With the Keydets (12-13, 7-8 Big South) leading 22-14 with seven minutes to play in the first half, Gardner-Webb (11-16, 6-9) went on an 11-0 run to take a three-point lead, 25-22, with just over two minutes left in the half. Keith Gabriel answered with a basket, but VMI would not score again until the 16:09 mark of the second half, a span of 6:09 of game action. The Runnin’ Bulldogs, meanwhile, outscored VMI 19-0 during that stretch, en route to a 20-point cushion that they would not reliquish.

Brown paced VMI with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting, but overall, the Keydets managed to hit just 21 of 63 shots (33.3%) from the field, while GWU shot the ball at a 47.5% clip (29 of 61). Keith Gabriel (14 points) and Ron Burks (12) were also in double figures for a VMI team that was missing junior Stan Okoye, who was unable to play after suffering a concussion in Thursday’s loss to Presbyterian College.

The win was GWU’s first over VMI since Jan. 16, 2010, as the Keydets had run off four straight victories over the Runnin’ Bulldogs, including a 76-72 win earlier this season. The home team was led by Donta Harper’s 14 points.

GWU jumped out to the early 6-0 lead, as the Keydets failed to make a basket for the first 4:15 of action, but VMI came back with an 8-2 run and tied the game, 8-8, on a Brown basket at 13:55. Burks then converted two free throws 39 seconds later, and the Keydets had their first lead, 10-8.

That lead slowly grew, and hit seven on a Michael Sparks three-pointer with 8:36 left in the half, a shot that put VMI up 20-13. Stefon Johnson split a pair of free throws for the home team, cutting the margin to six, but Brown converted a basket with seven minutes left in the half, giving the Keydets a 22-14 lead.

Unfortunately for VMI, Laron Buggs quickly answered with a basket, and that opened the game-breaking run. The visitors would score just one basket the remainder of the half, as GWU closed the period on a 17-2 run and led, 31-24, at the break.

The first half saw Brown lead VMI with nine points, but the Keydets shot just 2 of 15 from three-point range, helping GWU hold the visitors to 24 first half points. That equaled VMI’s lowest point total for a half this season, as the Keydets also had 24 points in the second half against Presbyterian College on Dec. 31.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs kept up their momentum early in the second half, outscoring VMI 13-0 over the first three-plus minutes. The Keydets had three turnovers and shot 0 for 5 during that time, as Gardner-Webb opened up a 20-point margin, 44-24.

VMI responded with an 8-2 run, closing the gap to 14 points on a Ron Burks layup with 14:48 to play, but the home team stretched its lead back to 20 with 11:52 to go, 54-34. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had a game-high 22-point lead, 72-50, with 3:42 to play, but the Keydets outscored them 11-5 over the remainder of the contest, accounting for the final margin.

In winning, Gardner-Webb scored nearly two-thirds of their points in the paint, as the Runnin’ Bulldogs held a 50-24 edge in that category, and GWU scored 22 fast-break points to four for VMI. Johnson and Tashan Newsome each scored 13 points for the home team, while Jarid Watson posted a career-high seven rebounds for the Keydets, doing so in just 13 minutes of action.

VMI basketball will return to action Tuesday, as the Keydets travel across the Blue Ridge Mountains to take on the Liberty Flames in a Big South contest. Game time in Lynchburg is set for 7 p.m., and the game will carried on ESPN3.

VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom

“After we built the lead in the first half, we started throwing it to the wrong team.  – different color jerseys, just crazy plays. We’d go stale, don’t make a shot, turn it over into breakout layups with soft fouls and “and ones” and go down seven at the break. And they punched us in the mouth the first four minutes of the second half and we didn’t respond. ”

” I thought we fought hard early, but once we started missing shots, we didn’t play as hard.”

“Brian Brown played great. I’m really proud of him. He’s been hurt and hasn’t been able to play. He persevered and just kept playing and he got his opportunity and made the most of it tonight. He was the lone bright spot for us. ”

“It was tough being without our leading scorer and leading rebounder (Stan Okoye). All we can do is play with the ones we got. But you can’t win many games being good for nine minutes.”

“We’ll have to play a whole lot better Tuesday night than we did tonight when we face Liberty.”

Sophomore forward Harrison Barnes scored 14 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels and junior forward John Henson scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds,

Senior forward Mike Scott scored 18 points for Virginia and also had six rebounds. Junior guard Jontel Evans added 12 points and five assists for the Cavaliers.

