FRIDAY'S SCORES
North Carolina Central 65,
Eastern Illinois 40 (Niceville, Fla.)
@Jacksonville State 74, Savannah State 71
@St. Peters 66,
Tennessee State 58
@Nebraska 75,
UT Martin 64
Portland 64,
Murray State 61 (Nashville, Tenn.)
Stephen F. Austin 83,
Austin Peay 62 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 65, EASTERN ILLINOIS 40
NICEVILLE, Fla. - North Carolina Central scored on its first four possessions as the Eagles shot 50 percent in the opening half during a 65-40 win over Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla on Friday afternoon.
Karamo Jawara opened the game with a 3-pointer for NCCU followed by baskets by Dante Holmes and Jordan Parks as four players scored in double figures for the Eagles.
Reggie Smith kept EIU (1-5) in the game in the opening minutes as the senior guard knocked down a pair of baskets that made it a 9-5 game with 17 minutes to play in the opening half. Smith would finish with 15 points, his best offensive game this season.
North Carolina Central answered with three 3-pointers on their next four possessions pushing the lead to double figures as Holmes hit his second 3-pointer in the run giving NCCU a 20-7 lead at the 12:17 mark. Holmes led NCCU with 14 points.
The Eagles would hit 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half to lead 40-20 at the break. NCCU hit 3-of-6 from 3-point range in the second half to shot 50 percent from 3-point range for the game and 49 percent from the floor.
EIU was held to 26 percent shooting in the first half but did warm up slightly in the second half finishing the game at 32 percent shooting. LeTrell Viser added ten points off the bench. Chris Olivier, the Panthers leading scorer, was held to one point making 1-of-2 from the free throw line with only one field goal attempted.
Viser and Dylan Chatman both knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for EIU. Chatman's 3-pointer at the 18:44 mark of the second half cut NCCU's lead to less than 20-points for the only time in the second half. Parks answered for the Eagles as part of his 13 point night. Jawara had 12 points and Anthony McDonald finished with 11 for NCCU.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 74, SAVANNAH STATE 71
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Junior Jeremy Watson recorded his second double-double in the last three games and led the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to a 74-71 win over Savannah State on Friday night.
Watson scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds to lift the Gamecocks (3-3) to their third straight win and back to the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Tigers (2-4) remain winless on the road.
A native of Birmingham, the 6-foot-7 Watson continued his impressive play of late. After notching his first career double-double six days ago against Miles College, he has averaged 12.7 points and 11.3 boards per game over the past three outings. In the win over SSU, he and senior Darion Rackley led four Gamecocks in double figures with 15 points apiece.
Watson went 4-for-8 from the floor and 7-for-7 from the free throw line, where he has made 20 of his 23 attempts over the past three games. Rackley ran his career scoring total to 955 points to move past Courtney Bradley into sixth place on JSU's Division I scoring list.
The St. Louis, Mo. native now sits 45 shy of joining the 1,000-point club. He would become just the 23rd member of the Jacksonville State club, and just the sixth since the Gamecocks' move up the Division 1 in 1995-96.
Senior D.J. Felder went 5-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the stripe to score a season-best 14 points, while junior JaQuail Townser scored 10 points to go along with his career-high seven assists. Townser also had four steals, one away from Rackley's second-straight game with five steals.
The Tigers got most of their offensive production from Terel Hall, who scored 24 and was the only SSU player in double figures. He was 7-for-10 from the field and 9-for-12 from the free throw line, while also dishing seven assists and grabbing four boards in the loss.
The Gamecocks started the game on a run that built an early 10-point lead at 18-8, only to watch the Tigers counter with a 15-4 run that gave them their first lead of the game at 23-22. They would extend it to as many as three late in the first half, but an Avery Moore trey at the buzzer sent the game into the half tied at 31-31.
The Gamecocks scored the first six points of the second half to build a 37-31 lead and then extended that advantage to 14 by the halfway point of the final frame.
