NIT Roundup : Southwest Missouri St. Beats Marquette, 83-69

Winston Garland scored 22 points and Phil Schlegel added 21 Monday night to lead Southwest Missouri State over Marquette, 83-69, in a second-round National Invitation Tournament game at Springfield, Mo.

Southwest Missouri (24-7) built a 39-27 halftime lead, but Marquette (19-11) whittled the deficit to five points on two occasions, the last at 59-54 with 7:39 left.

Kerry Trotter fouled out for Marquette with 4:53 left and then was assessed three consecutive technical fouls and ejected from the arena.

The Bears capitalized on the technicals by scoring seven points to take a 72-57 lead.

Southwest Missouri went ahead, 27-13, early in the game with a 23-6 spurt, and the Warriors never caught up.

Garland, a 6-2 junior college transfer from Gary, Ind., hit 6 of 11 from the field and 10 of 12 free throws and handed out a game-high six assists. Schlegel hit on 9 of 13 field-goal attempts and pulled down 11 rebounds.

David Boone had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors.

Louisiana Tech 77, McNeese State 61--Robert Godbolt had 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Bulldogs stopped the cold-shooting Cowboys at Ruston, La.

The Bulldogs (18-13) lost to McNeese State (21-11) twice during the regular season. They trailed, 29-27, at halftime Monday before putting up a zone defense that stymied the Cowboys--who made just 37.5% of their shots in the second half.

Kenny Jimerson and Michael Cutright scored 16 points for McNeese, and Jerome Batiste added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Willie Godbolt had 16 points for the Bulldogs.

Clemson 77, Georgia 65--Glenn Corbit and Horace Grant scored 24 points apiece, and the Tigers knocked off the Bulldogs at Athens, Ga.

The Tigers (19-14) had a 35-32 halftime lead, but Corbit and Glen McCants scored two baskets each to open the second half and give the Tigers an 11-point advantage.

Georgia (17-13) went scoreless for the first 5:38 of the second half before freshman Toney Mack hit an 18-foot jumper.

Donald Hartry scored 17 points for Georgia.

Florida 77, TCU 75--Joe Lawrence sank a baseline jumper with two seconds remaining to push the Gators past the Horned Frogs at Gainesville, Fla.

Carven Holcombe hit a 15-footer for TCU (22-9) to tie the score, 75-75, with 34 seconds left. Florida (18-12) held the ball until Ronnie Montgomery missed a jumper with nine seconds left. Andrew Moten’s tip-in try missed before Lawrence got the rebound and put in the game-winner.

Carl Lott scored 21 points for the Frogs, while Moten had 20 and freshman Clifford Lett added 16 points for the Gators.

Ohio State 71, Texas 65--Brad Sellers scored 25 points and Curtis Wilson added 17 as the Buckeyes rallied to beat the Longhorns at Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes (16-14) hit only five of their first 18 field-goal attempts and trailed, 24-12, with five minutes left in the first half before reserve guards Wilson and Jay Burson got them going.

Burson hit three long jumpers, and the Buckeyes were within 28-27 at halftime.

Sellers’ tip-in at the outset of the second half put the Buckeyes ahead, and they gradually increased their lead to 64-54 with 1:37 left.

Patrick Fairs scored 18 points for Texas (19-12).

Providence 90, George Mason 71--Dave Kipfer scored 19 points and Don Brown added 18 points as the Friars overpowered the Patriots at Providence, R.I.

The Friars (17-13), who won for the sixth time in their last seven games, had a 38-32 halftime lead but broke open the game with eight layups early in the second half and raced to a 58-43 lead.

Bob Rose scored 23 points for George Mason (20-12).