SLC MBB Scoreboard: 11/25

• Tweet
• Pin It

Lamar 63, Arkansas State 58
JONESBORO, Ark. – An early second-half run to take a seven-point lead was all the Lamar Cardinals needed to pick up their second win of the season Tuesday night knocking off Arkansas State, 63-58. It was the first non-conference victory for Lamar (2-3) since the 2011-12 season when Big Red defeated Rice.
 
“I’m very proud of this team tonight,” said head coach Tic Price. “We needed a win like this. You need to be able to get a win when things aren’t necessarily going your way. Plus, our guys needed to see that their hard working is paying off. We still have a long way to go, but tonight we found a way to get the win.”
 
The Cardinals shot better than 45 percent from the field, including a 10-of-23 second-half performance. In addition to Lamar’s solid shooting, the Cardinals dialed up the defensive pressure in the second stanza holding the Red Wolves to six field goals (.316) following an opening half that saw ASU connect on 48 percent of its shots.
 
Despite serious foul trouble to Lamar’s post players, the Cardinals still managed to find an advantage in the paint. Lamar outscored the Red Wolves, 36-20, in the post. Big Red also found an advantage off the bench. Lamar’s reserves outscored ASU’s backups, 23-8, led by eight points from freshman Zjori Bosha.
 
“You can see that confidence start to grow with all of our guys, but especially our younger players,” said Price. “I believe you will continue to see this as the year wears on.”
 
The first half was a tight battle that saw neither team gain larger than a five-point advantage in the opening 20 minutes. Neither team was willing to surrender an advantage as the first half saw eight lead changes, and the game was tied five times.
 
The Cardinals were charged with 13 fouls in the opening half – Arkansas State was assessed six — which translated into more free throws made for ASU in the opening half than Lamar attempted.
 
Lamar overcame the foul trouble with strong shooting, and forcing some timely turnovers. LU trailed by five late in the opening half, and rallied to tie the game. After forcing a turnover, LU got the basketball back with 21 seconds remaining. With two seconds left on the clock, Quan Jones found a cutting Preston Mattingly who went right to the basket with the ball to tie the game at 35 as the first-half buzzer sounded.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick start in the second half, knocking down four of their first eight attempts to reclaim the lead, 44-39, with 17:08 remaining in the contest. It was an advantage that the Cardinals would not relinquish.
 
After taking a three-point lead to start the second half, ASU answered with a three-pointer from Cameron Golden. After the Arkansas State triple, the Cardinals scored the game’s next seven points and would push its lead to as many as eight, 54-46, with less than nine to play. After the eight-point lead, the Red Wolves could get no closer than three points as senior Anthony Holliday and Mattingly would each hit a free throw in the final seconds to put the game away.
 
Senior Tyran de Lattibeaudiere finished the night with a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds. Holliday chipped in 11 on 4-of-7 shooting.
 
The Red Wolves were led by Anthony Livingston’s 16 points and nine rebounds.
 
Lamar returns to action Friday when they travel to Houston to face Texas Southern. The game against TSU is slated to tip off at 3 p.m.
 
– Return to Top –

 
Abilene Christian 91, Jarvis Christian 65
ABILENE, Texas – Four Abilene Christian players scored in double figures Tuesday night and the Wildcats poured in 54 second-half points as they cruised to a 91-65 win over Jarvis Christian in non-conference men’s basketball action at Moody Coliseum.
 
The win pushes the Wildcats to 2-2 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 1-6. ACU will be back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (Abilene time) in the first game of the toughest seven-day stretch of the season so far. The Wildcats will play at California-Riverside on Saturday before returning home to host Sacramento State on Dec. 4. Two days later, the Wildcats will be in Houston to take on the Houston Cougars.
 
After taking just a 37-27 lead into halftime, the Wildcats opened the second half by outscoring the Bulldogs 15-5 over the first 4:55 of the half to push the lead to 20 points. Austin Cooke had four points and Jalen Little a 3-pointer to spark the run and give the Wildcats an insurmountable lead.
 
Harrison Hawkins – who came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points – capped the run with a 3-pointer to give ACU a 52-32 lead with 15:05 to play. Jarvis Christian would not get closer than 18 points the rest of the way.
 
The win was ACU’s 25th straight at home over non-conference opponents. The last time the Wildcats lost a home non-conference game was Nov. 30, 2009, when they dropped an 85-82 decision to Dallas Baptist at Moody Coliseum.
 
Tuesday night against Jarvis Christian, Hawkins led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Cooke and Michael Grant each had 13 points. Redshirt freshman center Christian Albright had 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds, both career-highs.
 
