No. 7 Dayton foils Spiders’ hopes; Va. Wesleyan, CNU, VCU all win
No. 7 Dayton 87, Richmond 79
RICHMOND — Potential NBA lottery pick Obi Toppin and Jalen Crutcher each had 24 points for the Flyers (18-2, 7-0 Atlantic 10). They took control late in the first half and pulled away quickly after the intermission, disappointing most of a rare sellout crowd at Robins Center.
Toppin had 12 rebounds, four blocks and three assists, while Crutcher had eight rebounds and seven assists for Dayton, the highest-ranked team to play at UR in 14 years.
The Spiders (15-5, 5-2) made a comeback to cut the deficit to single digits in the second half but couldn’t pull even. Jacob Gilyard scored 27 points, Nick Sherod 23 and Nathan Cayo 15.
Virginia Wesleyan 76, Bridgewater 60
BRIDGEWATER — Daniel Spencer scored 23 points and Corey Pelham had 19 points and eight assists for the Marlins (14-3, 6-2 Old Dominion Athletic Conference), ranked 18th by d3hoops.com. They zoomed to a 23-3 lead and survived a big comeback by the Eagles (6-11, 2-6).
Chandler Murray led Bridgewater with 30 points, while Davrion Grier had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
VWU saw its lead trimmed to such scores as 33-29, 47-44 and 50-47, but the Marlins scored the game’s last 10 points.
Christopher Newport 72, Salisbury 64
SALISBURY, Md. — Adrian Beasley’s 19 points and fellow Tallwood High alumnus Dalon
McHugh’s 14 points and 11 rebounds sparked the Captains (15-4, 4-0 Capital Athletic Conference), who never trailed after the first three minutes.
CNU led by double digits for most of the game and by as many as 16 points. The Captains held Salisbury (8-11, 2-2) to 2-of-13 3-point shooting and outrebounded the Sea Gulls 32-24.
Gary Briddell scored 14 points to lead four Gulls in double figures.
VCU 76, La Salle 65
PHILADELPHIA — Marcus Santos-Silva registered 16 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Bones Hyland had 15 points for VCU (15-5, 5-2 Atlantic 10). Mike’L Simms added 13 points. Issac Vann had 10 points.
A 21-0 run gave the Rams a 21-5 lead, though La Salle gradually narrowed the gap. A 3-pointer by Hyland gave the Rams a six-point advantage late.
David Beatty had 16 points for the Explorers (10-9, 1-6), who have lost five consecutive games.
Stetson 48, Liberty 43
DeLAND, Fla. — Freshman Rob Perry finished with 22 points and seven rebounds as Stetson handed the Flames (19-3, 5-2 Atlantic Sun) their second loss in a row on their Florida trip.
Perry made three of Stetson’s four 3-pointers in the game as the Hatters (11-11, 5-2) improved their longest win streak since 2013 to five. Fellow freshman Mahamadou Diawara added 15 points
Liberty, which had been receiving votes in last week’s AP poll, took a 29-18 halftime lead.
But the Hatters scored the first eight points of the second half to get back in it.
Stetson, which trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, grabbed its first lead at 37-36 on a Perry layup with 5:31 remaining. Jones then turned two Liberty turnovers into layups, and the Hatters never trailed again.
Scottie James paced the Flames (19-3, 5-2) with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year.
Apprentice 68,
Warren Wilson 58
NEWPORT NEWS — The Builders (9-9) bolted to a 40-21 halftime lead and won behind Corey Joyner’s 14 points, Brandon Joyner’s 11 and Ken Smith’s 10.
It was the Eastern Metro Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Brent Davis scored 26 points and Prince Lemons had 18 for the Owls (1-8) from Swannanoa, North Carolina.
Elon 82, James Madison 73
ELON, N.C. — Marcus
Sheffield II had a season-high 31 points to carry the Phoenix, though the Dukes’ Matt Lewis had 33 points.
Sheffield made 10 of 11 free throws. He added nine rebounds for Elon, which went on a 16-2 run for a 29-17 lead and remained in front.
Hunter Woods had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Elon (6-16, 2-7 Colonial Athletic Association). Hunter McIntosh added 12 points and 10 assists.
Julien Wooden had 10 points for the Dukes (8-12, 1-8).
Davidson 68, George Mason 53
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Jon Axel Gudmundsson poured in 27 points for the Wildcats (10-9, 4-3 Atlantic 10), who took control late against the Patriots (13-7, 2-5).
A Gudmundsson jump shot gave Davidson the lead to stay at 47-45 with 8:50 to go.
AJ Wilson scored 18 for George Mason.
Mercer 69, VMI 66
LEXINGTON — Djordje Dimitrijevic sank five 3-pointers and scored 25 points to help Mercer prevail.
Dimitrijevic made 8 of 17 shots from the floor, including 5 of 10 from distance, and grabbed six rebounds for the Bears (10-11, 4-4 Southern Conference).
VMI, which trailed by three points at halftime, pulled even with the Bears on Jake Stephens’ layup with 1:52 left. But Robertson and Dimitrijevic hit backto-back 3-pointers, and Mercer never gave up its lead.
Myles Lewis paced the Keydets (6-16, 1-8) with 14 points and nine rebounds. Greg Parham had 12 points and four assists off the bench.
Army 73, Navy 66
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Tommy Funk matched his career high with a season-high 26 points as the Black Knights won a rivalry game.
Matt Wilson had 18 points for Army (9-10, 4-4 Patriot League), which won its fourth consecutive game. Josh Caldwell added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Cam Davis scored a careerhigh 26 points for the Midshipmen (11-8, 5-3).