CCU Beats UIC; Moves into CBI Championship
Conway - All five starters for Coastal Carolina reached double digits as the Chanticleers moved into the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) three-game championship series with an 89-78 victory over Illinois Chicago.
Jaylen Shaw led the Chants scoring efforts with 22 points on seven-of-11 shooting. Demario Beck was not far behind with 18 points, and also recorded his ninth double-double of the season with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Elijah Wilson scored 16, Colton Ray-St Cyr added 12 and freshman Artur Labinowicz, making his third consecutive start, finished with 10 points.
CCU (19-17) shot 44 percent from the field, but it was the second half which saw them shoot over 55 percent (16-29) that helped push their lead out to 71-50 with seven minutes left in the game.
UIC (17-19) would not go away and cut the lead to 81-71 with a little over a minute remaining, but CCU hit five of its last six free throws to keep the visitors from getting any closer.
The Chants set single-season highs with 16 steals and 26 made free throws.
CCU grabbed 41 rebounds compared to the visitors 29. Following Beck's 10, Labinowicz and Ray-St Cyr had six. 16 of those rebounds were on the offensive end and led to 22 second-chance points.
Shaw had four assists and four steals as CCU forced 23 turnovers which led to 24 points off turnovers.
CCU hit 26 of its 31 free throws for 84 percent and was seven-of-18 from beyond the three-point line for 39 percent.
UIC stayed in the game by virtue of knocking down 11 of its 25 three point attempts (44%). The Flames ended the game shooting an even 50 percent (28-56) from the field and hit 11 of its 18 free throws.
Three Flames hit double digits with Tarkus Ferguson's game-high 27 points leading the way. Dominique Matthews and Tai Odiase each added 10.
CCU went into the locker room at halftime with a 36-29 lead despite shooting 35 percent from the field and turning the ball over seven times.
Beck had eight points and Shaw had seven to lead the Chants. CCU also held a 22-17 advantage on the boards with eight of those coming on the offensive end leading to 14 second chance points. CCU made the best of their chances at the free throw line hitting all nine of its attempts.
UIC shot 46 percent from the field, but its 12 turnovers hurt their opportunities. CCU only scored eight points off those turnovers as the Chants shooting troubles continued for the first 20 minutes.
Odiase led the Flames with six points and Boahen added four.
CCU will now meet the winner of the Wyoming and Utah Valley game which at press time had not completed. The championship series will be a best two-out-of-three with one team hosting two games, if needed. The games will be played March 27, 29 and 31st with all three games set to be played on ESPNU.
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Bobcats Handle Vandals 64-55; Host St. Peter’s Saturday in CIT Quarterfinals
SAN MARCOS, Texas – A tight game for the first 27 minutes, the Texas State men's basketball team used an 18-6 run to take control on its way to a 64-55 victory over Idaho Wednesday night in Strahan Coliseum in front of 3,086 fans for the CollegeInsider.com Tournament second round contest.
The Bobcats will host a quarterfinal contest on Saturday at 4 p.m. against St. Peter's of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Peacocks defeated Albany on the road in the first round 59-55 and received a bye into the quarterfinals. Tickets for the game will go on sale Thursday at noon and can be purchased either in person, over the phone or online at TXStateBobcats.com/tickets.
With the win, Texas State improves to 22-13 on the season while the Vandals conclude their year at 19-14. The two postseason victories are the most the Bobcats have recorded since 1979, when that squad won the first games of the NAIA National Tournament.
Idaho jumped out to a 6-2 lead two minutes into the game. After an old-fashion three-point play by Immanuel King, Nijal Pearson knocked down two free throws to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game at 7-6.
Seven quick points from the Vandals was countered immediately with a 7-0 run from Texas State that was capped off with a layup from Tyler Blount.
After trading the lead, Idaho scored five straight to take a three-point lead with just under 2:30 to go. Ojai Black knocked down a jumper and two free throws to close out the scoring in the period and send the Bobcats into halftime leading 24-23.
Texas State made its first seven shots of the second half but led by just one after the Vandals' Pat Ingram knocked down his second three-pointer of the contest. Pearson countered with a triple of his own to kick start the Bobcats' 18-6 run that spanned 7:12. During that stretch, Pearson scored eight points with two three-pointers.
Over the next 1:53, Idaho outscored Texas State 9-1 to cut the Bobcat lead to 58-53 with 3:20 remaining. Neither team was able to score for the next 80 seconds until Pearson knocked down his third trey of the game and the last made field goal for either team.
Bobby Conley converted 3-of-4 free throws in the final 1:30 to seal the victory.
Leading Texas State with 16 points was Nijal Pearson. The freshman connected on 5-of-10 shot attempts, was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and was 3-of-4 at the charity stripe. He also finished with four rebounds, four assists a team-high two steals and a block.
Gilder-Tilbury contributed 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds, handed out two assists, blocked two shots and recorded a steal. The senior moved into sixth place on the career scoring list and 10th on the single-single scoring list with 1,379 and 567 points, respectively, while also becoming the program's career leader in three-point attempts with 447.
Also adding his name to a single-season list was Black after dishing out a game-high five assists. The Killeen, Texas native now has 139 assists this year, the 10th most in school history, and is just one shy of tying Donald Harvey (1985-86) for ninth place. The senior also netted 13 points as he made 5-of-7 shots and all three of his free throw attempts.
King added seven points and grabbed a game-high eight boards. Conley finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds.
