UNC-A tops G-W in Big South semis

College basketball roundup

Pittsburgh's Guillermo Diaz Graham, right, gets off a pass against North Carolina State's Mohamed Diarra (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Pittsburgh Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

HIGH POINT — Drew Pember scored 30 points, six in overtime, as UNC Asheville beat Gardner-Webb 83-72 on Saturday night in a Big South Conference Tournament semifinal.

Pember wound up with a triple-double for the Bulldogs (22-11) after also adding 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Toyaz Solomon scored 17 points and added five rebounds and three blocks. Josh Banks finished with 15 points.

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Shahar Lazar led the Runnin’ Bulldogs (17-16) in scoring, finishing with 18 points. Quest Aldridge added nine points, six rebounds and five assists for Gardner-Webb. Isaiah Richards also had nine points and two blocks.

UNC Asheville entered halftime down 34-31. Pember scored 16 second-half points as UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb ended regulation tied at 71. Gardner-Webb went the last 8:45 of playing time without a field goal.

The Bulldogs advance to the championship game on Sunday against Longwood.

 

Charlotte 82, East Carolina 72

GREENVILLE — Lu’Cye Patterson scored 27 points as Charlotte beat East Carolina 82-72 on Saturday night.

Patterson also had four steals for the 49ers (19-11, 13-5 American Athletic Conference). Nik Graves added 20 points. Igor Milicic Jr. had 13 points.

RJ Felton finished with 28 points for the Pirates (14-17, 7-11). Brandon Johnson added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for East Carolina. Cam Hayes had 13 points and four assists.

 

Sun Belt Tournament

Appalachian State 85, Georgia Southern 80 (OT)

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Donovan Gregory scored 22 points and Terence Harcum scored 13 points and top-seeded Appalachian State avoided Georgia Southern’s upset bid beating the Eagles 85-80 on Saturday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Gregory’s layup to start overtime made it 78-76 and Appalachian State led the remainder.

Justin Abson scored 13 points and added 12 rebounds and seven blocks.

It was the seventh straight victory for the Mountaineers.

Tyren Moore finished with 36 points, five assists and four steals for the Eagles (9-24). Avantae Parker added 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Georgia Southern. Malik Tidwell had 11 points.

 

Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76

Hunter Sallis had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Wake Forest defeated Clemson 81-76 in a regular-season finale on Saturday night. Andrew Carr scored 12 of his 17 points and Efton Reid all 12 of his in the second half for Demon Deacons, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Cameron Hildreth added 11 points and seven rebounds. The Deacons shot 58%. PJ Hall scored 16 of his 18 points and Chase Hunter 15 of his 17 in the second half for the Tigers. Joseph Girard III added 14 points and Jack Clark 10. Clemson shot 46% overall but was over 58% in the second half.

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Big South Tournament

Longwood 80, High Point 79 (OT)

 

HIGH POINT — Szymon Zapala scored 17 points including the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds left in overtime to lead fifth-seeded Longwood over top seed High Point 80-79 on Saturday in the Big South Conference Tournament semifinals.

Zapala added six rebounds and three blocks for the Lancers (20-13). Walyn Napper scored 16 points and added seven assists and three steals. Elijah Tucker finished with 13 points.

The Panthers (25-8) were led in scoring by Kezza Giffa, who finished with 32 points. Duke Miles added 15 points for High Point. Trae Benham finished with eight points and two steals.

Michael Christmas scored nine points in the first half and Longwood went into halftime trailing 36-29. Longwood pulled off the victory after an 8-0 second-half run erased a six-point deficit and gave them the lead at 69-67 with 1:19 remaining in the half. Zapala scored 14 second-half points.

