Saturday, 1 September 2007

Saturday Afternoon's NCAA vs. CIS Games

SATURDAY AFTERNOON RESULTS (Updated with links to articles on NCAA teams sites)

Thus far, NCAA teams have won all 9 games in the series, including a pair in overtime. Note that the Air Force vs. Trinity Western game turned out to be a controlled scrimmage and likely no official stats were kept. As well, it was the Canadian Military Select team which played at Brock against North Florida today. The team had about 6 players from this season's RMC team plus others on it so it was not the official RMC team according to reports. Illinois has cancelled their game against the Canadian Military Select team scheduled for Monday in Montreal.

Liberty 79, Brock 77 6'2" fifth-year guard Scott Murray's three at the buzzer just came off, allowing Liberty to escape Bob Davis Gym with a two point victory. Earlier, Liberty's 6'0" sophomore guard B.J. Jenkins hit a three-pointer with 49 seconds left to give the Flames a one-point lead as the Flames withstood Murray's game-ending attempt. Murray (17 points including 3 3's in the last 9 minutes of the game) and 5'10" Brad Rootes (20 points) led a valiant Badger comeback after Liberty took a 48-35 lead into halftime. The second half comeback was also keyed by Brock being able to hold down Liberty's top two returning players from last season, 6'5" Anthony Smith (20 points, only 2 after the break) and 6'9" Alex MacLean (19 points - only 5 after halftime, 7 rebounds). 6'7" Dusty Bianchin, back after two seasons away from the Badgers, got into foul trouble in the first half but played the majority of the second half and did a stellar job keeping the large, strong MacLean in check defensively. Brock's ever-improving 6'7" 4 man Owen White added 19 points for the Badgers, who meet North Florida tomorrow. Liberty goes on to Guelph to meet the Gryphons tomorrow morning. Liberty shot 66% in the first half to jump out to the big lead and Brock went only 10-36 from 3 point land. Liberty vs. Brock Box Score

Duquesne 92 Toronto 60 A very good Duquesne team came into U of T after the Blues gut-wrenching overtime loss to Oral Roberts earlier in the day and soundly defeated Toronto. Still, with the Blues trailing by 12 at 37-25 at halftime, Toronto scored the first 4 points of the second half to trail by only 8. But the listless Blues then hit a wall and the Dukes outscored them 55-31 after that point. The Dukes are a very athletic team that pushes up on the ball all over the court and gets their transition game going whenever possible. Duquesne meets Ryerson tomorrow at 11 AM at Kerr Hall in Toronto while U of T meets Morehead State tomorrow evening at 7 PM. Rob Paris had 13 points to lead Toronto while Nick Magalas and Nick Snow added 12 apiece for the Blues playing their second NCAA Division 1 team in the space of 4 hours.

Creighton 87, Saskatchewan 82 In a great game, the Huskies were up double digits early as Creighton pressed the entire game and Saskatchewan, led by 6'0" pg Rob Lovelace (back from one year off), 6'1" Rejean Chabot, 6'1" Jordan Harbidge, systematically broke the press leading to open 3's for 6'2" Kyle Grant (20 points including 5 first-half 3's) or ally oop dunks to 6'6" Andrew Spagrud (21 points). Saskatchewan led 49-44 at halftime before Creighton got going in the second half to take the lead early, extending the lead to about 10 near the end of the third quarter. However, the Huskies got the game back to within 3 with just over 3 minutes to play. Overall, an entertaining game showing the strong potential of the deep, veteran Huskies. Much thanks to Dave Wells for the report on this game.

Illinois 73, Ottawa 56 6'10" Sean Pruitt had 17 points and 9 rebounds while 6'5" Ronny Alexander added 10 points and 6 boards as the Illini defeated the host Gee-Gees. Ottawa's 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe had a tough afternoon shooting, going only 3 for 16 including several "in and outs" as the Gee-Gees shot only 3 for 20 from 3 point land on the day. 6'9" Dax Dessureault had 12 points and 9 boards for Ottawa, who went only 13 for 23 from the foul line and 33% from the floor for the game. The game, played under FIBA rules, saw Illinois take a 10 point lead into halftime on the strength of a buzzer-beating 3 and then extend the lead to 12 with about 2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before both teams emptied the benches. Ottawa's Sean Peter did not play in the second half after sustaining a charley horse late in the second quarter. Freshman Jacob Gibson-Bascombe had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists against only 1 turnovers in 27 minutes as the first player off the bench for the Gee-Gees. Illinois vs. Ottawa Box Score / Game Report from Illini site

Virginia Tech 75, Western 60 in Windsor Daron Washington had 18 points including two emphatic dunks to propel the Hokies to a victory over the Mustangs. Virginia Tech led 32-26 after the first half, played using NCAA rules. Brad Smith and Andrew Wedemire led Western with 15 points apiece while Matt Curtis added 9 assists. Both teams struggled to score in their first games on the new season. Western played without 6'6" Adam Ruckbie, who injured his knee in practice and will undergo an MRI next week to gauge the extent of the injury, and 6'0" Danny Jeon.

Oral Roberts 76, Toronto 74 OVERTIME The Blues carried a 4 point lead into the final minute of overtime but missed a pair of front ends allowing ORU to escape with a tight victory. Toronto also led by 2 with under a minute remaining in regulation and missed another front end that could have sealed it. The Blues led 30-28 at the half and stayed in the game despite being outrebounded 54-39. 6'6" Amed Nazmi led Toronto with 23 points while 6'2" Rob Paris added 22 on 9 of 16 shooting. Robert Jarvis went 5-12 from 3 and big center Shawn King went 8-15 from the floor to lead Oral Roberts. Toronto hosts Duquesne today at 4 PM Oral Roberts over U of T in overtime report

Alabama 93, McGill 84 The Crimson Tide, missing star guard Ronald Steele due to injury and sitting out 3 other regulars in preparation for other games this weekend, got out in transition and outlasted a hot shooting Redmen team at the Raven's Nest at Carleton in Ottawa. McGill will host Illinois in Montreal on Monday while 'Bama meets the University of Ottawa tonight across town. Alabama over McGill from rolltide.com

Morehead State 93, Ryerson 69 After feeling each other out in the first quarter which ended up tied, the Eagles turned up the defense, created numerous Ryerson turnovers and got three 3's from 6'2" freshman John Lamb to take 42-26 lead into halftime. The Rams were able to bring the deficit back to 12 late in the fourth quarter however both teams emptied their benches and the deficit grew. Ryerson shot only 36.5% as Morehead State took 30 more shots than the Rams, resulting from 23 Ram turnovers and 16 offensive rebounds by the Eagles. 6'7" Leon Buchanan had 18 points to lead Morehead State while Ryerson was led by 6'7" Boris Bakovic (21 points/10 rebounds). 6'3" Brandon Krupa had 14 for the Rams while 6'10" Joey Imbrogno added 13 as Ryerson played without 6'11" fifth-year senior Igor Bakovic, out for the entire weekend with an ankle injury. The teams used FIBA rules in the game. Morehead State over Ryerson game report from Eagles web site plus Box Score

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