KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-----Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Dustin Ware scored 16 and 15 points respectively, but it wasn't enough as Tennessee handed Georgia its 12th loss of the season, defeating the Bulldogs 73-62 Saturday night. "You have to give Tennessee credit," said head coach Mark Fox. "They made some key baskets in the second half. They made a couple of back-to-back [three-pointers], and we could never get it back. I was really proud that we competed and the way we came out and battled through adversity. We're just two or three plays away." Senior guard Gerald Robinson Jr. also tallied 13 points and seven assists in the loss.
Georgia (10-12, 1-7 SEC) got off to a quick start, leading by as many as eight points in the first half. Ware scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half, including nine from behind the three point arc. The Bulldogs were plagued by foul trouble much of the game with Marcus Thornton and Donte' Williams fouling out after combining for only two points and five rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Thornton, Williams and freshman forward Nemanja Djurisic were forced to sit much of the first half after picking two early fouls. "We were in foul trouble the entire game," said Fox. "We played Jay Rome for five minutes in [the first half] because everyone was out with two fouls. It forced us to sit in a zone for a great deal of the second half."
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – A driving layup by Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) with 1:40 remaining gave Georgia Southern a lead that would not be relinquished on Saturday afternoon as the Eagles took a 68-65 road win over Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center. The Eagles shot 57.1% from the filed on the night and went 7-of-16 (43.8%) from downtown to stop surging the Catamounts. "We are always happy with a win, but I feel like our team needs to play with more poise on the road," said Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We strive for perfection every time we go out on the floor, but I feel like our team is only at 75% of its potential right now. We played very hard tonight, and I feel like that is what got us the win this afternoon." Jelani Hewitt (Miramar, Fla.) led the Eagles (10-12, 8-4 SoCon) with 18 points, draining a pair of clutch three-pointers and grabbing a season-high five steals. The sophomore cemented the GSU victory with a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds of the game. Senior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) scored 14 points in the game, posting 10 of the Eagles' first 12 points on the night. Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) reached double figures after being held scoreless in the first half. He scored 13 points with a pair of blocks and eight rebounds.
STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind an 11-2 run over the final 6:03, the Appalachian State Mountaineers pulled away from the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles to earn their 11th Southern Conference victory. Courtney Freeman led the Mountaineers, who shot 43.9% from the floor, to a 57-46 win with 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting. "For 35 or 36 minutes I thought we played hard, but we seemed to tire out and they took over. We knew we were going to have to keep them off the offensive glass. We did a great job of it in the first half but totally dominated the offensive glass in the last four or five minutes," said Head Coach Rusty Cram.
ORANGBURG, SC - The Lady Tigers of Savannah State dropped a 55-48 decision at South Carolina State. Ezinne Kalu of the lady Tiges was held to just 14 points. SSU is now 8-13, 2-8 in the MEAC this season.
SAVANNAH, Ga. - The No. 24-ranked USC Aiken men's basketball team snapped a 26-all tie late in the first half with a 14-0 run to pull away from host Armstrong Atlantic State University on Saturday evening with an 85-59 Peach Belt Conference victory at Alumni Arena. The win halted a four-game home winning streak by the Pirates (10-11, 6-7 PBC) while USC Aiken remained atop the Peach Belt East division standings with the victory, improving to 16-4, 10-2 in the league. "It's one thing to get beat - Aiken is a very good basketball team, no questions asked," Armstrong head coach Jeremy Luther said. "They are the best team we've played all year long, but they aren't 26 points better than us. Our guys were playing with no emotion, no energy, no passion tonight - they weren't flying around. When you play the 24th-ranked team in the country, you can't make mistakes. You can't afford to make mistakes against good teams."
SAVANNAH, Ga. - The No. 16-ranked USC Aiken women's basketball team snapped a 20-all tie with a 14-3 run to close out the first half and notch a 65-55 Peach Belt Conference victory over host Armstrong Atlantic State University on Saturday evening at Alumni Arena. On a day in which the Pirates celebrated the 35th Anniversary of Women's Athletics at Armstrong by honoring former student-athletes at halftime, Armstrong (12-9, 6-7 PBC) hung tough with the nationally-ranked Pacers as a Mauri Wells basket with 4:41 left in the first half tied the score at 20-all. USC Aiken (17-3, 10-2 PBC) immediately responded with a three-pointer by Daniela Tarailo that sparked the Pacers to the 14-3 run, ending up with a 34-23 halftime lead. "I was very proud of our kids effort tonight," Armstrong head coach Matt Schmidt said. "I thought we fought the entire forty minutes - we just didn't play hard tonight, but I thought we also played smarter. That being said, we lost to a very good USC Aiken team and very well coached team at that."
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and WTOC, a Raycom Media Station.
