Combined Reports
(March 5, 2010)

ROME, Ga. - Faulkner lost most of an 18-point second-half lead but made plays down the stretch to escape the first round of the Southern States Athletic Conference with a 79-72 victory over Emmanuel here Thursday night at The Forum.

The fifth-seeded Eagles (18-12) advance to the tournament’s semifinals, where it will face No. 12 Lee, which blasted Brewton-Parker earlier in the day. The game tips off at 7 on Friday. Fourth-seeded Emmanuel ended its season at 21-10.

Faulkner blistered the nets in the first half, hitting 60 percent of its shots in racing to a 39-26 advantage. The first part of the final 20 minutes brought much of the same as the Eagles built the advantage to 51-33 with 12:55 left. Emmanuel, however, used a bruising offensive rebound advantage to fisght its way back in it. Getting numerous second- and third-chance opportunities, the Lions slowly cut into the lead. A 12-2 run, sparked by a Graham Maxwell three-pointer, brought Emmanuel to within 53-45 with 8:23 left.

The Eagles’ lead was 69-62 with 2:36 to play, but the Lions refused to go away. An Avery Morris basket and subsequent free throw sliced the Faulkner lead to 71-70 with 1:01 left, but Randell Moore and De Hereford each hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to put the game away.

Faulkner won despite being outrebounded 47-36, with the Lions grabbing a whopping 29 offensive boards. The Eagles finished the game by making 54 percent of their shots, while the Lions, who had 36 more shots from the field, made only 32 percent.

Adam Okechukwu had a career-high 25 points to lead the Faulkner effort. Chris Palmore added 14, while Moore added 13 and Drew Boland 11. Emmanuel was paced by Tedrick Hudson’s 19 points and Maxwell’s 16 points.

Senators advance with win over Shorter

Nathan Thomas scored a game-high 24 points to lead Auburn University at Montgomery to a 62-59 win over Shorter College in the opening round of the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament.

A three-point field goal from Johnny Williams with two minutes left gave the Senators a 59-52 lead, but Shorter made a run to cut the lead to 59-57 with only 23 seconds left.  Williams then made two free throws to push the lead back out to four, but Shorter cut the lead to 61-59 when Jerrenda Wheeler made a basket with 16 seconds left.

Wheeler then stole the ball with 11 seconds left and Shorter was in position to either win the game or send it into overtime, but Thomas came through with a big steal with four seconds left.  He then connected on one free throw forcing Shorter to throw up a long shot at the horn which missed, sending the Senators into the second round.

The Senators led 27-25 at halftime led by Thomas’ 13 points.  AUM’s defense was strong, holding Shorter scoreless for almost six minutes as AUM turned a 23-18 deficit into a 27-23 lead.  The lead could have been even more, but AUM struggled at the free throw line connecting on only four of their 12 first half attempts.

Williams finished the game with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while LaNorris Smith scored 13 points.  Stephen Jordan had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Wheeler finished the game with 15 points for Shorter while Ziyadah Carter and Montagious Brown both scored 10 points for Shorter.

AUM moves to 14-12 overall while Shorter ends its season at 17-13.  The Senators will play the winner of the Southern Polytechnic-Southern Wesleyan game Friday at 4 p.m.

Lady Senators beat Emmanuel

Cassie Moore had 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead AUM to a 38-34 win over Emmanuel College in the first round of the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament.

The game was a defensive battle throughout, with the largest lead coming when AUM led 35-29 with 2:36 left.  Emmanuel only led one time that was at the 14:35 mark in the second half, when Tenea Mann hit a three-pointer that put the Lady Lions in the lead 20-18.

That lead did not last long as Carlie Ainsworth came down and hit a three-pointer for AUM on the next possession to put AUM back in the lead, which they would never relinquish.  That three, was the only three for Ainsworth and the only three in the game for AUM.

AUM led 36-31 with 11 seconds left in the game, but the Lady Senators missed a chance to put the game away by missing two free throws.

Mann came right back down the court and drilled another three with four seconds left to cut the lead to 36-34.  That is when freshman Kamesha Strong knocked down two free throws with three seconds left to ice the game.  Strong was four-of-four at the line for her only points of the night.

Emmanuel’s defense forced 26 turnovers for the game and turned those into 13 points.  They also held AUM to 31 percent shooting from the field in the game.

AUM’s defense was not bad either, as they forced Emmanuel into 18 turnovers and held the Lady Lions to 24 percent shooting from the field.

The tough defense started in the first half as AUM led 14-11 heading into the break.  Emmanuel held the Lady Senators to only 26 percent shooting from the field and forced 13 turnovers which led to seven of the Lady Lions’ points.  Moore had seven points and six rebounds at the break.

AUM’s defense held Emmanuel to only 17 percent shooting in the first half, while also out rebounding Emmanuel 24-16.  Moore led the way with seven points and six rebounds at the break.

Moore was the only player to score in double digits for either team.  Melanie Gess finished the game six points and seven rebounds.

Mann finished with nine points, all on threes, for Emmanuel.  Brittany Bruno and Ashonttie Lewis had six points each for the Lady Lions.

AUM moves to 15-14 overall and will now face top-seed Lee University in the quarterfinal round Friday at 4:30 p.m.  Emmanuel ends its season at 18-13.