North Carolina out-rebounded Virginia 52-32 and had 23 offensive rebounds to eight for UVa. The Tar Heels had 23-second chance points to nine for the Cavaliers.

The victory improved North Carolina’s overall record to 21-4 and the Tar Heels are now 8-2 in the ACC.

The loss dropped Virginia’s overall record to 19-5 and the Cavaliers are 6-4 in the ACC.

In this week’s national rankings, UVa is 19th in The Associated Press poll and 20th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. North Carolina is ranked fifth in both polls.

Virginia led by seven points twice in the first half, the second time at 27-20 with 5:01 left in the half after an old-fashioned three-point play by freshman guard Malcolm Brogdon. North Carolina out-scored Virginia 15-5 the rest of the half to take 35-32 lead at halftime. Zeller scored eight of the Tar Heels’ points in the run that closed the half.

Scott scored 10 points for the Cavaliers in the first half, but picked up his second foul with 9:10 left in the half and played only 10 of the game’s first 20 minutes. He played 17 minutes in the second half.

Two three-point field goals by sophomore guard Joe Harris and a basket by Scott keyed an 8-2 UVa run that gave the Cavaliers a 40-37 lead with 16:50 left in the game.

The Tar Heels came right back with an 8-1 run to take the lead for good at 45-41 with 14:01 remaining as Zeller scored five points in that North Carolina surge.

The Cavaliers were still within five points (49-44) with 10:41 to play, but North Carolina scored seven consecutive points, four by Zeller, to build a 56-44 lead with 7:44 remaining and Virginia didn’t get the Tar Heels’ lead under 10 points the rest of the game.

North Carolina shot 35.3 percent (24-68) from the field for the game, including 10.0 percent (1-10) from three-point range, and 77.8 percent (21-27) from the free-throw line

Virginia shot 36.4 percent (20-55) from the field, including 18.8 percent (3-16) from three-point range, and 69.2 percent (9-13) from the free-throw line.

UVa returns to action on Tuesday (Feb. 14) when the Cavaliers play at Clemson. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU.

JMU snapped a five-game losing streak to improve to 11-16 overall and 4-11 in the league.  Towson dropped to 1-26 overall and 1-14 in the CAA.

The Dukes controlled most of the first half, leading by as many as 18 at 28-10 and ahead 36-21 at the break.  Towson started the second half on an 8-2 run to work its way back into the game, cutting the margin to single digits for the first time since the early minutes of the game.

The Tigers cut the lead to five at 46-41 with 9:07 on the clock, but junior forward Andrey Semenov (St. Petersburg, Russia/Blue Ridge School) connected for his fifth three-point field goal of the game to put JMU up by eight.

However, Towson kept up the pressure and held Madison scoreless for the next five and a half minutes.  Erique Gumbs, the lone returning letterwinner from a season ago for TU, started the run with a three-point play.  Will Adams hit a baseline jumper and Robert Nwankwo added another three-point play to tie it at 49-49 with 4:38 to go.  Two free throws by Marcus Damas gave the host its first lead of the game.

Now trailing by two, senior guard Humpty Hitchens (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) connected on his fifth trey of the game to put the Dukes back in front by one, 52-51 with 3:20 on the clock.  But Nwankwo hit two free throws, his sixth and seventh of the game, to give the Tigers their last lead.

Moore then took over down the stretch for the Dukes.  His floater from the left side put the Dukes in front with 1:26 to go.  After an air-balled jumper by the Tigers, Moore hit a pair of free throws with 26.4 seconds left for a 56-53 advantage.

Towson’s Kris Walden went to the line with 11.0 seconds to go and hit both to cut the lead before Moore added two more of his own to make it 58-55 with 8.6 seconds remaining.

JMU elected to foul Towson on purpose to avoid a potential tying three-point attempt with 4.6 seconds remaining.  Walden hit the first but his miss of the second attempt went out of bounds off a JMU player.  With an attempt to tie or take the lead, Marcus Damas’ 12-footer from the left side glanced off the rim as JMU won 58-56.

Moore finished with 10 points and eight assists for the Dukes.  Hitchens and Semenov each went 5-for-8 from the arc to finish with 18 and 17 points, respectively.  Hitchens added four assists and three steals.  Semenov tallied a team-high five rebounds, a career-high four blocks and two steals.  The trio combined for 45 of JMU’s 58 points (78 percent).

