Thursday, November 16
Georgia Southern 120, Bluefield State 52
STATESBORO – Seven Eagles scored in double figures, and Georgia Southern outscored Bluefield State 70-22 in the second half on its way to a 120-52 men’s basketball victory over the Big Blues Thursday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Ike Smith led the way for the Eagles (3-0) with 20 points, and Jake Allsmiller tallied 17 points and four rebounds. Shawn O’Connell put up 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Quan Jackson netted a career-high 13 points to go along with four steals.
Jared Hamilton recorded 11 points and seven rebounds, and Tookie Brown posted 12 points and seven assists. Montae Glenn collected 10 points and 10 rebounds with just three field goal attempts as the junior canned all eight of his free-throw attempts. Mike Hughes chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Korey Williams tallied 11 points and four assists to lead Bluefield State (2-1), and Joseph Adeyemo collected seven points and 10 rebounds.
Leading 33-25, the Eagles capped the first half with a 17-5 run to take control of the contest. Allsmiller hit a pair of back-to-back triples to spark the run while Glenn and Brown each drained four free throws. Meanwhile, Bluefield state missed seven of its final eight shots of the period.
Smith scored the final 13 points in a 20-2 Eagle run to start the second half as Georgia Southern opened a 70-32 advantage 5:21 into the frame. The Eagles’ 120 points were six shy of the school modern era record of 126, set against Georgia State in 1974. Eleven of the 12 Eagles who played tonight scored a bucket.
Georgia Southern held Bluefield State to 25 percent shooting for the game, including 5-for-33 in the second half. The Eagles also forced 25 turnovers with the help of 15 steals.
Troy 106, Brewton-Parker 71
TROY, Ala. – Troy came back to Trojan Arena in dominating fashion on Thursday with a 106-71 win over Brewton-Parker led by career-highs from Alex Hicks and Javan Johnson.
Hicks nearly doubled his previous career-high of 14 points by posting a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds against the Barons fueled by a slew of dunks and a near-perfect 7-8 performance from the free-throw line.
While Hicks centered his night around the basket, Johnson showed off his range by hitting 5-7 3-pointers en route to 18 points. The freshman was just shy of his first double-double with nine rebounds while adding three blocks in 30 minutes.
Those two weren’t the only forwards who put up numbers on the night as Jordon Varnado pitched in 18 points and a block. The trio of forwards fueled the Trojans to a 60-28 scoring advantage in the second half.
After playing Hawai’I on Monday and arriving back home early Wednesday, Troy led just 46-43 at the break. That soon changed in the second half thanks to a 32 percent difference in shooting (55.3 to 23.3) and 50 percent (7-14) shooting from three.
Iowa State 104, Appalachian State 98
CONWAY, S.C. – Appalachian State trimmed an 18-point second half deficit to as little as six points, but the Mountaineers came up on the short end of a 104-98 contest to Iowa State on Thursday evening in the first game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at Myrtle Beach.
Iowa State (1-2) turned a four-point halftime lead into an 18-point edge at 79-61 with 8:25 to go, before the Mountaineers (2-1) used a 16-6 run to pull within eight points at 85-77 with 3:12 to play.
Iowa State would push their lead back to 10 points, before a pair of free throws from junior Ronshad Shabazz (Raleigh, N.C./Huntington Prep) brought App State back to within eight points at 87-79.
The Black and Gold continued to battle and got to within six points in the final seconds, but could get no closer.
Freshman Justin Forrest (Decatur, Ga./Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy) scored a career-high 32 points off the bench. Forrest scored 26 points in the second half, which is a new Puerto Rico Tip-Off record for points in a half, on 6-of-10 shooting (60.0 percent) from the field, 3-of-6 (50.0 percent) from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 (90.0 percent) shooting from the free throw line.
Shabazz finished with a season-high 32 points, to go along with three rebounds. He scored 21 points in the first half, which was just three points shy of tying his career-high of 24 points in a half, set last season against Georgia Southern. Shabazz has now scored 24 or more points in all three of Appalachian State's contests this season.
Sophomore Isaac Johnson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) had a nice all-around game with eight points, six rebounds and five assists.
Both teams came out of the gate strong and a 3-pointer by Forrest gave the Apps their first lead at 19-18 midway through the first half.
The lead would change hands seven more time in the first half, before a late 6-1 spurt by Iowa State allowed them to open a 47-40 edge. Shabazz would drain a late 3-pointer in the closing second of the opening stanza to trim the Cyclone lead to 47-43 at the intermission.
