to the head, checked in with 12:40 left in the first half. Martin finished with eight points and two rebounds.
Neither team got into a flow for the first 13 minutes, with no lead bigger than three points. Morehead State missed eight of its first nine shots while Xavier had three turnovers, two by Randolph.
Davis led Xavier's first spurt, hitting a floating bank shot and a 3-pointer during a 12-point run that pushed it to 24-15. Freshman forward Jalen Reynolds had four free throws and a tip-in during the run.
The Musketeers closed the half with a 14-2 spurt that included Martin's steal and three-point play for the 15-point halftime lead. The Eagles were only 5 of 27 from the field in the half.
Junior guard Angelo Warner was coming off his best game for Morehead State -- a career-high 25 points and team-high 10 rebounds during a 71-63 win at East Tennessee State on Tuesday. He got only three shots in the first half and missed all of them.
Warner finished 0 for 6 from the field with five points on free throws.
The second half started ugly -- 10 fouls, 10 points combined in first 4 minutes, 11 seconds -- and turned into a slog of free-throw shooting. Xavier went 21 of 30 from the line overall, Morehead State 24 of 38.