Nwankwo had a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds as JMU has allowed an opposing player to amass at least 15 boards in four of the last six games.  Marcus Damas hit three jumpers from the arc to finish with 14 points and six boards.  Deon Jones added nine points and six boards.

JMU shot 45 percent for the game while a seldom-used zone defense held Towson to 27.6 percent, the lowest opponent shooting total since limiting Hofstra to 27.1 on Jan. 16, 2002.  The Dukes also shot 46 percent from the arc and limited the Tigers to 28 percent.

Towson was able to stay in the game thanks to a rebounding advantage of 30, JMU’s worst rebounding margin since a 31-board advantage for Old Dominion in an 81-43 win for the Monarchs to end JMU’s 2008-09 season in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.  The Tigers turned the 49-19 advantage on the boards into a 22-5 showing in second-chance points.

JMU raced out to its second-largest halftime lead of the season, sitting ahead of Towson 36-21 at the break.  The Dukes scored the game’s first seven points and proceeded to hold the Tigers without a field goal for a stretch of over 10 minutes to grab a 21-5 lead.  The lead hit as high as 18 at 28-10 before Towson got as close as 13 points at 28-15 but consecutive threes by Semenov and Hitchens, the third of the half for each, extended it back to 34-17.

For the half, Hitchens had 12 points while Semenov had 11 as each hit 3-of-4 from the arc while JMU was 6-for-13 as a team.  The Dukes shot 50 percent overall from the floor while holding Towson to just six field goals and 23 percent shooting.  JMU forced 11 turnovers and committed just one for a 15-0 edge in points off turnovers in the half.  Meanwhile, Towson outrebounded the Dukes 25-9 for an 8-2 lead in second-chance points.

JMU plays its penultimate home game of the season on Tuesday when it hosts Georgia State at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.

NOTES: JMU won for the fifth time in six games in the series to improve to 25-10 all-time against Towson… junior guard A.J. Davis (Columbus, Ohio/Harmony Community) saw his streak of 14 straight games in double figures end with six points… Moore pulled into a tie for ninth in career assists at JMU with 294… Semenov climbed into the top 10 for career blocks at JMU, reaching ninth with 81… Hitchens reached seventh for threes in a season with 77.

The win was the second straight for the Eagles who improved to 7-16 overall and 4-10 in the ODAC. The loss was the second in a row for the Generals now 12-11, 5-9 in the ODAC.

The Generals led for most of the first half and took their biggest lead when J.D. Ey threw down a dunk and Clay McLean followed with a layup to put W&L on top 26-16 with 6:50 left in the opening half.

The Eagles fought back and used some inspired defensive work from Ronnie Thomas to go on a 10-0 run.

After Kenneth Waugh hit 1-of-2 at the foul line, a steal and layup by Thomas cut the margin to nine, A steal by Ed Reddick led to a 3-pointer by Thomas that cut the lead to 28-22. After two free throws by Matthew Hunter, another steal by Thomas led to a layup by Hunter as the Eagles pulled to with two 28-26.

Ey powered inside to convert a three-point play, but Thomas answered with two foul shots, making the score 31-28. Layups by Ey and Whitaker pushed the margin back to seven before Hunter scored in the paint to pull the Eagles within five, 35-30, at the break.

“We were really struggling on the offensive end in the first half and we were down by 10 or 12 and the game was in danger of getting away from us,” Bridgewater head coach Don Burgess said. “Ronnie came up with three big steals and we were able to get some points in transition and that helped us cut the lead down to five at the break.”

The Generals held the upper hand early in the second, but foul trouble for Ey and Bridgewater’s use of a smaller, quicker lineup turned the momentum in BC’s favor.

“W&L was killing us on the boards,” said Burgess. “With Ey and Whitaker, they have two of the best offensive rebounders in the ODAC. “We decided to go small, hoping our quickness would be an advantage.”

Two foul shots by Whitaker gave the Generals a 43-36 lead with 16:38 to play, but the Eagles outscored W&L 12-2 over the next 4:30 to take the lead.

Adams started the run with a short jumper and Reddick added a layup to pull the Eagles within three. Adams knocked down a baseline jumper to make it a one-point game, but Javon McDonald hit two foul shots to put the Generals up by three, 45-42.