The second half started out tight, with App State tying the score at 49-49 early on. The Cyclones would then slowly pull away, ultimately building their 18-point lead.
Appalachian finished the contest with 20 assists and also saw their bench hold a 53-23 scoring advantage.
App State will take on the loser of the nightcap in the tournament between Tulsa and Western Michigan on Friday. Tip is set for 5 p.m. on ESPNU.
La Salle 81, South Alabama 73
PHILADELPHIA - Down by 23 early in the second half, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team got as close as five in the late stages but was unable to get over the hump in an 81-73 loss to La Salle Thursday night at Tom Gola Arena.
The Jaguars used a 14-0 run to trim a 21-point deficit down to seven with 7:35 left, and trailed by five twice, with 2:19 and 1:21 to play, but Amar Stukes hit a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining to close out the scoring.
Three Jags set new career highs in scoring. Sophomore Jordan Andrews recorded 20 points on four 3-pointers, junior Rodrick Sikes had 17 points, and sophomore Herb McGee added 12 and five assists.
The Explorers never trailed, scoring the game's first 10 points, and posted 12 unanswered points to take a 34-13 lead with six minutes to go before halftime.
A 3-pointer from Pookie Powell put La Salle up 65-44 with 10:24 remaining, but South Alabama went to work from there, scoring the next 14 points thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Sikes and senior Nick Davis, a layup from sophomore Trhae Mitchell, and a triple and a three-point play from Andrews.
Andrews' three-point play was his 15th point of the second half and left the Jags trailing 65-58 with 7:35 left.
A trifecta from Sikes and a free throw from McGee pulled the Jaguars with 76-71 with 2:19 on the clock, but B.J. Johnson got a dunk on the other end for a seven-point advantage.
Sikes and Andrews missed two opportunities to get closer, but Sikes did get a put-back with 1:21 left to make it a 78-73 contest.
Stukes' reply came 17 seconds later which marked the final points of the contest.
Eastern Michigan 76, Arkansas State 59
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Deven Simms notched his first career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but 23 turnovers by the Arkansas State men’s basketball team contributed to a 76-59 defeat at Eastern Michigan Thursday night.
The Red Wolves saw their record drop to 1-2 while Eastern Michigan improved to 3-0 on the season. Simms scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half, shooting 7-for-9 from the floor. Tamas Bruce was the only other A-State player in double figures as he finished with 15 points. James Thompson IV posted 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles while Paul Jackson (21) and Tim Bond (15) also reached double figures.
A-State converted just five field goals (5-25) in the first half, but finished the night at 39 percent (20-51). The Red Wolves struggled from 3-point range hitting just 3-of-16 (19 percent). Eastern Michigan shot 48 percent (28-58), but also struggled beyond the arc hitting only 4-of-18 (22 percent). Eastern Michigan (3-0) held a 36-35 edge on the glass, but won the turnover battle 23-15 for a points off turnovers margin of 24-11.
A-State hit just 5-of-25 (20 percent) from the field in the half, with three of those coming from 3-point range. After building a 7-3 lead, Eastern Michigan outscored the Red Wolves 17-3 to build a 10-point advantage. During the run, A-State was 0-for-6 from the field with four turnovers.
The Red Wolves cut the deficit to 20-15, but Eastern Michigan took a 37-24 advantage to halftime. The Eagles finished 48.4 percent (15-31) from the field, but 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
Free throws kept A-State in the game as the Red Wolves knocked down 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) at the charity stripe compared to 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) for the Eagles. Simms, who led A-State with seven points in the half, was 7-for-8 at the line.
A-State turned the ball over 12 times in the first half that were turned into 11 points for Eastern Michigan. A-State was able to force nine turnovers, but scored just six points off those miscues. The Eagles dominated the paint in the first by a score of 18-4.
The Red Wolves opened the second half on a 6-0 run to get within 37-30, but EMU used an 11-2 run to build a 14-point advantage. A-State answered with a 13-3 run to trail 53-49, but a 7-2 answer from Eastern Michigan put the game to rest.
A-State shot 58 percent (15-26) in the second half and only attempted two 3-pointers, but committed 11 turnovers. Eastern Michigan turned those 11 miscues into 13 points. Simms scored 16 points and Tamas Bruce added 13 in the second half as the Red Wolves poured in 28 points in the paint.
EMU was 48 percent (13-27) from the field in the half and improved at the charity stripe hitting 11-of-17 (65 percent). A-State was 5-of-10 at the line in the second half.