WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Virginia Tech 71,
Jacksonville State 62
@Belmont 90, Western Kentucky 85
IPFW 80,
@Austin Peay 77
@Tennessee State 72, Fisk 50
Saint Louis 70,
@SIUE 60
@New Mexico State 76,
Tennessee Tech 63
VIRGINIA TECH 71, JACKSONVILLE STATE 62
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team started fast and took Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech to the wire, but the Gamecocks fell to the Hokies 71-62 on Wednesday night.
James Green's young Gamecocks (2-2) opened the game with the hot hand to build an early four-point lead. They led the Hokies (1-1) by four until the five-minute mark of the first half, when a 9-0 run stretched into the second half and gave them the lead for good.
Jax State cut the deficit to two with 11:23 left and answered another run to pull to within three on an Erik Durham 3-pointer with 2:40 to play, but Tech converted from the line and off the offensive glass to hang on for the win.
Durham, a junior from Springfield, Mo., led all scorers with 21 points and also pulled down eight boards, both career highs, to pace JSU's upset attempt. Sophomore Malcolm Drumwright added 13 despite an off night from the floor that saw him go 6-for-20 and 1-for-6 from behind the arc.
Junior Greg Tucker and senior Jeremy Watson added 10 points, each. Freshman Jared Hamilton scored eight points for JSU, while also dishing three assists and pulling down three rebounds.
Chris Clarke came off the Va. Tech bench to notch a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Zach LeDay had 15 points and nine boards for the Hokies.
The Hokies used length inside to hold a 54-29 advantage on the glass, including 20 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points in a nine-point win. JSU forced 17 turnovers and turned them into 15 points, while the Gamecocks committed just nine turnovers.
The Gamecocks didn't get to the free throw line until there was 5:30 remaining in the second half, while the Hokies only converted 15 of their 30 attempts from the stripe. JSU ended up going 6-for-8 from the free throw line.
BELMONT 90, WESTERN KENTUCKY 85
NASHVILLE - Energized by a boisterous student section on 'First on the Floor' night, Belmont University men's basketball outlasted Western Kentucky, 90-85, Wednesday night.
After junior Evan Bradds gave Belmont an early 8-6 advantage, a basket from Frederick Edmond and a deep three-pointer from Chris Harrison-Docks gave the visitors a four point lead. Three-pointers from senior Craig Bradshaw and sophomore Burton Sampson gave Belmont a 19-17 lead midway through the first half.
Another Harrison-Docks three-pointer and a Chris McNeal basket pushed Western Kentucky to a 31-23 lead at the 7:09 mark. In need of a spark, the Belmont bench delivered. Following a three-pointer from junior Nick Smith, sophomore Josh Lester ignited a titanic momentum shift late in the half.
Following two free throws, Lester buried a baseline three-pointer to get the Bruins within one, 38-37.
Belmont would bury five consecutive three-pointers in the final 4:15 of the half. Freshman Kevin McClain, Bradds, and sophomore Austin Luke would each connect during the run, with Luke's triple right before the horn sending the Bruins to the locker room with a 52-43 lead. When the dust settled, Belmont went on a 22-6 run over the final 5:14 of the first half.
The second half began inauspiciously for Belmont, as Western Kentucky produced a five-point play on its opening possession after the break – Justin Johnson scored, failed to complete a conventional three-point play, but Chris McNeal buried a wing three-pointer on the tipped-out rebound to quickly get the Hilltoppers with 52-48 with 19:35 remaining. But eight determined points from sophomore Amanze Egekeze pushed the Bruin lead back to 13, 63-50, with 16:41 to go.
Edmond got Western Kentucky within one, 74-73, with 4:57 remaining, and after a Bradshaw three-pointer rimmed out, Ben Lawson was fouled on a putback attempt. He would make one free throw to tie the score with 4:26 left.
A baseline reverse layin from Bradshaw and another clutch conventional three-point play from Egekeze increased the margin to five, 81-76, with 3:05 remaining.
All told, the Bruins shot 48 percent (29-for-61) from the field – including 11-for-29 from three-point distance. Belmont forced 15 turnovers and scored 29 points off the bench.
Bradds led three Bruins in double figures with 16 points and nine rebounds. Egekeze added 15 points in arguably his finest game in a Belmont uniform. Bradshaw had 13 points, while Luke added nine points and a career-high 11 assists.
Harrison-Docks led Western Kentucky (1-1) with 19 points.
IPFW 80, AUSTIN PEAY 77
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Redshirt freshman guard John Konchar scored a career-high 28 points while point guard Mo Evans added 20 and seven assists to lead IPFW to an 80-77 victory against Austin Peay State University, Wednesday night, in the Governors' home-opening basketball game.
