Bulldogs nearly shock Rutgers
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Ron Harper Jr. and Montez Mathis each scored 13 points and had six rebounds in a balanced scoring attack to lead Rutgers past Bryant 73-71 in a season opener on Thursday night.
Adam Grant missed a three-pointer from the right wing in the final seconds as Bryant nearly upset a Big Ten opponent for the first time.
The Scarlet Knights didn’t have a scorer in double figures until Stony Brook graduate transfer Akwasi Yeboah scored on a free throw to make it 58-45 with 11:21 remaining.
Rutgers’ lead ballooned to as many as 16 on a Paul Mulcahy three-pointer with 14:41 left in the second half. Bryant cut the lead to 67-62 after a barrage of three-pointers, capped off by Patrick Harding with 2:58 remaining, then closed to 73-71 after a three-pointer by Charles Pride with 48.2 seconds left.
Rutgers traded leads with Bryant throughout the first ten minutes of the first half before Shaq Carter gave the Scarlet Knights a 13-12 lead with 11:17 left. They never looked back, taking a 38-30 lead into the break.
Bryant was led by Grant with 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while Charles Pride had 20 points and seven rebounds.
BIG PICTURE
Rutgers: Under the direction
of fourth-year coach Steve Pikiell and returning six of seven of its top scorers, the Scarlet Knights are entering a season with the most optimism that they’ve had in a long time. The hope is to make the postseason, which they haven’t done since their 2006 NIT appearance. They haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1991.
Bryant: Picked sixth out of 11 teams in the Northeast Conference preseason poll, the Bulldogs will be led by senior guard Adam Grant, who was named to the NEC preseason all-conference team.
THREE-POINT STRUGGLES
Rutgers had a porous night from beyond the arc, going 9 of 32. That’s worse than last year’s season average, which was just 31.2 percent.
UP NEXT
Hosts Niagara
Rutgers: day.
Bryant: Hosts Cornell on Sunday.
on
Sun
CLEMSON 79, PRESBYTERIAN 45 CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — John Newman III scored 16 points and Clemson made 14 three-point shots as the Tigers rolled past Presbyterian 79-45 on Thursday night.
Clemson (1-1) made more threepoint shots in the first half (eight) than it made the entire game in a 6760 home loss to Virginia Tech in its Atlantic Coast Conference and season opener on Tuesday night.
Presbyterian (0-1), an in-state rival
pand member of the Big South Conference, was playing its first game under new coach Quinton Ferrell, ap Presbyterian alumnus who spent the previous five seasons as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston.
Clemson took control from the outset and built a 13-point lead, 18-5, midway through the first half.
Presbyterian trailed by nine, 2314, with 6:28 left in the first half, but the Tigers closed the half on a 20-4 run to forge a 43-21 lead at halftime.
The Tigers’ onslaught continued in the second half as Clemson made a trio of three-pointers in the first six minutes to push their lead to 34 at 5925. Clemson would eventually lead by as many as 39.
Forward Tevin Mack, a transfer from Alabama, added 14 points for Clemson while freshman guard Chase Hunter and graduate transfer Curran Scott added 13 apiece.
The Tigers’ double-digit scorers were a combined 11-of-20 from beyond the arc and Clemson’s 14 three-pointers were just one off the school’s best in 10 seasons under Coach Brad Brownell.
Presbyterian was led by Chris Martin’s 11 points while Ben Drake and J.C. Younger added eight apiece.
BIG PICTURE
Clemson: With guard Clyde Trapp and forward Jonathan Baehre still recovering from knee surgeries, the Tigers need to continue to find alternative scoring options.