College Basketball Roundup : Late Rally Helps Pitt, No. 3, Survive a Scare Against Akron, 67-63

Sean Miller scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and Bobby Martin snapped a late tie with two foul shots to rally No. 3 Pittsburgh from an 11-point second-half deficit and a 67-63 victory over unheralded Akron Monday night at Richfield, Ohio.

Martin made his two key foul shots with 1:41 left to put Pittsburgh (5-0) ahead to stay, 60-58.

Eric McLaughlin, who led Akron (4-3) with 20 points, but only five in the second half, hit a three-point basket to pull the Zips within one point with three seconds remaining, but Miller made two foul shots and Martin added one in the final two seconds.

Pittsburgh made 21 of 47 foul shots, compared with Akron’s 11 of 22, and outrebounded the Zips, 38-30.

Syracuse 108, Texas San Antonio 84--Matt Roe scored 16 first-half points, including five in a 15-2 spurt at the end of the half, and sparked the seventh-ranked Orangemen to the rout at Syracuse, N.Y.

Roe, a sophomore guard, finished with a career-high 25 points, including a school-record six of nine from three-point range as Syracuse (8-2) won its sixth consecutive game. Sherman Douglas had 21 points for Syracuse, while Rony Seikaly added 19 and Derrick Coleman 17.

Eric Cooper was the leading scorer for Texas San Antonio (4-2) with 18 points.

Florida 83, South Florida 69--Vernon Maxwell scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half to help the eighth-ranked Gators to a comeback victory at Gainesville, Fla.

Dwayne Schintzius had 19 points and Livingston Chatman added 17 for the Gators, who rallied from a six-point deficit in the second half to improve their record to 7-1.

South Florida (1-6) was led by senior guard Kenny Brantley’s career-high 26 points.

Duke 121, Harvard 62--Kevin Strickland scored 28 points and Robert Brickey added 25 to pace the ninth-ranked Blue Devils easy victory at Durham, N.C..

Strickland had 20 points and Danny Ferry scored 19 of his 21 points as unbeaten Duke (5-0) raced to a 65-30 halftime lead. Freshman Ralph James scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Harvard (4-4).

Duke forced 20 turnovers in the first half and caused eight more in the second half whens the Blue Devils led by as many as 63 points.

Michigan 78, Grambling St. 61--Gary Grant scored 18 of his 32 points in the first 8:15 and powered the 11th-ranked Wolverines at Ann Arbor, Mich., extending their winning streak to eight.

The Wolverines, whose only loss was to No. 1 Arizona, improved to 9-1. Grambling (1-4) has lost four consecutive games, all on the road.

Terry Mills added 12 points for Michigan, while Loy Vaught had 11.

Joel Berry scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half for Grambling.

Iowa 110, Pan American 64--Al Lorenzen scored 19 points and Roy Marble added 17 and the 14th-ranked Hawkeyes snapped a two-game losing streak in the romp at Iowa City.

Iowa (7-2) led by 38 three times in the second half before the starters were benched with 11:56 to play.

B.J. Armstrong had 16 points, Bill Jones 15 and Michael Reaves and Jeff Moe each had 11 for Iowa.

Kevin Johnson had 18 to lead Pan American (5-4).

Iowa St. 76, E. Illinois 66--Lafester Rhodes scored seven points in overtime as the 16th-ranked Cyclones won at Ames, Iowa.

Rhodes, a senior center who set a school scoring mark with 54 points in the Cyclones’ overtime victory over Iowa Saturday, had been held to just two points in the second half of regulation play.

The Panthers’ Tony Hemphill sent the game into overtime with a desperation, turn-around three-pointer with five seconds to play to tie the score at 64. Eastern Illinois (5-2) never led in overtime.

Forward Jeff Grayer led Iowa State, 9-1, with 21 points, while Rhodes had 19.

