PROVIDENCE, R.I. - UCF earned three victories in four days to claim the Myrtle Beach Invitational Championship, capped with a 78-62 victory over Western Kentucky. The American Athletic Conference also saw Memphis score 109 points in a double-overtime win against Yale on Saturday night, the sixth-highest scoring mark in league history.
RESULTS
UCF 78, Western Kentucky 62
Aubrey Dawkins hit five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to help UCF rally from an 11-point deficit and beat Western Kentucky 78-62 on Sunday night in the championship game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 senior, and B.J. Taylor each scored 13 for UCF (4-1). Taylor was scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting in the first half before making 3 of 4 from the field, including both of his 3-point shots, and 5-of-7 free throws after the break.
Dawkins hit back-to-back 3s to open the second half to give the Knights a 34-32 lead, their first of the game. Charles Bassey answered with a jumper but a dunk and then a jumper by Fall sparked an 11-2 run that made it 45-36 after another dunk by Fall with 15:51 to play. WKU (3-2) scored seven of the next 10 points to pull within five about four minutes later but would get no closer.
Bassey scored 13 of the Hilltoppers' first 17 points as they built an 11-point lead midway through the first half. The 6-11 freshman finished with a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds and has three double-doubles in five career games.
USF 73, Georgetown 76 (OT)
Jessie Govan scored 27 points and had six rebounds to lead Georgetown to a 76-73 overtime victory over USF Sunday afternoon in the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
James Akinjo finished 14 points and six assists and Josh LeBlanc added nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
David Collins led USF with 21 points that included a career-high four three-pointers. Laquincy Rideau scored 13 points and had a game-high four assists, while Alexis Yetna tallied a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
Akinjo gave Georgetown its first lead of the second half since the 18:26 mark when his jump shot with 56 seconds remaining in regulation put the Hoyas ahead 60-59. Collins answered on the ensuing possession for the Bulls with a layup in the lane to push USF ahead by one point.
Collins drew a foul on the next possession and hit both free throws to give USF a 63-60 edge with 13 seconds left in regulation. Akinjo then took the inbounds pass across half court and hit a three-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game at 63 with 4.6 seconds remaining.
USF nearly hit the game-winning shot off a rebound following a half court heave from Rideau, but T.J. Lang's putback at the buzzer was ruled late after an official review.
Georgetown (3-1) held USF scoreless for over six minutes and built a 19-9 lead midway through the first half. The Bulls, however, closed the period on 12-4 run to pull within two points on a Collins free throw just before halftime.
Lang hit a three-pointer just under four minutes into the second half to cap a 17-4 run to give the Bulls a 43-32 lead. The Bulls would hold the lead until Akinjo's basket in the final minute of regulation.
Wichita State 86, Alabama 90
Despite another big scoring night from senior Markis McDuffie and a breakout performance from Dexter Dennis, Wichita State fell 90-86 to Alabama on Sunday afternoon in the Charleston Classic fifth-place game.
McDuffie scored a game-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting and snagged eight rebounds.
Dennis scored 15 of his career-high 19 points after halftime to help the Shockers (2-3) rally from a 12-point deficit at the midway point. He hit all five of his second-half shot attempts and grabbed four offensive rebounds.
Jaime Echenique and Samajae Haynes-Jones chipped in 13 point each. Ricky Torres registered personal-bests for points (4) and assists (5) in 25 minutes of turnover-free basketball.
The Shockers hit 46.8 percent of their shots and over 80 percent from the foul line (22-of-27), but they struggled from beyond the arc (6-of-23, .261).
Alabama (4-1) kept the Shockers at arms' length by hitting free throws. The Crimson Tide came in shooting just 65 percent as a team but hit 31-of-33 foul shots, including 23-of-24 in the second half. They were 9-of-19 from three-point range.
Kira Lewis Jr. paced Alabama with 24 points in 33 minutes. He was 11-for-11 at the foul line. Alex Reese added 19 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
Freshman guard Erik Stevenson made his first career start but played just 13 minutes.
Memphis 109, Yale 102 (2OT)
Saturday night at FedExForum, the Tigers overcame multiple deficits and obstacles to outlast Yale, 109-102, in double-overtime.
Tyler Harris and Kareem Brewton rescued the UofM in regulation, allowing the Tigers (2-1) to recover from a six-point deficit with 1:39 left. Harris' three free throws with 2.9 seconds left forced overtime.
Kyvon Davenport's clutch shooting in the final two minutes of the first overtime - a three-point play with 41 seconds left and a game-tying free throw with 3.6 seconds to go - led to a second OT.
And in the second OT, senior guard Jeremiah Martin stepped up, driving aggressively to the rim and drawing fouls. He scored six of his 20 points in the final overtime, including going 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
Martin was one of seven Tigers scoring in double figures. Harris led with 22 points, his second-consecutive 20-point game after going scoreless in the opener against Tennessee Tech. Alex Lomax added 13 points, Brewton finished with 12, Mike Parks had 11 and Kyvon Davenport and Isaiah Maurice scored 10 each. Davenport led the Tigers with eight rebounds.
When Yale's Azar Swain connected from deep with 1:39 to go, the Bulldogs led, 81-75. The Tigers rallied in the closing minute-and-a-half to force overtime, sending it into the extra period when Harris made three free throws with 2.9 seconds left after being fouled on a corner-three attempt.
In the first overtime, Yale's Alex Copeland scored all 13 of the Bulldogs' points, but Memphis forced a second OT when Davenport hit a free throw with 3.6 seconds to go.
Then Martin took charge in the second OT, showing no ill effects of playing a game-high 42 minutes.
In the first half, Memphis fell behind by seven early during a flurry of Yale 3-pointers. The Bulldogs (1-1) built a 23-16 during a stretch in which they hit five consecutive treys, including three by Swain.
The Tigers battled back behind gritty play and determination, directed, in part, by Parks. He had 11 points in the first half and his strong follow with 1:31 left gave the UofM a 45-40 lead, its biggest of the half.
Lomax had 10 points in the first half, one in which the Tigers shot 47 percent and outrebounded Yale, 20-18. The Tigers did not make a 3-pointer in four attempts.
Yale shot 60.9 percent in the second half and 48.6 percent for the game. Copeland led the Bulldogs with 22 points and Swain finished with 17. Yale also made 22 of 29 free throws 12 of 29 treys.
Memphis overcame 21 turnovers, 6-of-23 shooting from 3-point range and missing 19 free throws.
The Tigers play next at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando starting on Thanksgiving Day against Oklahoma State. Memphis will play three games in the event.
The 56 free throw attempts by the Tigers tied for the third-most in school history.
SMU 73, Lipscomb 79
Eli Pepper scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds and Lipscomb held on late to edge Southern Methodist 79-73 on Saturday night.
Rob Marberry also had 16 points for the Bisons (3-1). Garrison Mathews had 15 points with seven rebounds and four assists and Matt Rose had 11 points and five rebounds.
Lipscomb trailed 36-29 at the break but in the second half, two quick layups by Marberry and 3-pointers by Pepper and Kenny Cooper helped the Bisons pull within a point, 43-42, with 16:47 to play. Marberry, Rose and Pepper contributed to a 10-2 surge midway that gave Lipscomb the lead, 59-54, with 9:24 remaining.
The Bisons never trailed after that although SMU kept it tight, closing to tie it 63-all with 5:42 left before Lipscomb pulled ahead again on a Rose layup and two Mathews free throws.
Ethan Chargois scored 22 points with 11 rebounds to lead the Mustangs (2-2).
UPCOMING GAMES