Nov. 17, 2007

Hurricanes down VCU to Advance to Tip-Off Finals

Jack McClinton scored 23 points and Miami held off a late-game rally to lead the Hurricanes to a 69-63 win over Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Friday.

The Hurricanes (3-0) led 36-21 at the half and by as many as 13 points with four minutes to play. The Rams went on a 12-4 run, highlighted by eight points from Eric Maynor, to cut the lead to 63-58 with 26 seconds remaining. Raymond Hicks, McClinton and Lance Hurdle combined to sink all six free throw attempts in the final seconds to shut down the Rams.

Anthony King posted his first double-double of the season and the 11th of his career, finishing with 10 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, while Brian Asbury added 10 points for the Hurricanes. McClinton nailed 5-of-7 three-pointers and went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Morrow Paces Tech Past Charlotte, 82-77

Anthony Morrow scored 19 points to lead Georgia Tech to an 82-77 victory over Charlotte in the opening round of the Paradise Jam on Friday afternoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Jeremis Smith added 15 points while Lewis Clinch posted a season-high 14 points. D'Andre Bell came off the bench to contribute 12 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. The Jackets will next face Winthrop in the tournament semi-finals on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be televised by Fox College Sports and air in Atlanta on SportSouth.

Morrow scored 12 of his 19 in the second half, first canning a three-point basket after the 49ers had scored the first eight points of the period to erase a 40-34 Tech halftime lead.

The teams exchanged leads eight times in the second half before Clinch's jumper gave the Jackets the lead for good, 65-64, at the 6:46 mark. Tech maintained the lead with some clutch free throw shooting by Smith and Bell, as well as a pair of big putbacks off missed shots by Smith.

FSU Remains Unbeaten After Win Over UAB

Isaiah Swann hit six 3-pointers to lead Florida State to a 78-70 win over UAB at the Glenn Wilkes Classic on Friday night.

Swann, who went 6-for-11 from 3-point range, had a game-high 28 points. The Seminoles had an 11-point lead with 6:54 remaining, but Blazers forward Lawrence Kinnard and guard Robert Vaden helped trim the lead to four. They had 19 and 17 points respectively.

Florida State (3-0) shot 71 percent from beyond the arc and a 73 percentage inside the paint in the second half.

Besides Swann, three other Seminoles scored in doubles digits, Toney Douglas had 11 and guard Jason Rich and forward Uche Echefu each had 10.