Georgetown 90, Rice 63--Perry McDonald scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds with the 19th-ranked Hoyas placed five players in double figures at Landover, Md.

Mark Tillmon scored 17 points and Anthony Tucker added 15 to help the Hoyas (7-1) to their fourth straight victory. Rice (2-5) was led by David Willlie’s 15 points.

Ohio U. 72, Tennessee 70--Dave Jamerson’s three-point basket with 1:10 left to play set up an Ohio University rally as the Bobcats upset the previously unbeaten Volunteers at Knoxville, Tenn.

The Bobcats, of the Mid-American Conference, improved their record to 3-6, lead by Paul Graham, who had 24 points and 10 rebounds.

A Clarence Swearengen layup with 25 seconds left trimmed a Bobcat lead to 68-64, but free throws by Graham and Dennis Whitaker gave the Bobcats a 72-67 lead.

Vol Travis Henry hit a three-point shot with four seconds remaining but it wasn’t enough as 11,068 fans watched Tennessee (4-1) lose for the first time in its new 25,000-seat Thompson-Boling arena.

Houston 71, Lamar 67--Tom Grant scored 19 points to lead the Cougars over the host Cardinals in the Spindletop Blowout tournament championship at Beaumont, Tex., while the consolation game ended with a foul-plagued coach pulling his team off the floor.

Manhattan College Coach Bob Delle Bovi ordered his team out with 8:09 to play after receiving his third technical foul, and referees gave Drexel a 70-56 victory in the tournament’s consolation game.

Delle Bovi was hit with two technical fouls for protesting a foul call as Philadelphia’s Drexel (5-2) led the game, 64-56, with 8:20 left. Drexel’s Tom Murphy and Todd Lehmann, whose 22 points led all scorers, made six shots from the penalties.

Manhattan (5-5) of Riverdale, N.Y., regained possession on a foul call at 8:13, but Delle Bovi was again charged with a technical for yelling. The coach then pulled his team from the court and referees ended the game.

“The officiating was terrible,” Delle Bovi said. “For my players to get pushed around and then get a call for a two-shot intentional foul with his back to the player is ridiculous.

“I went on the floor to get a technical, but the ref who gave us so much trouble last night did not have guts enough to give me one. I walked to the end of the bench, said something interesting, and he said ‘You’re out of here, coach,’ and we were literally out. The players said, ‘Great, coach.’ ”

Northwestern 78, DePaul 64--Jeff Grose scored 27 points, including 17 in the first half and the Wildcats surprised the Blue Demons in a battle of neighboring schools at Evanston, Ill.

The victory was the first for Northwestern (4-3) over DePaul (6-2) since 1973.

Vanderbilt 81, Morehead St. 73--Scott Draud paced a long-range Commodore attack with 18 points on six three-point shots at Nashville, Tenn.

Vanderbilt (5-1) hit eight shots from three-point range in the first half and seven three-point shots in the final 20 minutes.

SMU 78, Santa Clara 70--Kato Armstrong scored 24 points to lead the Mustangs to victory at Dallas.

The win improved the Mustangs’ record to 8-1, while the Broncos dropped to 4-4.

The Broncos were led by Dan Weiss and Osei Appiah, who each had 12.

N. Carolina St. 93, Winthrop 59--Charles Shackleford scored 24 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked three shots in the Wolfpack’s victory at Charlotte, N.C.

N.C. State (3-1) closed out the first half with a 22-5 spurt and a 48-26 halftime lead.

UC Santa Barbara 71, Montana State 64--Mike Doyle scored 19 points to lead the unbeaten Gauchos at Santa Barbara.

At 6-0, it is the best start for the Gauchos since 1954.

Brian Shaw added 16 points and the Gauchos overcame a 15-4 deficit at 13:45 of the first half. The win gives the Gauchos their best start since 1954.

With the Bobcats (5-4) leading 64-63 and 5:38 left, Carrick DeHart hit consecutive 3-point shots to give the Guachos the lead for good.