Thursday's local men's college basketball roundup: VCU goes to 9-3 with win over UNC Greensboro

Bradford Burgess scored 24 points and Rob Brandenberg 17 Thursday night as VCU beat host UNC Greensboro 80-68.

The Rams improved to 9-3. The Spartans, guided by interim coach Wes Miller, fell to 2-11. Miller, 28, a former James Madison and North Carolina guard, is the youngest coach in Division I men's basketball.

JMU 62, George Washington 57

A.J. Davis and Humpty Hitchens scored 17 points apiece in the first half as James Madison built a 20-point halftime lead, and the Dukes held on in Washington.

The Dukes (6-3) led 55-33 after Andrey Semenov's layup with 13:46 left to play, but only made one more field goal the rest of the way.

Reserve David Pellom (eight points) and Tony Taylor (five points) sparked a 15-0 Colonials run. After Julius Wells' 3-pointer put the Dukes up 58-48, the Colonials scored six straight and trailed by four with 2:59 left.

GW (4-7) failed to score on its next five possessions, however, and the Dukes hit four free throws in the final 1:11 to secure the win.

ECU 69, Gardner-Webb 55

Darrius Morrow and Maurice Kemp each recorded double-doubles as East Carolina defeated Gardner-Webb in Greenville, N.C.

Morrow had 19 points and 10 rebounds while Kemp scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Shamarr Bowden added 13 points and Miguel Paul had 10 for the Pirates (7-4), who have won three straight games.

Max Landis and Tashan Newsome each scored 12 points for the Bulldogs (6-8), who lost their second straight game.

Howard 88, Delaware 83, OT

Glenn Andrews had a career-high 28 points, and he combined with Calvin Thompson to score 13 points in overtime to lift Howard in Washington.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Bison (4-9), who are guided by former Hampton University coach Kevin Nickelberry. The Blue Hens had their two-game win streak snapped.

Andrews nailed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70, sending it into the extra frame.

After Josh Brinkley converted 1 of 2 free throws to give the Blue Hens (5-5) a 71-70 advantage, Thompson and Andrews took over. Howard reeled off a 9-2 run to take a 79-73 lead at the 2:35 mark.

Georgia State 72, Georgia Southern 52

James Fields scored 18 points and Devonta White added 17 to help Georgia State (9-3) win in Atlanta for a school-record ninth straight win.

Eric Buckner finished with 13 points while Tony Kimbro Jr. had 13 and Jihad Ali chipped in with 12 for the Panthers.

Drexel 68, Binghamton 44

Samme Givens scored 15 points and Drexel shot 55.3 percent (26 of 47) from the field to defeat host Binghamton, keeping the Bearcats winless through 10 games.

Nine of Givens' points came in the first half. The Dragons (6-4) led 22-18 with 5:32 remaining before closing the half with a 14-4 run, which featured five layups to go in front 36-22.

Source: http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt-men-college-basketball-20111222,0,5044027.story?track=rss

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