The Tigers cut their deficit to as little as three with just under four minutes to play, but the Gamecocks converted on their final 10 free throws and 29 of their 33 attempts on the night to put the game away.
ST. PETERS 66, TENNESSEE STATE 58
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - A hard fought game at the Yanitelli Center goes to Saint Peters as the Tennessee State University men’s basketball team fell 66-58 on Friday night.
The Tigers (2-4) put together a spirited performance but ultimately fell short against the Peacocks (2-4). SPU takes the first ever meeting between the two schools and advances to the Barclay’s Tournament Championship Game tomorrow against Norfolk State. TSU will take on Saint Francis of Brooklyn in the consolation game.
In his first ever game as a Tiger, Christian Mekowulu led with 13 points in 24 minutes of action. The freshman’s debut was delayed due to a knee injury, but tonight’s performance shows what he brings to the table.
Both Marvin Dominique and Travis Hester scored 15 points to lead the Peacocks to the victory. Hester was 4-for-7 from three-point range while Dominique was 7-for-10 from the charity stripe.
TSU closed out the first half on a 9-0 run, cutting Saint Peters’ lead to 42-33 going into the break. Jay Harris was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, totaling nine points, while Richards dropped seven points through the bucket.
The big story for the Tigers on the half was the beginning of Mekowulu’s collegiate career. After nursing a knee injury for the first handful of games, Mekowulu stepped onto the court at the Yanitelli Center for his first minutes of 2014-15. He scored four points and grabbed a rebound.
The final 20 minutes saw TSU erase the deficit, only to have an invisible lid form over the basket. In fact, for almost six minutes (9:18 to 3:25) neither team made a field goal. Mekowulu broke the silence with a put-back that brought the Tigers within one.
Saint Peters held TSU to 38 percent from the floor and 28 percent from behind the arc in the second frame.
Three Tigers other than Mekowulu finished in double figures. Harris finished with 11 points while Xavier Richards scpred 11, as well, and Rodney Simeon scored a career-high 10 points before fouling out with 1:02 left in the game.
NEBRASKA 75, UT MARTIN 64
LINCOLN, Neb. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with Big Ten Conference member Nebraska this evening before the Cornhuskers claimed a 75-64 win at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Skyhawks were within four points with nine minutes left to play in front of the crowd of 15,987 – the second-largest attended game in school history. UT Martin stayed within single-digits for a majority of the time the rest of the way until the Cornhuskers made five of six free throws in the final minute.
Twymond Howard led four Skyhawks in double-figures in the scoring column, pouring in 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Deville Smith put on a shooting exhibition midway through the second half, finishing with 15 points on a career-best five 3-pointers, game-high six rebounds, team-best six assists and game-high three steals.
Myles Taylor sank all seven of his free throw attempts on his way to 11 points tonight while Alex Anderson added 10 points for UT Martin, who knocked down 11 three-pointers but committed 18 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle (34-25) for the first time all season.
Nebraska, who was ranked at No. 21 nationally for the first two weeks of the season, was led by 19 points on six 3-pointers by Walter Pitchford, who entered tonight’s contest shooting 6.3 percent from three-point range. Preseason All-American Terran Petteway scored 18 points with a game-high eight assists to round out the double-digit scorers for Nebraska (4-1). The Skyhawks held Shavon Shields, who was the nation’s fifth-leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, to five points tonight.
Nebraska opened the game with three 3-pointers in the first two minutes but the Skyhawks soon took their first lead of the game at 10-9 thanks to a Smith trey at the 16:22 mark.
The Huskers answered with an 8-0 run over the next 1:25 but a Howard three-pointer and Arkeem Joseph hook shot in the paint chipped UT Martin’s deficit to 17-15 with less than 13 minutes to go in the first half.
Another Howard trifecta and four straight free throws from Taylor resulted in a 7-2 Skyhawk run which tilted the score back in UT Martin’s favor at 24-23 with 6:36 remaining in the first half.
However, Nebraska closed out the half on a 17-3 run – including nine unanswered points in the final 91 seconds after a Marshun Newell three-pointer made the score 33-27.