A short jumper by Reddick and two free throws by Hunter put the Eagles up by one and a layup by Reddick gave Bridgewater a 48-45 lead with 11:56 left.

The score was tied at 48, 50 and 52-all before the Eagles took the lead for good with a 7-0 run. A layup by Romie Powell gave BC a 54-52 lead and two foul shots by Reddick extended the margin to four. Hunter then drained a long 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 49-42 lead with 7:14 left.

After a jumper by McDonald trimmed the margin to five, the Eagles scored the next nine points to lead by 14. Adams scored from in close and Reddick threw down a big one-handed dunk in transition off an assist from Hunter to give the Eagles a 63-54 lead. A layup by Hunter and a 3-pointer by Thomas pushed the advantage to 14 points, 68-54, with 4:14 left.

The Eagles seemed to have control of the game when Reddick hit two foul shots with 1:55 left to put the BC lead at 13, 74-61. Then, the Generals began chipping away at the deficit.

The Eagles fouled the Generals on three straight trips and W&L converted all six free throws. Meanwhile the Eagles were missing half of their free throws as the lead dwindled to seven, 76-69, with 39 seconds left.

After Benaiah Wise hit 1-of-2 foul shots, Clay McLean scored on a driving layup to make it a six-point game, 77-71. Waugh hit 1-of-2 at the line before McDonald drilled a long 3-pointer to pull the Generals within four, 78-74, with 26 seconds left.

Stapleton hit two big free throws for the Eagles, but the Generals converted with a four-point trip on its next possession to make it a two-point game. McDonald drew a foul driving to the hoop and made the first foul shot. He missed the second foul shot on purpose and Ey batted the rebound back toward midcourt. McDonald chased down the tip and hit a big 3-pointer to make the score 80-78 with 5.4 seconds left.

Bridgewater inbounded the ball to Waugh and he hit the second of two foul shots to give the Eagles a three-point lead, 81-78. McDonald dribbled just past the midcourt line and his desperation 3-pointer was well short as the Eagles escaped with the three-point win.

Reddick scored all 18 of his points in the second half to lead four Eagles in double figures. Thomas scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half and Hunter added a career-high 17. Adams finished the game with 10 points.

“Ed is a tough guard,” said Burgess. “He’s quick and he’s strong and he was able to get to the rim and finish in the second half. I thought our guards, Ronnie, Hunter and Benaiah Wise really played well. We turned it over just nine times and we created 24 turnovers. Romie Powell gave us some really good minutes and finished with eight points.

“We have to be better down the stretch,” Burgess continued. “You’ve got to make free throws and we have to be smarter at the defensive end. But. we’ll take the win. It was another great team effort as a lot of different guys stepped up with big plays.”

Ey led the Generals with 19 points and 12 boards and Whitaker also posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. McDonald finished with 19 points and McLean scored 17.

Bridgewater is back in action Wednesday when the team makes the long trek south to play at Emory & Henry. The Eagles close out the regular season next Saturday when they host Roanoke College.

The Lancers (8-16) led 51-32 at halftime before the Redhawks (7-14) rallied in the second half, scoring the final six points of regulation to force overtime, and then closing with the final five points of the game over the last 12-seconds for the win. 

Longwood was led by senior Antwan Carter|St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) with 27 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season and the 36th of his career, and senior Martiz Washington|Hopewell (Christchurch) added career highs of 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.  Seattle was led by Aaron Broussard with a game-high 33 points, including the decisive basket with just 1.2-seconds remaining.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the effort of our guys, of the way they have paid attention to details recently, and how they have been able to put what we need to do into action on the court,” said ninth-year head coach Mike Gillian.  “We were able to control the first half today and played very well.  Seattle was able to make it hectic in the second half and overtime, and force us into a few too many mistakes.  With all that, we were in position to win the game three different times and just needed to make one more play to come out on top.”

Longwood and Seattle began evenly with the Redhawks taking an early 9-6 advantage at 16:39 on a rare three-point field goal by two-time transfer Eric Wallace (Ohio State, DePaul).  The Lancers used an 18-4 run to lead 24-13 at 11:07 as sophomore David Robinson|Chesterfield (Cosby) scored eight quick points.  LU extended its advantage to 40-22 at 6:15 on a three-pointer by sophomore Tristan Carey|Colonial Beach (La Salle) who added eight quick points as did Washington, including a pair of three-pointers.  It was 51-32 at the intermission behind Washington (15), Carey (14), and Robinson (10).

