ASHEVILLE — Jaylen Sims had 24 points as UNC Wilmington defeated UNC Asheville 76-68 on Friday, giving Takayo Siddle his first head coaching win in his second game with the Seahawks.
Jake Boggs had 19 points and three blocks for UNC Wilmington (1-1). Mike Okauru added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Ty Gadsden had 12 points.
Trent Stephney had 14 points for the Bulldogs (0-1) in their season opener. Tajion Jones and Evan Clayborne each had 12 points.
NC State 86, North Florida 51
RALEIGH — Jericole Hellems scored 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting to lead four double-figure scorers and NC State raced away from North Florida 86-51 Friday night to win a second straight game.
Freshman Cam Hayes added 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting with six assists, D.J. Funderburk had 11 points and Manny Bates 10 with five blocked shots and eight rebounds for the Wolfpack (2-0).
The Ospreys (0-2) were paced by three players with 11 points each — Carter Hendricksen, Jose Placer and Jadyn Parker.
The Wolfpack picked up 10 steals and harried North Florida into 19 turnovers, holding the Ospreys to 38% shooting (21 of 56).
NC State shot 56% from the floor (34 for 61) with 20 assists.
Hellems scored 11 in the first half, including seven of the team’s 10 during one stretch as NC State broke away from a 15-12 lead to take a 42-28 advantage into halftime. North Florida missed its first seven shots of the second half and never cut into the Wolfpack lead.
NC State’s Thomas Allen opened the second half with a 3-pointer, North Florida missed three straight shots on one possession, including consecutive dunk attempts by Josh Endicott, and Hellems scored on the fast break on the other end with a feed from Braxton Beverly.
A Hayes jumper pushed the lead above 20 points midway through the second half and North Florida was unable to get closer the rest of the way.
Wake Forest 71, Longwood 60
WINSTON-SALEM — Jonah Antonio and Ian DuBose had 14 points each and Wake Forest held off Longwood for a 71-60 win in the second game of the Wake Forest Classic on Friday night.
Antonio made three 3-pointers during a 19-4 run for Wake Forest (2-0), which turned a five-point deficit into a 57-47 lead on Ian DuBose’s 3-pointer with 8:44 left in the game. Zac Watson’s layup for Longwood (0-1) with 6:25 left cut deficit to five, but the Lancers got no closer.
Jahcobi Neath added 12 points and Ismael Massoud scored 10 for Wake Forest.
Juan Munoz scored 13 points and Justin Hill added 11 for Longwood. The Lancers were originally scheduled to open their season against Delaware State on Thursday, but the game was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test. Wake Forest beat Delaware State 111-51 on Wednesday.
Wake Forest’s Ody Oguama and JR Mathis also missed the first two games of the season due to COVID-19 contact tracing. Without the 6-foot-9 Oguama, Wake Forest was outrebounded by Longwood 30-21.
Appalachian State 105, Carver College 23
BOONE — The following is not a typo: James Lewis Jr. scored 12 points and Sasha Glushkov had 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead Appalachian State to a 105-23 win over Carver College on Friday night.
CJ Huntley added 10 points and Michael Eads had six rebounds for Appalachian State (2-0).
Lawrence Simmons scored six points and Stephon Augusta grabbed six rebounds for the Cougars of the USCAA.
East Carolina 66, Charlotte 57
Jayden Gardner had 18 points as East Carolina topped Charlotte 66-57 on Friday in the season-opener for both teams.
Tristen Newton had 15 points and six rebounds for East Carolina.
Jordan Shepherd had 15 points for the 49ers. Jhery Matos added 14 points and Jahmir Young had 10.
NC A&T 74, Chicago State 44
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Jeremy Robinson registered 14 points as North Carolina A&T easily defeated Chicago State 74-44 on Friday.
Tyrone Lyons had 14 points for NC A&T (1-2). Fred Cleveland Jr. added 11 points. Tyler Maye had 10 points. Kameron Langley had two points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds.
Harry Morrice, whose 10 points per game entering the contest was second on the Aggies, shot only 17% in the game (1 of 6) and finished with two points.
Jordan Polynice had 12 points for the Cougars (0-3). Rajeir Jones added 12 points. Ke’Sean Davis had eight rebounds.
Troy 66, Western Carolina 64
ASHEVILLE — Kam Woods had 20 points as Troy defeated Western Carolina 66-64 on Friday.
Woods made two free throws to put Troy ahead 64-58 with 25 seconds left.
Zay Williams had 15 points and nine rebounds for Troy (1-0). Nick Stampley added nine rebounds.
Travion McCray had 14 points for the Catamounts (1-1). Mason Faulkner added 13 points and nine rebounds and Matt Halvorsen had 11 points.
UNC Greensboro 77, Arkansas-Little Rock 70
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Isaiah Miller had 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting and added five steals, four rebounds and four assists to lead UNC Greensboro to a 77-70 win over Arkansas-Little Rock in the Spartans’ season opener at the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic.
UNCG trailed 24-13 with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half, but the Spartans went on a 23-6 run to take a 36-30 into the break. They then scored the first seven points of the second half and never looked back.
Hayden Koval added 14 points, seven blocks and six rebounds for UNCG, and 10 Spartans scored in all.
Nikola Maric led the Trojans with 21 points, and Marko Lukic added 19 off the bench.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
