Troy escapes with a 65-63 win over Hawaii
HONOLULU -- Jordon Varnado and Wesley Person each scored 14 points and Troy held on for a 65-63 victory over Hawaii on Friday night.
Hawaii forward Gibson Johnson had a steal and assisted on Noah Allen's fast-break layup to tie it at 60-all. But Alex Hicks hit two free throws to give Troy a 62-60 lead and after Hawaii missed a 3, DeVon Walker was fouled in the backcourt and hit two free throws to extend the lead to 64-60.
Johnson was fouled under the basket on an inbound pass with 1:06 left. He missed the second of two free throws, but it went out of bounds off of Troy and his jumper made it 64-63. Kevin Baker made 1 of 2 at the stripe with 4 seconds left and Allen's driving attempt was off the mark.
Hicks finished with nine points and six rebounds for Troy (3-3), which scored the first 16 points of the game.
Jack Purchase led Hawaii (3-3) with a career-high 21 points after making 6 of 11 3-pointers.
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Big 2nd half lifts Ga Southern past Florida A&M 83-72
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Ike Smith scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half, Mike Hughes had 15 of his 19 and Georgia Southern defeated Florida A&M 83-72 at the Savannah Invitational on Friday.
Jake Allsmiller had six 3-pointers for 18 points, 15 in the first half, to keep the Eagles (3-3) in the game. Georgia Southern made seven 3s but was just 10 of 33 overall and trailed 33-32 at halftime.
With Hughes making all five of his 3-pointers and Smith going 6 for 8 with two 3s, the Eagles shot 53 percent in the second half to pull away.
Desmond Williams had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Rattlers (2-5), who made five behind the arc compared with the Eagles' 15.
Thanks to Allsmiller, Georgia Southern reserves outscored Florida A&M 33-20.
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Beverly scores 22 points to lead UTSA over Texas State
SAN ANTONIO (AP) Jeff Beverly scored a season-high 22 points and UTSA defeated Texas State 63-48 on Friday night.
Beverly, who made all 10 of his free throws, has scored in double figures in all six games this season. Byron Frohnen added nine points with 10 rebounds for the Roadrunners (2-4) before fouling out.
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury, averaging 20 points a game coming in, finished with 12 on 5-of-14 shooting, going 0 for 7 on 3-pointers. Texas State (2-3) shot 30 percent, and made just 4 of 27 3-pointers, missing their first 16 from long range before Nijal Pearson connected with 11:43 left in the game.
Texas State led by a point before UTSA went on an 11-0 run to end the half and lead 31-21. The Bobcats scored five straight points to open the second half but UTSA replied with a 13-6 run that gave the Roadrunners a double-figures lead they would hold.