Longwood scored the first basket of the second half by Carter to take its largest lead of the contest at 53-32 with 19:26 on the clock.  Seattle was able to mount its comeback the rest of the way with its fullcourt trapping pressure defense aided by using 12 players against a tiring group of Lancers who played just seven due to injuries and a recent suspension of a starting guard — the five starters each played at least 41 minutes.  The Redhawks were within 56-50 at 14:15 as Broussard scored seven quick points and Chad Rusmussen added two three-pointers off the bench.  SU tied it at 60-60 on a jumper from Cervante Burrell at 9:54; however, LU responded with 10 unanswered points to lead 70-60 at 7:55 as Carter scored seven quick points.  The Lancers led 82-73 at 4:07 as Carter completed an old-fashioned three-point play inside, and it was 86-80 on a Carter layup at 2:00.  Broussard scored inside at 1:34 and 1:02 before Burrell tied it at 86-86 with a jumper at :30.  Robinson missed a three-point attempt just ahead of the regulation horn.

The extra period witnessed two lead changes and three ties as Longwood led 91-88 at 3:35 on another three-point play from Carter.  It was 97-93 with 45-seconds left after Carey made 2-4 free throws, and 99-95 with 17-seconds to play following two free throws by senior Jan van der Kooij|Tiendeveen, The Netherlands (Roelof van Echten).  Rasmussen made it 99-98 with a three-pointer at 12-seconds, and following a turnover by the hosts, Wallace rebounded a missed three-point attempt and fed Broussard for the game-winning layup with only 1.2-seconds on the clock.  Longwood’s three-quarter court inbounds pass was deflected out of bounds at :00.3, and the ensuing pass was deflected at the buzzer as Seattle had the come-from-behind road victory over the stunned Lancers in a game that neither team deserved to lose.

Carter finished with 27 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Longwood, adding a career-high four blocks and three assists.  Washington added career highs of 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists along with a career-high seven three-pointers (7-13) for the Lancers.  Carey had a double-double of 20 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, adding six assists and a career-high five steals.  Robinson finished with 17 points and a career-high five assists.  LU shot 51% (35-69) from the field, including 45% (13-29) on three-pointers, and 73% (16-22) at the line.

Broussard led Seattle with a game-high 33 points.  Rasmussen finished with 18 points (6-17 3FGs) off the bench for the Redhawks.  Burrell added 14 points and a game-high 12 assists, Sterling Carter had 13 points, and Wallace had nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  SU shot 45% (40-89) from the field, including 30% (13-44) on three-pointers, and 58% (7-12) at the line.  Seattle forced a season-high 21 Longwood turnovers that were converted into 25 points.

It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the sport of men’s basketball.

Miller forced overtime with a three-pointer with 53 seconds left in regulation. Charleston Southern’s Rachelle Coward then pushed the game to a second extra session, making three free throws with four seconds remaining in overtime.

In the decisive second overtime period, Danika Dale hit a three-pointer on Liberty’s first possession, giving the Lady Flames a lead they never relinquished. Dale scored five points during the second OT, while fellow senior Warley pulled down four rebounds.

The hard-fought victory gave Liberty its first 10-game winning streak since the 2009-10 season. The Lady Flames are now 16-7 overall and 11-1 in Big South action, giving them a two-game lead over High Point in the conference standings.

Charleston Southern trailed by 13 points with 11 minutes remaining in regulation, before nearly pulling out a comeback victory. The Lady Buccaneers, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, dropped to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the Big South. CSU has now lost its last 18 games at Liberty.

Charleston Southern had recorded back-to-back 80-point outings before Saturday, but it took the Lady Buccaneers 4:29 to score their first points at the Vines Center. By that time, Liberty had opened the game with an 8-0 run. Avery Warley keyed the early surge with a pair of layups.

The Lady Flames took their first double-digit lead at 16-5, when Devon Brown hit Liberty’s third triple of the early-going at the 11:59 mark.

Charleston Southern scored the game’s next four points, pulling to within 16-9 10:16 before halftime, when Anicia Dotson made a free throw.

