GREENVILLE (AP) — Jayden Gardner scored 15 points with six rebounds and East Carolina held off a late push to beat UT-Rio Grande Valley 69-64 on Monday night.
Gardner’s layup with 5:13 remaining gave the Pirates (3-2) a 57-46 advantage. With 37 seconds left, Solomon Hainna made a layup and brought UTRGV to within 63-59, but Gardner responded with 3-point play and Isaac Fleming made 3 of 4 foul shots in the final 20 seconds to seal it. Gardner scored 11 points in the last 6½ minutes.
Seth Leday finished with 12 points and Tyler Foster 11 for ECU.
Terry Winn III led the Vaqueros with 16 points, Tyson Smith added 14 and Lesley Varner II, 10.
East Carolina made half its 46 shots and owned a 45-32 rebounding edge. UTRGV (3-2) shot 27.9 percent (19 of 68) from the field.
High Point 69, Air Force 62
BIMINI, Bahamas (AP) — Jahaad Proctor scored 28 points with three 3-pointers for his 11th career 20-point game and High Point pulled away from Air Force early to win 69-62 at the Bimini Jam on Monday night.
Ricky Madison added 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his second career double-double for the Panthers (2-3), who never trailed.
Madison’s 3-point play sparked a 10-0 run for a 20-10 High Point lead and the Panthers finished on a 6-0 run for a 38-25 halftime lead.
Proctor scored six straight points for a 44-25 second-half lead and the Panthers pulled away by as many as 19 points. The Falcons rallied on a 15-3 run and closed to 60-54 on Chirs Joyce’s jumper with 5:08 left to play, but got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
A.J. Walker scored 13 points, Joyce had 12 and Sid Tomes 11 for Air Force (2-3).
Charlotte 42, Longwood 39
CHARLOTTE — Malik Martin scored 17 points, including 3-pointers on consecutive Charlotte possessions, sparking a late-game breakaway run as the 49ers upended Longwood 42-39 Monday night.
The win ended Longwood’s 4-0 start, its best start since it moved to Division I. Charlotte (2-2) is no stranger to comebacks, having rallied from 24 down to upset Oklahoma State by two points earlier this season.
Longwood (4-1) built an 11-point lead, 26-15 early in the second half, but Charlotte quickly made it a two-point game and surged ahead 31-30 after Martin’s second trey. That kicked off a 13-3 run capped by a Dravon Mangum layup with five minutes to play. The freshman scored nine points and had 10 rebounds.
Isaiah Walton was held to 12 points, his first game below 20 this season, with 10 rebounds but 11 turnovers. Lorenzo Phillips scored 10 for the Lancers.
The game was a rematch of sorts from UMBC’s shocking upset of top-seeded Virginia in the opening round of last season’s NCAA Tournament. Longwood’s Griff Aldrich was an assistant for the 16th-seeded Retrievers, Charlotte’s Ron Sanchez with the Cavaliers.
UNCG 74, Prairie View 66
GREENSBORO (AP) — Francis Alonso scored 15 of his 18 points as UNC Greensboro rallied after halftime to defeat Prairie View 74-66 Monday night.
Two nights after setting the program record for 3-pointers (310), Alonso was 1-for-5 from distance and still accounted for half the Spartans 3-pointers as the team went 2-for-17.
Prairie View (1-4) led by six at the half and pushed that to 12 points early in the final period, 49-37. Eric Hamilton scored on a drive and Alonso added two more as the Spartans got a defensive board and a steal and the comeback was on. Alonso scored 11 points, another layup pulling UNCG to 59-58 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
Kaleb Hunter was fouled behind the arc and made all three free throws as UNC Greensboro took a 61-60 lead. Kyrin Galloway finished with 14 points, Hamilton 12 and Isaiah Miller with 10. James Dickey added 13 rebounds.
Manhattan 54, UNCA 38
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) — Tyler Reynolds scored 15 on Sunday, and Manhattan pulled away for a 54-38 win over UNC Asheville in the third and final day of the Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic.
Reynolds made 5 of 10 from 3-point range and Warren Williams added 13 points for the Jaspers (2-3).
Manhattan led most of the way but didn’t pull away until a 16-2 run over the final six minutes of the game made it 54-36. UNC Asheville (1-4) hit a jumper at the buzzer.
DeVon Baker led the Bulldogs with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting. UNC Asheville made just 11 of 44 from the field and 2 of 15 (13.3 percent) from 3-point range.
UNC Asheville led in the opening minutes and retook the lead early in the second half at 25-23. Manhattan grabbed the lead for good at 26-25.
Marshall 95, NC A&T 71
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Jon Elmore scored 18 points and Marshall remains undefeated at 4-0 with a 95-71 victory over North Carolina A&T on Monday night.
It was the 75th consecutive game in double-figure scoring for Elmore. The senior guard now sits just 20 points shy of his 2,000th career point.
C.J. Burks had 15 points, and Jannson Williams and Iran Bennett added 11 points apiece for Marshall. Darius George chipped in 13 points off the bench.
Terry Harris and Ibrahim Sylla each scored 13 points, and Milik Gantz had 11 to lead North Carolina A&T (0-5).