After a start to their shooting night (1 for 10 from the field to start the game), the Wildcats hit 31 of their last 62 shots (50 percent) from the field. Jarvis Christian had a very solid shooting first half, hitting 10 of 17 from the field, but managed to hist just 10 of 25 shots from the field in the second half.
   
– Return to Top –

 
Texas Tech 75, Northwestern State 64
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech’s balance outweighed Zeek Woodley’s brilliance Tuesday night as the Red Raiders had four in double figures to offset 27 points on near-perfect shooting by Northwestern State’s sophomore swingman in a 75-64 non-conference basketball outcome.
  
Texas Tech (3-1), whose only loss was in overtime at LSU, drained 62 percent of its shots after halftime to repel rallies by Northwestern State (2-3), which played for the fourth time in eight days and for the third straight time on the road.
  
The Red Raiders got 13 points by Robert Turner, along with five steals, while Devaughtah Williams scored 11 and two teammates had 10 each. The Demons stayed in range behind Woodley’s 11 of 12 shooting aim, including a 3-pointer, and a nine-assist, four-steal performance by point guard Jalan West, whose four points were his fewest in 38 games, since late in his freshman season.
  
Northwestern State carved an 18-point deficit 6:28 before halftime down to 37-33 early in the second half. Texas Tech scored 11 of the next 13 points to regain control, moved up 53-37 with 13:19 to go, and didn’t allow the Demons closer than 11 afterward.
  
“We finally figured out we had to slow the game down at this stage of our development,” said Demons’ coach Mike McConathy. “Jalan had as good a game as he’s played. He got the ball into the hands of people to put them in a great position to score, and dealt with his situation so well. They are beating him to death, riding him, and so he’s having to adjust to a very physical style of defense.”
 
West scored only five points Sunday at No. 18 Oklahoma, getting one free throw attempt after averaging 10 in Northwestern State ‘s first three games.  He compensated with eight assists and five steals. Tuesday night, West did not get to the free throw line at all for the first time in his 70-game college career, but had his 21st game in two-plus seasons with at least eight assists as he enhanced his No. 5 NCAA ranking in career assists per game (5.85 entering the night).
  
“Zeek’s special, and Jalan is a big reason why he’s able to shine this brightly,” said McConathy. “Jalan gets him the ball in great positions to score and Zeek finishes as well as anybody. To put up 26 and 27 in back to back games against Big XII Conference opponents is impressive.”
  
The Demons shot 52 percent after halftime, soaring as high as 67 percent. But the much-bigger Red Raiders made 62 percent in the final period, and posted an overall 41-27 rebounding advantage while outscoring Northwestern State 36-22 inside.  They had 13 offensive rebounds and beat the visitors 17-4 in second-chance points.
  
Texas Tech got to the free throw line 18 times in the second half, 10 more than NSU, which sank 14 of 19 from the line overall.
  
Despite falling for the second time in three days, McConathy was firm in his assessment of the Demons.
  
“This was our best performance. We got better since the OU game, and we got better during the game tonight. I’m very hopeful heading home that the guys are bonding and moving in a good direction,” he said.
  
Northwestern State plays its next two at home, Saturday afternoon at 3 against Missouri Valley and next Tuesday night against Louisiana Tech in Prather Coliseum.
   
– Return to Top –

 
Charleston Southern 80, Central Arkansas 67
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – A poor-shooting first half was too much to overcome for the University of Central Arkansas Bears on Tuesday night in an 80-67 loss to the Charleston Southern Buccaneers at Buccaneer Fieldhouse.
 
UCA shot just 25.9 percent from the field overall and turned the ball over 10 times, trailing 41-24 at the break. The Bears (0-5) put up a solid fight in the second half, however, shooting a season-high 61.9 percent overall, 50 percent (4 of 8) from three-point range and 72.2 percent (13 of 18) from the free-throw line. Freshman guard Jordan Howard scored 17 of his 18 points in the second half, including 3 of 4 from three-point range.
     
“I wish I could pinpoint why we’re getting off to a slow start,’ said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. “We’ve changed our lineup a couple of times. We’re maybe as a staff, going to review what we’re doing. I just thought early on, Charleston Southern played very desperate, and I mean that in a good way. They lost to Wright State here the other night and they have Florida State next on the road. They don’t want to drop another home game here.
 
“And we’re just still a little too green to understand that. I told the guys that, in perspective, what I’m looking for is this. There will hopefully be a day when we go to Sam Houston State or Stephen F. Austin, somewhere with the conference championship on the line. How will we play that night? Hopefully we will play with a desperation. We’re not at that point yet, I understand that, but we have to create that culture, and it’s just not there yet.
 
