Summary of Games During the Week of January 15-21, 2042
Conference I
Towson Penguins—78, Georgia State Panthers (6-8, 1-2)—67 (There were a series of quick lead changes very early in the game. But Towson then began pouring in points along with silencing the Panthers offense to run away to lead 49-30 at the end of the first half. Georgia State dropped behind by 29 points sz through the 2nd half before cutting into the lead late in the game. C Ron Waldman—19 pts, 12 reb; reserve guard Michael Maxwell—12 pts; SF Danny Williams—11 pts.)
Weber State Wildcats—78, Georgia State Panthers (6-9, 1-3)—72 (The biggest lead in this game was 6 points and there were 13 lead changes. Georgia State trailed 38-36 at halftime, but neither team could gain more than a few point advantage over the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half. At that point the Wildcats moved to the lead and stayed in front until the end. PG Ronald Johnson—18 pts; SG Curtis Lopez—17 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl; reserve C Ron Rush—8 pts, 11 reb.)
Conference N
Southeast Louisiana Lions (9-5, 2-1)—95, Air Force Falcons—85 [OT] (Air Force came on strong in the lat part of the first half to lead 46-36 going into the 2nd half. But the Lions sliced into that lead and overtook the Falcons with 12 minutes remaining. The lead then flip flopped with the teams tying at 80-80 when the buzzer sounded. SE Louisiana’s offense ignited in the OT period and they ran away to win by double digits. PG Mike Bree—22 pts, 6 ast; SF Leroy Phillips—16 pts; SG Rostislav Polyansky—12 pts, 8 reb; reserve guard Vashon Patterson—11 pts, 6 ast.)
Elon Phoenix—69, Southeast Louisiana Lions (9-6, 2-2)—63 (The Lions led the entire first half. But after eading by as much as 11 points, SE Louisiana let the Phoenix reduce the lead to 35-30 at the break. 6 minutes into the 2nd half, Elon shut down the Lions and surged ahea by 8 points and held onto a lead the rest of the way. C Travis Dixon—16 pts; PG Mike Bree—10 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl; SG Rostislav Polyansky—10 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl; PF Tom McCrary—10 pts. “It’s horse bleep to lose like that at home,” said Coach Ramon Montez.)
Conference Q
Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-9, 2-1)—77, Northwestern State Demons—72 (The Demons were in control most of the first half, but their lead had been cut to 45-43 when the half ended. The Leathernecks pulled ahead in the early going of the 2nd half, the Northwestern State regained control for the middle portion of the 2nd half. Western Illinois blazed past the Demons in the final 4 minutes to gain a nice road win. SG Brandt Kennedy—21 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl; SF Aloysius Worley—15 pts; reserve guard Jeremy Williams—12 pts; PG Bill Shin—9 pts, 6 ast, 3 stl.)
Western Illinois Leathernecks (6-9, 3-1)—79, Idaho Vandals—76 [OT] (Western Illinois again had a slow start and trailed 26-16 at the half. The Leathernecks narrowed the gap in the 2nd half but couldn’t wrest the lead from the Vandals, but Hunter Anderson tipped in a rebound with 2 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 65-65 forcing an OT. Neither team got more than 2 points ahead in the OT until the Leathernecks led by 2 and Idaho was forced to foul with 10 seconds on the clock. Western Illinois dropped in 1 of 2 free throws for the final margin since Idaho missed a 3 in the final few seconds. SG Brandt Kennedy—18 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl; reserve guard Jeremy Williams—14 pts, 3 ast; PG Bill Shin—10 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk; PF Hunter Anderson—10 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast.)
UC San Diego Tritons (11-3, 2-1)—71, Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders—50 (The Islanders led for the first 7 minutes, but then the Tritons flew by and established a formidable 40-27 halftime advantage. Their lead grew to as much as 27 points in the 2nd half as they humbled Texas A&M-CC. SF Calvin Sears—20 pts, 4 reb, 2 stl; SG Brandon Payne—15 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl; PG Solomon Rayner—11 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl; PF Bryce Stafford—9 pts, 7 reb.)
UC San Diego Tritons (12-3, 3-1)—77, East Carolina Pirates—55 (Nearly a wire-to-wire win for the Tritons. They led 42-30 at halftime and never let the Pirates threaten in the 2nd half. SG Brandon Payne—22 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk; PF Bryce Stafford—15 pts, C Mike Okotie—10 pts, 6 reb. “Our guys came on strong this week to score 2 solid wins,” said Coach Ken Yamoto.)
Conference R
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (10-4, 3-0)—73, Wagner Seahawks—70 (The Hawks controlled play in the first half and built a 37-27 halftime advantage. Wagner held MD-Eastern Shore’s offense at bay in the first portion of the 2nd half and held a small lead for a full 10 minutes. The Hawks finally were able to creep by the Seahawks with 2 minutes to go for a nice comeback victory. SF Anthony Wilks—15 pts, 7 reb; PF Zamiro Colter—12 pts, 10 reb; C Kyle Mader—12 pts, 7 reb; SG Renard Bell—11 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk; reserve guard Jon Arrington—10 pts.)
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (11-4, 4-0)—69, Oakland Golden Grizzlies—48 (Following 5 quick lead changes, the Hawks took complete control and rolled to a 42-20 halftime lead. MD-Eastern Shore cruised to an easy win. C Kyle Mader—18 pts, 9 reb; PG Joseph Page—11 pts, 5 ast; SG Renard Bell—10 pts, 4 reb.)
Injuries: Curtis Lopez, Georgia State—sprained toe, 8 days; Andre Bradford, Western Illinois—strained calf, 1 day; Renard Bell, MD Eastern Shore—sore wrist, 1 day.
Awards: None.
Comments: A good week with 7 wins and only 3 losses by the 5 teams. “I most heartedly disagree. It was a horrible week. I guess I’m getting too old so enduring 2 losses in a week is really hard to take. Yeah, they both were away games, but we just didn’t play very well,” said Georgia State coach Dontell Spencer.