Roundup : Houston Hands Fordham Its Ninth Straight NIT Loss, 69-61

Rolando Ferreira scored 17 points Thursday night to boost Houston to a 69-61 victory over Fordham in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Richard Hollis added 14 points, Craig Upchurch 13 and Horace Chaney 12 for the Cougars (18-12). Fordham (18-15) incurred its ninth straight NIT loss.

Tom Parrotta led the Rams with 18 points and ended his career two points shy of 1,000.

Fordham pulled to within 39-37 in the second half, but Houston, playing at home, scored six straight to lead 45-37 with 14:16 left.

Joe Paterno was called for a technical with 7:23 remaining and Randy Brown sank the free throw to give Houston its largest lead at 57-47.

Boston College 73, Siena 65--Steven Benton scored 21 points to lead the Eagles to the win at Newton, Mass.

Bobby Francis added 13 points for the Eagles. Rick Williams scored 23 points for Siena. Neil Currie was the only other Siena player in double figures, scoring 10 points.

Louisiana Tech 66, Arkansas Little Rock 56--Randy White scored 28 points and pulled down 19 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to the win in a tight game at Little Rock.

The score was tied for the 10th and final time, at 50-50, with 9:21 to play, but Little Rock, which finished 24-7, did not score for 5 1/2 minutes and trailed 59-50 at that point.

White’s rebound basket put the Bulldogs ahead for good, 52-50, with 8:52 left.

Georgia 53, Georgia Southern 48--Toney Mack grabbed a key rebound with 25 seconds remaining, then sank two free throws to lead the Bulldogs to the win at home.

Georgia, behind by 7 points at the half, scored 16 straight points in the second half by using a full-court press that forced 9 Georgia Southern turnovers during that stretch.

Connecticut 62, West Virginia 57--Jeff King came off the bench to make four free throws with less than a minute left in overtime to lead Connecticut to the win at Morgantown, W.Va.

Connecticut’s Tate George made a six-foot jumper with six seconds left in regulation to tie it, at 50-50, and send the game into overtime.

Evansville 66, Utah 55--Senior forward Marty Simmons had 29 points as the Aces (21-7), leading nearly all the way, defeated the Utes in Evansville. Scott Haffner added 13 points, 11 from the free-throw line.

Oregon 81, Santa Clara 65--The Ducks, playing at home, had a 21-point lead drop to 13 but sealed the game in the second half.