|
|
Herve Lamizana scored 21 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and blocked eight shots to lead Rutgers to an 80-75 victory over Northwestern in the opening round of the Sierra Providence SunClassic Basketball Tournament on Saturday.
Rutgers (7-1) will take on Texas-El Paso (8-1), an 84-63 semifinal winner over Mississippi Valley St., in Sunday's championship game.
Lamizana's eight
blocks set a tournament record.
Northwestern's Jitim Young hit a layup to cut Rutgers' lead to 76-73 with 23
seconds left, but two free throws each by Lamizana and Marquis Webb in the closing
seconds gave the Scarlet Knights an 80-73 lead with nine seconds remaining.
Ricky Shields led Rutgers with 24 points and Quincy Douby added 10. Webb had six assists.
Northwestern (5-5), which will meet Mississippi Valley St. (5-4) in Sunday's consolation game, was led by Vedran Vukusic's 26 points. Young scored 20 points and Evan Seacat added 11.
Rutgers outrebounded Northwestern 42-26.
Shields and Lamizana
combined for 25 first-half points to help Rutgers to a 42-34 halftime lead.
Joel Jones scored 21 points and Cedric Thompkins added 14 as Sacramento State beat Long Beach State 73-51 Saturday night.
Kevin Roberts had 13 points and 13 rebounds to lead the 49ers (5-6), who are 1-6 against Division I teams this season.
Leading 36-29 at
halftime, the Hornets (5-6) used a tough defense to slowly build their lead
in the second half. Jones hit his second 3-pointer of the game to give Sacramento
State a 64-45 lead with 4:30 left.
The Hornets then held the big lead down the stretch, as Thompkins grabbed four
offensive rebounds in the last three minutes.
Sacramento State dominated early, leading 17-4 after E.J. Harris hit a lay up with 13:01 left in the first half.
But the 49ers, who committed 10 turnovers in the first 17 minutes, staged a comeback. Louis Darby slammed home a two-handed dunk with 25 seconds left in the half, cutting the Sacramento State lead to 33-29.
Jones, who was 6-of-12 from the field in the first half, hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Hornets a 36-29 halftime lead.