Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Around the League: 12.23.08

Tuesday's games:

Boston College 99, Maine 61
This one was never close. The Eagles locked down Maine's best player, Mark Socoby, and held his scoreless for the first time all season (0-of-4 from the field). The loss is Maine's third in a row as the Blackbears (5-7) never led. BC's Corey Raji had quite the day as he netted a career-high 26 points. Not only that, but he did so on an astounding 12-of-12 from the field. The only two shots he missed all afternoon were from the charity stripe, where he went 2-of-4. Three other BC players reached double figures as the Eagles outrebounded Maine, 45-28 and shot 55.6 percent from the floor. Maine's leading scorer was Gerald McLemore, who has 18 points, including three 3-pointers.

Fordham 60, New Hampshire 56
The first meeting between these two schools was neck-and-neck down the stretch after UNH closed a lead by Fordham that grew to as many as 14 points in the first half. Fordham's Jio Fontan scored 18 points, including the go-ahead layup and two free throws in the final minute to seal the Rams' second victory of the season. Tyrece Gibbs converted two from the charity stripe with 1:01 left, but Fontan's layup came seconds later. Tyrone Conley led all Wildcats (3-6) with 12 points and six rebounds as UNH shot just 4-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Binghamton 69, Rider 58
Five Bearcats scored in double figures as Binghamton outscored Rider in both halves. Despite 25 points by Rider's Ryan Thompson, Binghamton easily handled the Broncs thanks to a strong run midway through the second half. D.J. Rivera led all Bearcats (5-4) with 22 points as Binghamton connected on eight 3-pointers in the game -- quite a turnaround from two times this year when they failed to hit a single trey.

Maryland-Baltimore County 66, Nebraska 64
Darryl Proctor had just one block in the game, but it came at an incredibly important time -- with one-tenth of a second left in the game, preventing a tie and a ferocious comeback by Nebraska after the Cornhuskers trailed from wire to wire. UMBC (6-5) ran its lead to as much as 20 points in the first half, but Nebraska mounted a steady comeback, making for a very interesting ending. The Retrievers didn't convert a field goal for the last 6:34 of the game, but did make 9-of-11 from the line during that stretch. Rookie Chanucey Gilliam led all UMBC players with a career-high 21 points (9-of-11 shooting), while Proctor notched his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 boards. Ade Dagunduro led Nebraska with 19 points. UMBC's win snapped a 31-game non-conference win streak by Nebraska on their home court.

Wednesday's games:
No games scheduled until December 27.

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