Sunday, November 18, 2007

GC&SU USES FIRST HALF RUN IN 72-57 WIN AT TUSCULUM

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Shaun Keaton recorded 14 points and four assists to lead the Georgia College & State University men's basketball team to a 72-57 win over host Tusculum College Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Sodexho Pioneer Tip-off Classic.

The Bobcats (2-0) used a 13-0 run in the first half and never trailed in the contest, en route to a 40-22 lead at the intermission. GC&SU out-rebounded the Pioneers (0-2) by a 36-22 margin, including 16-6 on the offensive glass. Senior Aaron Clark led the Bobcats with 10 rebounds, to go along with his eight points. LeVert Carter finished with seven offensive rebounds of his nine-board effort on Sunday.

Tusculum senior Jordan Lear led all scorers with 21 points as he shot 7-for-9 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three-point land and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Jimmy Boone and Kyle Moore each finished with nine points, while Lavonti Jeter added six markers.

Leading 13-11 in the first half, the Bobcats scored 13 straight points, including a pair of three-pointers by Justin Brown as GC&SU led 26-11 with 10:39 left before halftime. The visitors would later extend their advantage to 58-34 following another trey by Brown with 10 minutes left in the contest.

Tusculum would trim the deficit to 16 points as the Pioneers used a 12-4 spurt thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Lear and a Jimmy Boone jumper as TC trailed 62-46 with 5:47 remaining, but that's as close as the Pioneers would get.

Graham Martin and Brown finished with a dozen points each, while Ken Kemp added 10 points and six boards.

Tusculum will begin a seven-game road swing next weekend as the Pioneers compete in the Bluefield State Currence Classic in Bluefield, W.Va. TC will open with West Virginia Tech on Friday at 6 p.m.

Bellarmine 82, Lincoln Memorial 70

The Bellarmine men’s basketball team is off to only its second 3-0 start in the past 11 seasons after an 82-70 victory over Lincoln Memorial today at the Sodexho Pioneer Classic hosted by Tusculum.

The Knights jumped out to a 14-2 start and held the lead for the entire game as they improved to 7-1 all-time against the Railsplitters (0-2). Transfer point guard Chartrael Hall led the way with 17 points, eight rebound, and five assists.

For the second time in three games, senior forward Jamie Jackson handed out nine assists, tying his career-high. The Knights also continued to shoot well from the field as they hit 56 percent of their shots this afternoon. They are shooting over 52 percent from the field this season.

Senior center Dzaflo Larkai added 14 points and 8 rebounds, while Adam Brames chipped in with 13 points.

The Knights again got plenty of help from their bench, outscoring Lincoln Memorial’s subs, 23-7.

The Railsplitters twice managed to cut the Bellarmine lead to three points in the first half, and the Knights went into the break up 38-33.

In the second half, Bellarmine’s lead grew to double-digits midway through the term, but the Railsplitters managed to get as close as 65-61 with four minutes left in the game. Bellarmine responded, however, to put the game out of reach. The Knights went on a 7-0 run, as Larkai scored on a post play and senior reserve Jeff Wachtel nailed two free throws and hit a big 3-pointer off a Hall assists to make it 72-61 with 2:14 to play.

The Railsplitters could not get any closer than eight points the rest of the game.

Lincoln Memorial’s Beau Brown scored a game-high 21 points.

Bellarmine held Lincoln Memorial to just 3-of-16 shooting from beyond the arc.

- TC -