Off the bench, Marlin Davis handed out three assists without turning the ball over and recorded a steal.
For the latest on Texas State men's basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Twitter at @TxStateMBB, Instagram at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.
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Roadrunners Outlast Mavs In NIT Quarterfinals; Mavs Set School Record With 27-Win Season
ARLINGTON, Texas -- CSU Bakersfield used a late run in the first half to post an 80-76 win over UTA men's basketball in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament, played in front of 6,336 on Wednesday night at College Park Center.
UTA (27-9) saw its record-setting season end a step shy of advancing to the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden. Paced by the Sun Belt Conference Coach (Scott Cross) and Player of the Year (Kevin Hervey), the Mavs set a program record with 27 wins en route to their first regular-season conference championship in the Sun Belt.
CSU Bakersfield (25-9) used a 23-9 run over the final seven minutes of the half to take a 16-point lead into halftime. UTA's furious rally in the second half fell just short as the Roadrunners outlasted the Mavs as a 12-point advantage was all the ground UTA could make up in the second stanza.
CSUB held the Mavs to 36-percent shooting from the field, winning the battle on the glass, 33-32, owning a 41-19 advantage in bench points and limiting the Mavs to just eight three pointers in 29 attempts. The Roadrunner finished the game leading all but 48 seconds.
The Roadrunners snapped UTA's 15-game home winning streak and handed the Mavs their first loss at home in 15 tries during a historic 2016-17 campaign.
The Mavs opened their run in the NIT with a 105-89 win at BYU in the first round, the first postseason win in program history. UTA then won its first home postseason game in program annals with an 85-69 win on Monday night over Akron, a 27-win regular-season champion of the Mid-American Conference.
The crowd of 6,336 on Wednesday marked the second-largest basketball crowd in College Park Center history.
KEY STATS
The stifling defense of the Roadrunners held the Mavs to 22 made field goals, forced 12 turnovers and surrendered just 12 UTA assists. Only Hervey and Erick Neal reached double figures, with Neal charting a 22-point, five-assist game and Hervey adding 15 points and eight boards. Senior Drew Charles added eight points and junior guard Kaelon Wilson finished with seven points. Senior forward Jorge Bilbao grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, adding five points. Nathan Hawkins also added seven points, with Faith Pope chipping in six points.
KEY STRETCHES
First Half
The teams traded defensive stops and missed shots over the first three minutes until Matt Smith got CSUB on the board first with a bucket. On the following possession, Wilson answered with an off-balance jumper in the lane, getting fouled and sinking the opportunity from the charity stripe for the first lead of the game. After a Roadrunner three pointer, Wilson accelerated in transition, beating the defense to the rim for an easy lay-in. On the next possession, Hervey swatted a shot that found Wilson in transition for the breakaway dunk and a 7-5 lead. CSUB answered with five straight points, before UTA got a pair from the charity stripe from Neal and a one-handed slam from Link Kabadyundi. The next three possessions saw made three pointers from Faith Pope and two from the Road Runners to build a 19-14 lead at the under 12-minute timeout.
Charles helped swing the momentum to the side of the Mavs with a pair of three pointers, cutting the lead to 22-20 after Bilbao found Charles on the wing after an offensive rebound. CSUB then went on a 10-0 run, getting a pair of triples to stretch its lead to 34-22 as the clock went under five minutes in the half. A 23-9 run for CSUB closed the half in a 45-29 game. Wilson led UTA with seven points at the break but CSUB's defense limited the Mavs to 37 percent from the field and held Hervey to 1-of-6 shooting and just two points.
Second Half
The Roadrunners built their lead to 19 out of the break, with Hervey scoring five straight for the Mavs to cut the lead to 51-34 with just over 16 minutes remaining in regulation. The Mavs started to crawl back, getting to within 56-45 as the clock ticked under 12 minutes, on the strength of a Pope three from the corner. After the under 12-minute timeout, Neal hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 58-47.
UTA forced a turnover with 10:43 left in the period and Bilbao was fouled on the offensive end, hitting one from the free-throw line to get the lead to 10 points, 58-48. Just when UTA's rally was gaining traction, the Mavs fouled CSUB's Shon Briggs on a desperation three as the shot-clock expired, falling behind 63-48 as Briggs nailed all three free throws. After snagging an offensive rebound on a Nathan Hawkins miss, Hervey was fouled and hit both free throws to once again cut the lead to 10 points, 63-53 at the under eight-minute timeout.
With 6:20 left in regulation, Hervey was fouled while fighting for an offensive rebound on a missed shot from Charles in transition. He made just one to get the lead down to nine points. CSUB again got a bucket late in the shot clock to take its lead to 11 but Neal answered with a contested three-pointer, with Cross taking a timeout immediately, trailing 67-59. After a Bilbao steal on the defensive end, he cleaned up a Hervey miss for an offensive rebound and putback to cut the lead to 67-61.
UTA's turnover on the offensive end led to an intentional foul with 4:13 left, with the Roadrunners sinking both free throws for a 69-61 lead and getting jumper late in the shot clock, a four-point swing and giving CSUB a 71-61 lead, with the Mavs scoring drought reaching nearly three minutes before Neal hit a pair of free throws with 2:16 left. Neal's jumper with 63 seconds remaining snapped UTA's streak without a field goal at four minutes. Neal hit a triple with 24 seconds remaining to give him 20 points.