Miller drained a three-pointer on Liberty’s next offensive possession, kick-starting a 7-1 run by the Lady Flames. Warley’s putback hoop 8:07 before halftime made the score 23-10, Liberty.

The Lady Flames still led 26-13, before CSU fashioned its best run of the opening half. Lakeitha Alston scored five points during a 7-0 burst, including a layup at the 3:34 mark which cut her team’s deficit to 26-20.

Liberty’s edge went back and forth between six and eight points for the remainder of the opening half, before the Lady Flames took a 32-24 edge into the locker room at halftime.

Liberty shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor in the first half, assisted by 18 points in the paint and a dozen second-chance tallies. Meanwhile, CSU hit just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) of its first-half field goal attempts.

The homestanding Lady Flames dominated the rebounding category during the first 20 minutes, grabbing 27 rebounds to the Lady Buccaneers’ 12. However, Liberty committed 12 first-half turnovers which led to eight points by Charleston Southern.

Individually, Miller led Liberty’s offensive attack in the first half, making three triples as part of an 11-point period. Warley chipped in eight points and a half-high eight rebounds for the Lady Flames.

Alston played all 20 minutes during the first half for the Lady Buccaneers, pacing all players with 12 points before the break.

Charleston Southern scored five points during the opening minute of the second half, making it a one-possession game at 32-29, when Rachelle Coward nailed a three-pointer at the 19:23 mark.

But the Lady Buccaneers went more than six minutes without scoring another point, allowing Liberty to build its cushion to 38-29 on Miller’s layup at 13:36.

Shortly thereafter, a 7-0 Liberty run extended the Lady Flames’ edge to 13 points (45-32). Tolu Omotola capped the surge with a pair of free throws at the 11:13 mark.

Liberty only managed one made field goal in the next five and a half minutes, during which CSU used four triples to fuel a 16-3 run. Coward knotted things up at 48-48 with 5:47 to play with a long three-pointer.

The Lady Flames went in front 52-48 on Miller’s contested layup at 4:02, but the Lady Buccaneers countered with an 8-1 surge. Coward punctuated the run with another triple, giving Charleston Southern a 56-53 advantage with 1:10 left on the second-half clock.

Just 17 seconds later, Brown found Miller on a skip pass and the freshman calmly sank the game-tying triple. Both teams misfired on shot attempts during the remaining time, sending the game to overtime.

Liberty held the lead for most of the first overtime, pushing its advantage to 66-63 on Brown’s pair of free throws at the 16-second mark. The Lady Flames then fouled Coward shooting a three-pointer, sending her to the charity stripe for three attempts. Coward hit nothing but net on all three tries, leveling the score at 66-66. Neither team got a shot off during the remaining four seconds, as Liberty headed to double overtime for the first time since a Jan. 6, 2004 contest at American.

Dale found the bottom of the net with her three-point try, just 28 seconds into the second overtime. Meanwhile, Charleston Southern went cold from the field. The Lady Buccaneers did not make a field goal in the second overtime until Coward hit a runner with 17 ticks left. But Liberty was still ahead 75-69 when Coward’s shot connected, and Dale made two free throws to provide the final margin of 77-69. It was Liberty’s first overtime victory since the previously-mentioned American contest from Jan. 6, 2004, which saw the Lady Flames prevail, 76-72, in double overtime.

For the game, Liberty shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the field, as compared with Charleston Southern’s 31.9 percent (23-of-72) effort. The Lady Flames made seven three-pointers to tie their season high, while the Lady Buccaneers finished with 13 triples, equaling their total from the teams’ first matchup this season, on Jan. 16.

Liberty controlled the paint, doubling up CSU on the glass by a 60-30 margin and scoring 38 points in the paint to the Lady Buccaneers’ 16.

Charleston Southern kept things competitive by turning 28 Liberty turnovers into 22 points and winning the bench points battle, 23-5.

Individually, all five Liberty starters set new career highs for minutes played and all five scored in double figures.

Miller played the most minutes of anyone, equaling Kristal Tharp’s school record from the Jan. 6, 2004 American contest with 48 minutes. The freshman made the most of her playing time, scoring a career-best and game-high 23 points and tying her career high with five triples.

Warley chipped in 14 points and 23 rebounds for her 10^th double-double of the season. Her career-high rebounding total ties for third in program history. No Lady Flame had grabbed as many rebounds in a game since Dec. 4, 1992, when Theresa Bream collected 23 boards against St. Peter’s.

