Iona’s free throws sink Alabama
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Nelly Joseph and Walter Clayton Jr. made key free throws in the final seconds to lift Iona over No. 10 Alabama 72-68 in an opening-round game at the ESPN Events Invitational on Thursday night.
Clayton got an offensive rebound and made one of two free throws to make it 70-68 with 20 seconds left. After Jahvon Quinerly missed a shot for Alabama, Joseph secured the win with two free throws with 9 seconds remaining,
Joseph and Clayton both finished with 15 points.
“I’m happy for the guys,” Iona Coach Rick Pitino said. “They are great guys to coach. I’m really, really excited, happy for them.”
Tyson Jolly had 13 points, Elijah Joiner 12 and Quinn Slazinski 11 for Iona (6-0).
“It was one of our first goals, and we accomplished it,” Jolly said. “Our goal was to start the year 6-0 and we did that tonight.”
Alabama (4-1) got 19 points from Jaden Shackelford. Quinerly added 15. There was no immediate postgame media session with the Crimson Tide because they held a lengthy meeting after the loss.
Joiner hit a three-pointer to put Iona up 69-65, but Shackelford connected from long range to make it a one-point game with 56 seconds to go.
Joseph made two free throws during an 11-3 run to give Iona a 59-57 advantage. Alabama’s Darius Miles responded with a layup, but Jolly made a three to put Iona back ahead 62-59 at the 4-minute mark. Shackelford’s three-pointer put Alabama ahead 54-48.
Iona won despite a 4 ½ minute-stretch early in the second half without a field goal.
Alabama was up 33-29 at the half, which matched the biggest lead during the opening 20 minutes.
NO. 19 AUBURN 62, LOYOLA CHICAGO 53
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Freshman Jabari Smith had 14 points to help Auburn regroup from a double-overtime loss and beat Loyola Chicago in the consolation round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
The Tigers (4-1) held the Ramblers to just two field goals over an 11-minute span in the second half, building a 10-point margin heading into the final minutes.
Walker Kessler added 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Tigers.
Marquise Kennedy scored 13 points to lead the Ramblers (4-2), who shot 62% in the first half.
MICHIGAN STATE 64, NO. 22 UCONN 60
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — A.J. Hoggard hit the go-ahead free throws with 30.3 seconds left and Michigan State scored the game’s final nine points to push past No. 22 Connecticut 64-60 in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
Gabe Brown scored 16 points for the Spartans (5-1), who blew a 14-point lead before halftime and shot just 32% after the break.
Adama Sonogo had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Huskies (5-1), while Tyrese Martin added 16 points and 12 boards despite being uncertain to play because of a sprained left wrist suffered in the Auburn win.
NO. 6 BAYLOR 69, VCU 61
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Matthew Mayer scored 15 points to help Baylor hold off VCU in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
Freshman Kendall Brown added 14 points for the reigning national champion Bears (6-0), who had to clean up a mistake-filled first half and keep the Rams at arm’s distance throughout the second half.
Vince Williams scored 17 points to lead VCU (3-3), while Levi Stockard had 13 points.
NO. 4 KANSAS 71, NORTH TEXAS 59
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Ochai Agbaji had 18 points and Christian Braun added 15 as No. 4 Kansas beat North Texas in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational.
Agbaji became the 63rd player to reach 1,000 points in Kansas history when he hit a three-pointer to open the scoring 2½ minutes into the game. The guard entered the game just one point away from the milestone.
North Texas (2-2) got 23 points from Tylor Perry. All other scorers for the Mean Green were held to single digits, including Thomas Bell, who picked up his fifth foul midway through the second half and finished with nine points.
NO. 24 SO. CALIFORNIA 70 ST. JOSEPH’S 55
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Boogie Ellis scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, Joshua Morgan added 13 and No. 24 Southern California beat St. Joseph’s at the Wooden Legacy.
Chevez Goodwin had 10 points and eight rebounds for USC (4-0).
Ejike Obinna was 9 of 13 from the floor and finished with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for St. Joseph’s (2-2). Taylor Funk added 12 points and eight rebounds.
ASUN MEN
VMI 73, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 67
The University of Central Arkansas (15) made just 6 of 30 (20%) shots from three-point range and 9 of 14 (64.3 %) from the free-throw line in its loss to the Keydets (3-3) at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
The Bears played the majority of the game without starting forward Darious Hall, who was limited to six minutes because of back spasms. Freshman guard Camren Hunter took up much of the slack, scoring a career-high 19 points while recording 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals with no turnovers in 31 minutes.
Sophomore guard Collin Cooper scored 13 points, with a pair of three-pointers and 4 assists, and senior forward Jared Chatham had 10 points and 8 rebounds, going 5 of 7 from the field, for UCA.
Kamdyn Curfman led VMI with 22 points.
SWAC MEN
WEDNESDAY’S LATE GAME CALIFORNIA-SANTA BARBARA 86, UAPB 58
ISLA VISTA, Calif. – A miserable second half kept the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff from potentially picking up its first win of the season Wednesday.
The Golden Lions made just 6 of 26 (23%) shots after halftime, including 2 of 16 (12.5%) from behind the threepoint line, in a loss to the California-Santa Barbara in the Cerebro Sports Cali Jam Classic.
Amadou Sow had 20 points and 9 rebounds for the Gauchos, who were 20of-31 (64.5%) shooting after halftime and broke away after leading 38-36 at intermission. Miles Norris and Robinson Idehen both had 13 points and Ajare Sanni added 12 points for UCSB (3-1), which also held a 40-25 advantage on the boards and forced UAPB (0-6) into 17 turnovers.
Kylen Milton scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Golden Lions. Travonta Doolittle, Trey Sampson and Kshun Stokes all finished with nine points for UAPB.