The loss leaves the Govs 0-3 overall while IPFW improved to 2-1, gaining its season's first road victory.
In the first half, Konchar had 14 points, going 5-of-5 from the floor (3-3 three pointers) plus made his only free-throw attempt. In the second half, Konchar scored 14 more, including 5-of-5 at the free throw line—Konchar's previous high was 11 points in the opener against Valparaiso. In fact, between he and Landis, the pair went 8-for-8 (Konchar was 4-of-4) at the line over the final 3:48 to hold off the Governors.
The door was slightly cracked in the final minute but the Govs could not take advantage of it. Trailing 75-74 after a Khalil Davis layup with 1:17 left, Landis missed a three pointer as the shot clock wound down. Josh Robinson grabbed the rebound.
After a timeout with 40 seconds remaining, Robinson drove left baseline for the potential go-ahead bucket but the ball caught the underside of the rim and IPFW grabbed the rebound. Mo Evans was fouled with 28 seconds left and he hit both free throws to extend the lead back to three, 77-74.
On the ensuing possession, IPFW fouled Robinson before he could launch a potential game-tying three. He made both free throws—Robinson 9-of-9 at the line for the night. Landis then was fouled and he hit two more free throw to push it back to three with 15 seconds remaining.
On APSU's next possession the Governors moved the ball to Davis at the top of the circle and he was fouled as he took his three pointer with nine seconds left. But before the senior could even attempt to potentially tie the game at the free-throw line, the officials spent the next 6 ½ minutes reviewing replay to see if Davis was behind the arc.
Davis finally went to the line and made the first, but the second one clanked off the rim. He intentionally missed the third free throw as IPFW grabbed the rebound. Brent Calhoun snared the rebound for IPFW and was fouled. He again left the door open for the Govs, missing the first and sinking the second.
But the Govs could not knock down the door as John Murry missed a three with three seconds left.
As much as the missed opportunities down the stretch left the Govs believing "what might have been," it was a lackluster defensive first half that left Loos shaking his head. The Mastodons actually shot better outside the arc (8-of-16) than they did inside (7-of-16) during the first 20 minutes.
Robinson led the Govs with a career-high 25 points in the loss while Davis added 23. Chris Horton battled foul trouble but ended with 16 points and nine rebounds…and seven turnovers.
APSU shot a reasonable 49 percent (23 of 47) from the floor but only 8-of-20 in the final half. Robinson also had four of the Governors' five three pointers as the remaining Govs were only 1-of-6 from three-point territory.
TENNESSEE STATE 72, FISK 50
NASHVILLE - Playing in front of the home crowd at the Gentry Center for the first time this season, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team led wire-to-wire for a convincing 72-50 victory over cross-town opponent Fisk on Wednesday night.
Redshirt junior forward Wayne Martin posted his third-consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore guard Darreon Reddick also tallied 14 points in his first start of the season.
The Tigers (2-1) dominated the glass with a 47-34 rebounding edge over the Bulldogs (2-5) and forced Fisk into 20 turnovers on the night.
For the second game in a row, TSU jumped out to a fast start, taking an 8-0 lead. The Tigers’ suffocating defense kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes to open the game.
The Tigers’ steady play continued as the advantage quickly ballooned to double figures at 14-3 on a three from Marcus Roper with 13 minutes to go before halftime.
The Bulldogs hung around, cutting the TSU advantage down to nine at 30-21 with 3:55 to go in the first half on a pair of Walter Arnold free throws. On the next possession, however, Johnny Woodard answered back with a three-pointer to give the Tigers a double-digit advantage.
A three-pointer from Tahjere McCall (Philadelphia, Pa.) with four seconds left in the half gave the Tigers a 41-27 halftime lead.
After Fisk drained a three to open the second half to cut the TSU lead down to 11 at 41-30, the Tigers broke the game open with a 12-0 run over the next eight minutes capped by a jumper from Neville Fincher to gain a 23-point lead at 53-30.
The Bulldogs went on to cut their deficit to 18 points with 8:18 to go, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
SAINT LOUIS 70, SIUE 60
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - For the second consecutive game SIUE men's basketball saw four players reach double figures in scoring Wednesday, but it wasn't enough. Saint Louis hung on for the 70-60 win in front of 3,931 at Vadalabene Center.
SIUE dropped to 1-1 for the year. Saint Louis improved to 2-0 for the fourth consecutive year.
