WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Georgia State 82,
Eastern Kentucky 65 (Cancun, Mexico)
Tennessee State 72, @Canisius 58
UT Martin 66, @Duquesne 63
GEORGIA STATE 82, EASTERN KENTUCKY 62
CANCUN, Mexico - Sophomore forward Nick Mayo scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, but the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team fell to Georgia State, 82-65, on Wednesday in the 2016 Cancun Challenge Mayan Division Championship Game.
It is the fifth time in six games that Mayo has scored 20 or more points this season. The native of Oakland, Maine went for 21 points, 10 boards and four assists on Tuesday versus Idaho State.
Mayo and senior wing Jaylen Babb-Harrison were named to the Cancun Challenge Mayan Division All-Tournament Team following the game. Babb-Harrison scored 29 points, pulled down 13 boards and dished out seven assists in the Colonels’ two games in Mexico this week.
EKU (2-4) jumped out to a quick lead over Georgia State, as a three-pointer by Mayo made it 16-6 in favor of the Colonels just over five minutes into the game.
GSU responded with a 14-0 run, though, and grabbed a 20-16 advantage when Isaiah Williams converted a layup with 10:46 on the clock.
A dunk by D’Marcus Simonds stretched the Panthers’ lead to nine, 41-32, just before halftime.
Eastern pulled back to within eight, 50-42, when freshman guard Asante Gist got a layup to go with 16:42 remaining in the game; however, GSU countered with five straight points to go up by 13, and the Panthers led by double digits the rest of the way.
Gist finished with 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half. He also contributed a team-best five assists and came up with two steals.
Junior forward Zach Charles tallied 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for the Colonels. Freshman forward Marlon Adams came off the bench to match a team-best with eight rebounds, seven of which were offensive.
Williams led the way for Georgia State with 18 points, while Willie Clayton recorded nine points and a game-high 15 boards.
TENNESSEE STATE 72, CANISIUS 58
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Double-doubles from Wayne Martin and Jordan Reed lifted the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 72-58 road victory over Canisius at the Koessler Athletic Center on Wednesday night. TSU, which received one vote in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, is 5-0 for the first time since moving to Division I prior to the 1977-78 season.
Martin finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Reed concluded the night with 13 points and 11 boards for the Tigers. TSU also received double-digit scoring efforts from Tahjere McCall with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds to go with 12 points from Delano Spencer.
A fast start by Canisius (1-4) put TSU in a 13-7 hole in the opening 3:30 of the game. The Tigers tightened up on defense and battled back to take their first lead at 17-16 with 11:28 left in the half on a three from Spencer.
Trailing later in the half, TSU used a 7-0 run for a 26-21 advantage with 6:30 remaining before halftime.
The Tigers held the Golden Griffins without a field goal for eight minutes and took a 40-27 lead into halftime behind 64 percent shooting (16-for-25) from the field.
TSU continued to play well in the second half, taking a 49-30 lead on a thunderous putback dunk by Reed with 15:39 to play. The TSU lead grew to as much as 21 points on two occasions the rest of the way.
The Tigers’ dominance on the glass again played a factor as TSU held a 45-31 rebounding edge and outscored Canisius by a 36-16 margin in the paint.
UT MARTIN 66, DUQUESNE 63
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Jacolby Mobley poured in a career-high 25 points tonight – including a game-winning 25-foot buzzer beater from the left wing – to help the University of Tennessee at Martin soar for its fifth consecutive victory, a 66-63 road win at Duquesne.
The Skyhawks trailed by 16 points with under 14 minutes to go in the contest before Mobley’s heroics capped off one of the program’s most impressive non-conference wins in recent memory.
Mobley, who also sank a game-winning three-pointer at Austin Peay on Feb. 13, 2016, received the inbound pass from Matthew Butler with 3.3 seconds remaining. The senior out of Starkville, Miss. took two dribbles, created some separation and let it fly from in front of the Skyhawk bench. The shot found nothing but net as his teammates rushed the court to hoist him on their shoulders.
In addition to his career best scoring output, Mobley also added a career-high six rebounds to help UT Martin improve to 5-1 on the season. Butler was the only other Skyhawk to reach double figures in the scoring column, as he added 13 points. Javier Martinez and Fatodd Lewis each corralled nine rebounds to help UT Martin win the battle on the glass by a 49-38 margin.
Duquesne (2-4) was led by Emile Blackman’s 19 points while Isiaha Mike (15) and Rene Castro (11) were also double-digit scorers. The Dukes, members of the prestigious Atlantic 10 Conference, took a 38-28 halftime lead before the Skyhawk defense bottled them up for 31 percent shooting – including a 1-of-10 effort from three-point range – in the final 20 minutes.
Duquesne scored the first four points of the game before a Butler three-pointer and a Kedar Edwards dunk on two straight trips down the floor gave UT Martin its first lead of the game.
Malik London scored on back-to-back possessions before Mobley reeled off five straight Skyhawk points to even the score at 16-all midway through the first half.
The Dukes answered with a 14-2 run to go ahead by a 32-20 margin before another Mobley trifecta got UT Martin back within single digits. Chandler Rowe then closed out the first half with five straight points for the Skyhawks but Duquesne scored on a last-second play to take a 38-28 lead into the halftime break.
Mobley’s 10 first-half points guided UT Martin, who shot 28.2 percent (11-of-39) in the first 20 minutes. Castro’s 11 points off the bench led a Duke squad who hit five 3-pointers in the opening half.
Duquesne scored five of its first six points of the second half and eventually stretched its lead out to 52-36 with 13:52 remaining. Butler then sank a pair of three-pointers and Dante Bailey contributed four points during a Skyhawk surge before Mobley took over the game.
Mobley accounted for eight straight UT Martin points in the span of 2:26, helping the Skyhawks pull within five points (59-54) with 7:28 to go.
The Dukes knocked down a pair of free throws and followed with a layup at the 4:54 mark to take a 63-56 lead. However, that would be the last points that Duquesne would score the rest of the way, as the Dukes went 0-for-7 from the field while committing two turnovers from that point forward.
Edwards pumped in five straight points – including two free throws to even the score at 63-all with 3:13 left to play. That proved to be the last points before Mobley’s game-ending heroics.