Arkansas-Pine Bluff 58, Seattle 56
Box Score
SEATTLE, Wash. – Jovaughn Love’s go-ahead three pointer with 28 seconds left helped lift the Golden Lions to a 58-56 victory at Friday night at Seattle University.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff overcame a five-point halftime deficit, outscoring the Redhawks 30-23 in the second half to come away with the win. After Love put UAPB ahead by one with his jumper, he made a free-throw to push the lead to two. A last-second three-pointer by Brendan Westendorf was off the mark, preserving the win for the Golden Lions.
UAPB limited Seattle to 17-49 from the field in the game, and swatted six shots to Seattle’s none during the contest.
Love was the closer during the fray, as he scored or assisted on Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s final seven points. He scored 15 and pulled in nine rebounds. Deshon Bayless added 10 points and eight boards. Jack Crook led Seattle with 11 points. Westendorf flirted with a double-double, scoring nine and pulling in 11 rebounds.
Oregon 80, Jackson State 52Box Score
EUGENE, Ore. – Jackson State’s offense was never able to gain much traction as it dropped an 80-52 tilt to Oregon Friday at the Matthew Knight Arena.
After giving up 11 of the first 13 poin
ts, the Tigers were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way. JSU was able to get within three points in the earlier stages of the game, but the Tigers were not able to keep the Ducks in check offensively, as JSU found itself down by as many as 19 in the first half.
In the second half, JSU endured a 7:39 stretch where the Tigers did not make a field goal, which stunted their attempts at a comeback.
Paris Collins found success for Jackson State off the bench, netting 21 points and chipping in five rebounds and three steals. Chace Franklin added 11. Treshawn Bolden grabbed 10 boards.
For Oregon, Tyler Dorsey’s 20 points and five assists led the way as he went 4-5 from three-point range. Dwayne Benjamin scored 16 off the bench, Elgin Cook added 11 and Chris Boucher chipped in 10. The Ducks made 41.7 percent of their three-pointers (10-24), compared to 20 percent from the
Tigers (4-20).
East Carolina 61, Grambling State 53
Box Score
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Grambling State dropped a 61-53 contest to East Carolina Friday night at the Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
The Grambling State defense was impressive in the first half as it held East Carolina to 27 percent shooting from the field (6-22), and the Tigers’ offense jumped out to a quick 5-0 start to open things up. However, a significant
free-throw advantage – ECU was 13-of-20 from the foul line in the opening half – allowed the Pirates to gain and ultimately mainta
in a lead on the scoreboard, as ECU took a 28-22 lead into the break.
The Tigers stayed within striking distance and eventually took a 35-33 advantage with 12:14 left in the game, but GSU surrendered a 7-0 run that handed the Pirates the lead for good, despite the Tigers getting to within one with 9:18 left in the second half.
Michael Bethea led all Tigers with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Nigel Riberio added 14 points and three helpers, and Remond Brown netted 12 points. East Carolina’s Caleb White was the high point-man with 21, adding in five boards. From the charity stripe, ECU went 29-42, while GSU was 3-8.
Arkansas 86, Southern 68
Box Score
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Southern Jaguars were unable to shake off a cold shooting start, falling to Arkansas in the teams’ season opener at Bud Walton Arena Friday night.
Near the midway point of the first half, the Jaguars’ offense stalled, as Southern allowed a 25-9 scoring run to the Razorbacks which left the visiting team down 40-25 at half. The Jaguars shot 26.7 percent from the field in the opening period, going 8-30 from the field.
Southern’s offense perked up in the second half and was able to get to within six points of Arkansas with just over seven minutes to play, but the first half deficit was too much to overcome.
Leading the way for SUBR was Christopher Hyder, who stuffed the stat sheet in scoring 22 points and adding five boards, five steals and four assists. Adrian Rodgers (12 points) and Trelun Banks (11) also scored in double-figures for the Jaguars.
Arkansas had four players score in double-figures, notably Moses Kingsley, who notched a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds and blocked five shots. Dusty Hannahs added 21 points for Arkansas.
Virginia Commonwealth 75, Prairie View 50
Box Score
RICHMOND, Va. – A sluggish finish to the first half cost the Panthers in a season-opening loss to Virginia Commonwealth University Friday night at the Siegel Center.
Prairie View A&M allowed VCU to get off to a good start, as the Panthers let the Rams shoot nearly 57 percent (17-30) from the floor in the opening half. PVAMU didn’t end the half as it hoped, giving up a 12-2 scoring run that left the visiting team trailing 46-22 heading into intermission.
The Panthers clamped down on VCU’s offense in the second half, limiting the Rams to 29 points, but were unable to put enough together offensively to make a significant dent in the VCU’s lead.
Zachary Hamilton was strong in the opener for the Panthers, scoring a team-high 13 to go with eight boards and two blocks. Karim York had a solid opening to his season as well, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
VCU had three players score in double-figures: Melvin Johnson (13), Doug Brooks (13) NS Justin Tillman (10), who also pulled down 11 rebound
s for a double-double.
New Mexico 86, Texas Southern 57
Box Score
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Texas Southern fell to New Mexico in its season-opener Friday at the WisePise Arena.
The Tigers’ allowed New Mexico to shoot 72.4 percent (21-29) from the field in the opening half, which led to TSU trailing 54-27 at the break.
Malcolm Riley had a big night with 20 points and three steals, but outside of him, Texas Southern was never able to find consistency with their offense, shooting 34.7 percent (17-49) from the field in the game. Chris Thomas, Jose Rodriguez and David Blanks each scored seven points.
New Mexico was led by Cullen Neal, who scored 22 points. Tim Williams and Elijah Brown added 17 and 16 points, respectively.