Howard had 10 points to pace the Skyhawks in the first half while Pitchford’s 12 points led Nebraska, who made eight 3-pointers while shooting 57.1 percent from beyond the three-point arc in the first 20 minutes.
The Skyhawks scored six of the first nine points in the second half to close in within 10 points (43-33) when Anderson converted a steal and went coast-to-coast for a fast break layup. Nebraska then pieced together a 9-0 run over the next 3:15 to go ahead by a 52-33 margin with 14:26 left to play.
UT Martin then went on a lengthy run, as the Skyhawks outscored Nebraska 17-2 over the next 4:55 to get back in the game. It was Smith who had the hot hand, as he sank a trio of three-pointers during the run – including a trey from the right wing at the 9:14 mark that made the score 54-50.
The Huskers followed with six unanswered points before another Smith triple resulted in a seven-point deficit (60-53) for UT Martin with 7:27 to go. Pitchford’s final three-pointer of the evening pushed Nebraska’s lead out to 67-55 with 4:22 remaining but the Skyhawks kept grinding, as a three-pointer by Anderson and five straight points by Howard pulled UT Martin within eight points. However, Nebraska made its free throws down the stretch to hold off a Skyhawk rally.
PORTLAND 64, MURRAY STATE 61
NASHVILLE (AP) - Kevin Bailey scored four of his 23 points in the final 28 seconds to lift Portland past Murray State 64-61 in the inaugural Challenge in Music City on Friday night.
Murray State's T.J. Sapp scored to tie it at 60 with 1:55 to play. Bailey answered with a jumper to give Portland a 62-60 lead with 28 seconds to go before Cameron Payne split a pair of free throws to pull Murray State within one with 15 seconds remaining.
Jeffery Moss forced a Portland turnover, but Sapp missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left. Bailey then made two free throws to seal it.
Thomas van der Mars scored 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Portland (4-0).
Payne finished with 18 points and five assists. Sapp had 13 points and Moss 11 to lead Murray State (2-3). The Racers will play Valparaiso and Portland faces Drake Saturday.
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 83, AUSTIN PEAY 62
LAS VEGAS - Stephen F. Austin advanced to the third round of last March's NCAA basketball tournament. Austin Peay State University found out why Friday.
The Lumberjacks, who return most of their players from a 32-win 2013-14 team, shot 63 percent from the floor while limiting the Governors to only 42 percent shooting as APSU fell 83-62 in the upper division title game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
The disruptive Lumberjacks forced APSU into 17 turnovers, many created by the constant pressure from point guard Trey Pinkney. As result, it led to Loos' point about attempting to do too much off the dribble. Austin Peay had just nine assists against the Stephen F. Austin Peay—the Govs had 19 assists against Brown, Thursday.
Stephen F. Austin led almost from start to finish. After the Lumberjacks scored the game's first bucket a Chris Horton tip-in tied the contest at 2. But Stephen F. Austin scored the game's next six points. APSU cut the deficit to two, 8-6, but would never get closer as the initial half was interrupted 30 times in the opening half with foul calls. Only Khalil Davis of APSU's starters picked up two first-half fouls, forcing all to the bench for extended stretches. In addition, back-up point guard Tre' Ivory had three first-half fouls and back-up post Assane Diop two. APSU finished the first half down by 16, 44-28.
Any Govs' hope of a comeback ended early in the final 20 minutes when the Lumberjacks scored the initial six points. In fact, APSU was down by 26 before the first media timeout. Stephen F. Austin connected on 18 of 26 (69 percent) second-half floor shots
Jacob Parker led the Lumberjacks with 19 points while Thomas Walkup added 16. Khalil Davis scored a career-high 25 points, going 6-of-11 from the floor, for the Governors. Davis was named to the all-tournament team.
Chris Horton recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while freshman Josh Robinson came off the bench to added 12. Leading scorer Chris Freeman, who had 20 points against Brown, was held to two points, partly resulting from first-half foul woes.