SATURDAY'S SCORES
Northern Illinois 98,
Little Rock 93 (Atlanta, Ga.)
@La Salle 79,
Southern Indiana 78 (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois 48, Coppin State 46 (Oxford, Ohio)
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 98, LITTLE ROCK 93
ATLANTA - A second half surge was not enough for Little Rock Men's Basketball team as the Trojans lost 98-93 in the Capitol Challenge Saturday in Atlanta, Ga. The Trojans had three players in double-digits with DeAntoni Gordon leading all scorers with 26 points.
Gordon went 10-of-20 from the field and contributed a team high six rebounds in the loss. KK Robinson recorded 20 points and a career-high eight assists, while Pavle Kuzmaanovic had a career-high 15 points including going 5-of-6 from the three-point line.
NIU opened the first half on a 10-0 run, before a free throw by Robinson gave the Trojans their first point of the game. The Huskies continued their streak with a 6-0 run until Jamir Chaplin knocked down two free throws.
With 1:38 remaining in the game, Little Rock cut the Huskies lead to 13 sparked by a three-pointer by Cougar Downing.
NIU ended the half on a 5-0 run to take the 58-40 lead.
Little Rock opened the second half with a three-pointer by Jordan Jefferson. After points by NIU, a steal by Bradley Douglas followed by a layup by Chaplin cut the lead to 14. The Huskies quickly answered back with a three-point shot.
At the 16:25 mark, two free throws by Gordon followed by a steal by Jefferson and put back by Robinson sparked a 11-1 run that narrowed the NIU lead to nine.
Both teams exchanged points including six-straight from Gordon, before a steal and put back dunk by Chaplin cut the lead to five with 7:12 on the clock.
After free throws by NIU, a three-pointer by Kuzmaanovic and three-point play by Gordon brought the Trojans within three.
The Huskies advanced their lead back to eight, before free throws by Robinson and a jumper by Gordon put the NIU lead at three with 1:23 left in the game.
NIU and Little Rock exchanged free throws with the Huskies winning 98-93.
LA SALLE 79, SOUTHERN INDIANA 78
PHILADELPHIA - – University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball lost a heartbreaker to La Salle University, 79-78, to open the Duke Blue Devil Challenge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Screaming Eagles are 1-4 after today's action, while the Explorers are 4-0 to begin the season.
The Eagles came out hot in the opening and went toe-to-toe with the Explorers, winning their first opening half of the season. After falling behind 24-18, USI went on a 12-5 run to take a 30-29 lead when sophomore guard Jack Campion (Milton, Wisconsin) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key.
USI would go on to score six of the last eight points of the half and post a 36-31 lead at the intermission. Campion led the Eagles through the first 20 minutes with a season-best 10 points by halftime, while sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) nine at the break.
In the second half, USI pushed the lead to as many as seven, 51-44, with 14:45 on the clock when junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) hit a three. La Salle, however, would rally to regain the advantage, 54-53, with a 10-2 run with 12:49 to play.
The Eagles and the Explorers would trade buckets and leads until La Salle took the lead for good at 3:08, 73-72. USI had posted its last lead of the game at 3:34 when junior guard Jordan Tillmon (Pine Bluff, Arkansas) hit a long-range bucket for the 72-71 advantage.
La Salle increased the margin to 77-72 with USI hot on their heels and the Eagles closing the gap to 77-75 on a three by USI junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) with seven seconds left.
After La Salle got two more free throws to seal the Eagles' fate, Mielke hit a three with one second remaining to complete the 79-78 final.
Overall, USI shot a season-high 53.3 percent (32-60) from the field and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc (10-23), in addition to winning the battle of the boards, 32-29. The Eagles also had a season-high four players score in double-digits, led by Smith with15 points.
Smith was seven-of-12 from the field, including a three-pointer, while tying for the team-lead in rebounds with eight.
Hernandez followed with 14 points, while senior forward Nolan Causwell (Duluth, Georgia) and Campion rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points and 11 points, respectively. Causwell, who posted a season-high with his 13 points, tied Smith for the team-lead with a season-high eight rebounds.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 48, COPPIN STATE 46
OXFORD, Ohio - In a back-and-forth game, Corey Sawyer Jr. hit a driving lay-up with five seconds remaining to lift Eastern Illinois to a 48-46 win over Coppin State on Saturday at the Miami RedHawk MTE.
Sawyer finished with six points as only one player on each team finished in double figures in the low scoring affair.
EIU led 23-21 at the half and finished with that same score differential led by Kooper Jacobi’s 11 points.
Coppin State took the lead midway through the second half and led by three points with 7:25 left in the in contest after a jumper by Zahree Harrison.
Camaren Sparrow, who scored a game-high 12 points for the Eagles, pushed the lead to four points with 5:21 to play with a lay-up.
Eastern Illinois answered each quick spurt by Coppin State knotting the game at 42-42 on a jumper by Sincere Malone with 2:39 to play. Malone again tied the game at 44-44 with free throws with 1:20 remaining.
EIU went ahead on a jumper by Kyndall Davis with 38 seconds left only to see Sparrow hit a pull-up jumper with 22 seconds left to tie the game at 46-46. That set the stage for Sawyer’s game winner assisted by Jaylin Gibson.
CSU missed a shot with three seconds left with Dan Luers securing the rebound and the win.
Malone led EIU with eight rebounds as the Panthers held Coppin State to 32 percent shooting.