“On a positive note, I thought we took some information at halftime and we made some changes and it was reflective because we shot 62 percent from the field in the second half, But you can’t dig a hole as deep as we’re digging right now and expect to come back on the road. It’s very difficult.’
 
The Bears made just 7 of 27 (25.9 percent) from the field in the first half but battled evenly on the boards with 21 rebounds. For the game, UCA outrebounded CSU 36-34, led by freshman Boo Milligan with eight. UCA cut what was an 18-point lead down to just 12 points as junior forward Joel Feigler scored four consecutive points and Milligan added a basket to make it 36-24 wtih 1:45 to play. But the Buccaneers got a pair of free throws and a three-pointer by Danny Upchurch that beat the buzzer and sent CSU to the locker room witht a 41-24 lead.
 
The shooting woes continued briefly in the second half before Howard and Milligan made consecutive three-pointers to get the Bears within 16 points, and a 5-0 UCA run kept it there. But CSU’s Saah Nimley tossed in a three-pointer and the Bucs pulled away again.The Bears put together one more furious rally, outscoring the Bucs 14-3 over the final five minutes to get it down to 11 points.
 
Behind Howard’s 18 points, Mike Martin scored 16, Milligan had 12 and Joel Fiegler had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots off the bench. CSU, which beat Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., last week, got 27 points from guard Saah Nimley and was 11 of 31 from three-point range as a team.
 
“Jordan can score the ball,’ Pennell said. “A guy like Jordan is very, very hard to stop. You know, he got off to a slow start. But the thing I liked about what he did, though, he showed some maturity, he didn’t hang his head. He kept coming after it. In the second half, he made some big plays.
 
“Joel is better than he’s been playing. I think going to the bench, it’s actually taken a little bit of pressure off him. Hopefully we can keep getting that kind of production. You know, if he goes for 10 and 5 in 19 minutes every night, we’ll be pretty happy with that.’
 
The Bears return to action Saturday afternoon against UALR at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, with a 3 p.m. tip-off.
   
– Return to Top –

 
Bradley 52, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 38
PEORIA, Ill. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men’s basketball team got off to an ice-cold start from the field and never recovered in a 52-38 loss to Bradley on Tuesday night at Carver Arena. The Islanders fell to 2-2 on the season, while the Braves improved to 2-2 in the game.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi shot just 29.5 percent from the field and 13.3 percent from beyond the arc in the loss. John Jordan led the way with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in the defeat.
 
Jermaine Morgan was very effective offensively for the Braves, going 5-for-9 from the field on the way to 10 points, while Ka’Darryl Bell scored 12 points, getting seven at the free throw line for Bradley. The Islanders won the battle of the boards, 38-28, but turned the ball over 16 times to Bradley’s eight.
 
The Islanders got off to a good start, with Brandon Pye draining a jumper and Bryce Douvier adding two free throws to make it 4-0. But A&M-Corpus Christi went cold on the offensive end, and Bradley took advantage, holding the Islanders scoreless over a span of 4:55 and putting together a 10-0 run to take a 10-4 lead. The Islanders responded with a 6-2 run, with a runner from Rashawn Thomas, two free throws from Jordan and then a steal-and-layup from Jordan to make it 12-10 at the 9:32 mark.
 
But from there, both teams went ice cold from the field. Neither team hit a field goal over the next 9:32, with all the points scored at the free throw line. For the Islanders, that added up to 12 straight misses from the field, while Bradley came up empty on eight straight occasions. With the score 19-15 and the clock winding down, the Islanders got a double team on Bell deep on the left wing, and the junior’s prayer banked off the glass and in – the first three of the game for either team – to put Bradley up 22-15 at the half.
 
The Braves carried over that momentum out of the locker room, scoring the first six points of the half to build a 13-point lead. A&M-Corpus Christi finally got out of its funk at that stage, making three buckets in a span of 47 seconds to cut the lead back to seven at the 14:26 mark.
 
But Bradley came right back with consecutive threes to push the lead back to 13. Emmanuel Toney stemmed the tide with a triple of his own, but after a Jelani Currie free throw, the Braves embarked on a 6-0 run to balloon the lead to 15. The lead advanced to 16 after Bell knocked down a pair of free throws at the 5:39 mark.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi put together one last rally, going on a 7-0 run on two buckets by Jordan and a three from Douvier to cut it to 47-38. But the Islanders could not get over the hump, and Bradley finished off the game at the free-throw line.
 
The Islanders will now return to the American Bank Center for their final two games of the Corpus Christi Coastal Challenge. A&M-Corpus Christi will face Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Nov. 28, at 3 p.m. and will either play Radford or North Carolina A&T on Saturday with the time yet to be determined.

• Tweet
• Pin It