The Cougars rode the hot hand of Alton, Illinois, native Carlos Anderson to build an 18-10 lead by the 12:15 mark of the first half. The true freshman scored eight of the Cougars' points and connected on a pair of three-pointers.
The next 7:33 belonged to the Billikens. A Miles Reynolds lay-in at 3:42 capped off a 21-3 Saint Louis run to make the score 31-21. SIUE trimmed the lead to seven (32-25) at the break.
Like in the first half, the Cougars controlled the opening minutes of the second half, again outscoring the Billikens 18-10. Burak Eslik knocked down a three-pointer with 12:25 to play to give SIUE a 43-42 lead, its first advantage since the 8:23 mark in the first half.
The two teams traded leads and the Cougars were on top 50-47 when Yemi Makanjuola hit a pair of free throws with 7:18 left. SLU's Austin Gillman tied the game with a three-pointer and Mike Crawford put Saint Louis up for good ad 52-50 with two free throws with 6:04 remaining.
Eslik led SIUE with a career-high 15 points. He hit a pair of three-pointers and sank 7 of 9 free throw attempts. Anderson and Makanjuola each scored 13 to establish new career highs. Anderson was 2 for 4 from long range. Makanjuola was 4 for 5 from the field and 5 for 7 at the free throw line.
Jalen Henry scored 11 points and added a team-high eight rebounds.
Ash Yacoubou led the Billikens with a career night. Yacoubou scored a game-high 22 points and hauled in 15 rebounds, also a game-high. Crawford added 15 points.
SIUE managed to shoot just 28.3 percent (17-60) from the field for the night. The Cougars hit just five of 23 three-point attempts.
Saint Louis held a decided advantage inside, outscoring SIUE 38-20 in the paint. Both teams finished with 42 rebounds, though the Cougars pulled down 12 offensive rebounds and turned them into 18 second-chance points.
NEW MEXICO STATE 76, TENNESSEE TECH 63
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A hot first half shooting from pretty much everywhere on the floor wasn't enough to outweigh early foul trouble for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team (1-2) Wednesday evening, as New Mexico State (2-1) took home a 76-63 victory over the Golden Eagles in the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M.
The Golden Eagles, who shot 44 percent from the field over the contest's first 20 minutes, held a 36-33 advantage at the break. Tech shot 46.2 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, knocking down six of its 13 3-point attempts.
However, two stats lines proved to be key for Tech down the stretch that New Mexico State would eventually take advantage of. In the first half, the Golden Eagles did not attempt a free throw, as opposed to 10 for the Aggies. The first half foul count ranked 10-3 in favor of New Mexico State. Also in the first stanza, the home squad out-rebounded TTU 27-16, a mark that would grow in the second half.
While New Mexico State couldn't make the Golden Eagles pay for the fouls on the charity stripe – hitting just 3-of-10 in the first half and 6-for-13 in the game – the Aggies forced Tech's post players into early foul trouble. Ryan Martin earned two quick fouls, sending him to the bench for the half after just six minutes of action.
Fellow senior Anthony Morse, who dominated the opening six minutes with four points, five rebounds and two blocks, also was forced to the pine early, playing just eight minutes of first half action due to three fouls. Mason Ramsey was held to seven minutes in the first period after drawing three fouls as well.
Both Morse and Ramsey totaled just 13 minutes apiece, with Morse fouling out of the contest with just under five minutes to play. Martin also fouled out of the contest, heading to the bench with less than three minutes left.
With the TTU frontcourt residing mostly off the court, sophomore Aggie Pascal Siakam took advantage, scoring 30 points and hauling in 11 rebounds to lead all players in the contest. The New Mexico State squad as a whole also used its size advantage to out-rebound Tech 49-28 in the match-up.
Tech did manage to hit 12-of-14 free throws in the second half, but saw its hot shooting cool off both from the field and beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles went 1-for-10 from 3-point land and 7-for-23 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Originally scheduled for an 8 p.m. CST start, the contest was moved back an hour to 9 p.m. after the Golden Eagle squad was stranded in Trinidad, Colo. due to a blizzard that moved into the area following its contest at Air Force Monday evening.
Unable to practice Tuesday and forced to bus nearly eight hours straight to shoot around Wednesday, the Golden Eagles seemed to run short on energy as the game wore on.
Eleven of the 12 Tech players that saw the floor Wednesday evening scored at least two points, with senior guard Torrance Rowe leading the way with 13 on 4-for 10 shooting. Fellow senior Josiah Moore also scored in double figures, posting 10 points while hauling in five boards.
Freshman Courtney Alexander II, who played a season-high 22 minutes due to the foul trouble of his fellow post players, corralled a team-high seven rebounds while adding four points.