TAMPA, Fla. — Justin Brown scored five of his 18 points in overtime to lift South Florida to a 73-68 victory over East Carolina on Wednesday night.
Capping a second half that featured six ties and five lead changes, the Pirates’ Tremont Robinson-White made a layup to even the score at 59 with 24 seconds left in regulation and send the game to overtime.
Brown made four 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds. Michael Durr added 15 points and eight rebounds for South Florida (12-16, 5-10 American Athletic Conference), which ended its four-game losing streak. Laquincy Rideau had 14 points. David Collins had 11 points and six rebounds.
Jayden Gardner had 19 points for the Pirates (11-18, 5-11). Brandon Suggs added 13 points. Tristen Newton had 10 points.
The Bulls evened the season series against the Pirates with the win. East Carolina defeated South Florida 62-59 on Jan. 7. South Florida faces Temple on the road on Sunday. East Carolina matches up against UConn at home on Saturday.
Faulkner’s triple-double leads Western Carolina over Samford
CULLOWHEE — Mason Faulkner recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to carry Western Carolina to a 109-78 win over Samford on Wednesday night.
Onno Steger scored 31 points for the Catamounts. Travion McCray added 12 points, Carlos Dotson had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Xavier Cork had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Western Carolina is undefeated (2-0) when scoring at least 100 points this season.
The 109 points were a season best for Western Carolina (18-10, 10-7 Southern Conference), which also achieved a season-high 28 assists.
Josh Sharkey had 30 points for the Bulldogs (9-22, 3-14). He also had seven turnovers but only three assists. Brandon Austin added 16 points. Deandre Thomas had 15 points.
Robert Allen, the Bulldogs’ second leading scorer coming into the matchup at 14 points per game, was held to only 5 points on 2-of-12 shooting.
The Catamounts improve to 2-0 against the Bulldogs this season. Western Carolina defeated Samford 78-70 on Feb. 5. Western Carolina finishes out the regular season against East Tennessee State on the road on Saturday. Samford finishes out the regular season against VMI at home on Saturday.
Furman tops UNC Greensboro
GREENSBORO — Noah Gurley and Jalen Slawson scored 17 points apiece as Furman beat UNC Greensboro 81-67 on Wednesday night.
Jordan Lyons added 14 points, Mike Bothwell scored 13 and Alex Hunter had 11 for the Paladins (24-6, 14-3). Slawson also had nine rebounds.
UNC Greensboro cut a nine-point halftime deficit to 51-48 on a 3-pointer by Angelo Allegri with 14:37 remaining in the second half. After Furman rebuilt a 10-point lead, the Spartans rallied again and closed to with 60-58 on another 3-pointer by Allegri.
Furman slowly rebuilt its lead again and a 3-pointer by Hunter 2:27 remaining gave the Paladins a 75-65 lead.
James Dickey had 15 points for the Spartans (23-7, 13-4 Southern Conference), whose six-game win streak was broken. Angelo Allegri and Kaleb Hunter added 11 points apiece.
Furman remains in second place, one game behind league-leading East Tennessee State (15-2). UNC Greensboro drops to third place.
Furman finishes out the regular season against The Citadel at home on Saturday. UNC Greensboro finishes out the regular season at Chattanooga on Saturday.