 

Southern Conference Tournament

ETSU 73, UNC Greensboro 62

ASHEVILLE — Ebby Asamoah had 24 points in seventh-seeded East Tennessee State’s 73-62 victory over second-seeded UNC Greensboro on Saturday in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Asamoah had six rebounds for the Buccaneers (18-15). Quimari Peterson added 17 points, with six rebounds. Jaden Seymour had 12 points and shot 4 for 7 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Jalen Breath led the way for the Spartans (21-12) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe Langley added 10 points and four steals for UNC Greensboro. Keyshaun Langley also had 10 points, five assists and three steals.

East Tennessee State took the lead with 11:15 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. Asamoah led his team in scoring with 10 points in the first half to help put them ahead 29-23 at the break. Asamoah led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points.

Southern Conference Tournament

Furman 79, Western Carolina 76

ASHEVILLE — JP Pegues scored 28 points and notched an assist on Carter Whitt’s go-ahead layup with 47 seconds left in overtime and Furman beat Western Carolina 79-76 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament. The fifth-seeded Paladins (17-15) advance to play top-seeded Samford in a Sunday semifinal. The No. 4 seed Catamounts (22-10) were led by Kamar Robertson with 17 points.

 

CAA Tournament

Monmouth 90, Campbell 65

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nikita Konstantynovskyi had 15 points in Monmouth’s 90-67 win over Campbell on Saturday in the second round of the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament.

Konstantynovskyi added nine rebounds for the Hawks (18-14). Jakari Spence scored 14 points and added three steals. Jack Collins finished with 13 points, while adding 10 rebounds and six assists.

The Fighting Camels (14-18) were led in scoring by Anthony Dell’Orso, who finished with 23 points, two steals and two blocks. Jasin Sinani added 21 points for Campbell. Laurynas Vaistaras finished with 10 points and two steals.

Monmouth took the lead with 7:11 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 46-31 at halftime, with Abdi Bashir Jr. racking up nine points. Monmouth pulled away with an 11-0 run in the second half to extend a 14-point lead to 25 points. Konstantynovskyi led the way with a team-high 11 second-half points.

 

Pitt 81, NC State 73

PITTSBURGH — Carlton Carrington scored 23 points, Blake Hinson added 21 and Pittsburgh defeated NC State 81-73 to claim fourth-place and a double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament. The Panthers went ahead 52-35 early in the second half and their lead was still 14 after Hinson hit a jumper near the six-minute mark. But NC State rallied with an 11-0 run sparked by nine points from Jayden Taylor.

The Panthers pushed their lead back to eight points, then Taylor got the Wolfpack within 75-70 when he hit a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining. Guillermo Diaz Graham was fouled on an alley-oop dunk and finished the and-1 for an eight-point lead at 51 seconds. Mohamed Diarra hit a 3-pointer for the Wolfpack but Pitt finished things off at the free-throw line.

 

Saint Joseph’s 89, Davidson 71

PHILADELPHIA — Rasheer Fleming had 23 points in Saint Joseph’s 89-71 win against Davidson on Saturday.

Fleming added nine rebounds and four blocks for the Hawks (19-12, 9-9 Atlantic 10 Conference). Erik Reynolds II scored 19 points. Xzayvier Brown finished with 15 points.

Reed Bailey led the way for the Wildcats (15-16, 5-13) with 19 points and seven rebounds. Grant Huffman added 15 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals for Davidson. Connor Kochera also recorded 12 points.

 

ACC Women’s Tournament

NC State 69, Florida State 43

GREENSBORO — Aziaha James had 23 points, Mimi Collins added 17 points and 13 rebounds and No. 10 North Carolina State defeated Florida State on 69-43 Saturday to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for the fourth time in five seasons. River Baldwin chipped in with seven points and 11 rebounds for NC State, which has rattled off four straight wins since back-to-back double-digit road losses at North Carolina and Duke last month. NC State outrebounded Florida State 58-32 and held the Seminoles to 25% shooting from the field. The Wolfpack (27-5) will face No. 14 Notre Dame in Sunday’s championship game. NC State beat Notre Dame 59-43 on Feb. 15 in South Bend, Indiana.