Warley also passed Sarah Wilkerson for fifth place on Liberty’s career scoring list. The Washington, D.C., native has now tallied 1,336 career points.

Brown also finished with a double-double, scoring half of her 12 points during the two overtime periods and adding 10 rebounds. The double-double was her second of the season and the 11^th of her career.

Nine of Dale’s 12 points came during the pair of overtimes, and the senior also set a career high with seven assists. Omotola reached double figures for the second straight game, ending up with 11 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Flames.

Coward, who had scored 32 points the first time Charleston Southern played Liberty this season, was limited to one first-half point. However, she poured in 21 tallies during the second half and overtime to finish with a team-high 22 points.

Alston added 14 points and five assists for the Lady Buccaneers. Freshman Shannon Sanders also played an impressive game for coach Julie Goodenough’s squad. She scored 13 points off the bench, which was more points than the 11 she had recorded all year prior to Saturday.

Saturday’s game served as Liberty’s Play 4Kay contest, in support of breast cancer awareness. The annual event was renamed this year in honor of former N.C. State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow.

Liberty will wrap up its quick two-game homestand Monday at 7 p.m., with a matchup against Coastal Carolina inside the Vines Center. The Lady Flames will seek their 37^th consecutive victory in their all-time head-to-head series with the Chanticleers, after defeating Coastal Carolina by an 82-45 count Jan. 14 in Conway, S.C.

Charleston Southern will remain within the Commonwealth until Monday, when the Lady Buccaneers square off with Radford. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center.

VMI, led by second-year head man Brian Anken, held Navy to just four goals in the second half at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

“Every loss is tough and this one especially because there is a lot of excitement for the first game of the year,” said Anken of the set back. “We as a staff try to pull positives out of every scenario and we had more positives than negatives. We have some stuff we need to work on, and we always will, … but nothing that can’t be fixed.”

VMI (0-1) was led by five different goal scorers, including a pair each from Keith Long and Chris DeBlasio. Long was the Keydets’ leading point getter on the afternoon, dishing out a pair of helpers.

But the Navy duo of Sam Jones and Tucker Hill stole the show as Jones finished with nine points on five goals a four assists. Hill buried six shots and had a pair of assists. The pair accounted for nearly all of Navy’s offense, as the Mids (1-0) got goals from just three other players.

Between the pipes, senior Kelly McMinn played well, making 14 saves including several in tight quarters. Along with McMinn, the Keydets did not allow a goal on four man-down situations, including a two-man down span in the third quarter.

Face-offs were a battle all day as VMI senior Stephen Robarge, who was named Preseason Honorable Mention All-America in December, went 15-24 on the afternoon, collecting a game-high seven groundballs.

VMI struggled in transition early in the game, but made adjustments after the first quarter. In the opening stanza, VMI went five-of-10, but worked out the kinks and finished the game going 13-18 in the final three quarters.

In the extra-man game, VMI went one-for-three as Chris Kitchen logged the game’s only man-up goal, getting the assist from Long.

The day opened with a pair of Keydet goals, including the first goal of the season from Tyler Griffith, whose father played lacrosse at the Naval Academy. Griffith pushed the game’s first shot past Navy netminder RJ Whickam, finishing on a pass from Long just 25 seconds into the fresh season.

Mike DeBlasio wasted no time scoring his first goal for the red and gold, capitalizing on a chance nearly five minutes into the game. After back-cutting his defender, the freshman received a pass from Tyler Prasnicki to put the Keydets ahead 2-0.

But the Mids, under first-year head coach Rick Sowell, rattled off six straight goals to end the first stanza, and continued to score in the second, notching a seventh-straight goal 20 seconds into the second quarter.

The Keydets halted the run with another pair of goals, getting one each from Long and Kitchen, both coming unassisted.

Once again the Midshipmen rattled off several straight goals and extending their lead to 10-4 before Long had the finally tally of the first half with just under two and half minutes to go. VMI was behind 10-5 at the break.

Both teams escaped the first half without being penalized, but they made up for it in the second half as Navy got four man-up chances and the Keydets got three. But the man-down unit for VMI locked down Navy’s extra-man set and did not allow a goal.

The two squads got their defensive units settled and the teams combined for just six goals in the final 30 minutes.

VMI will head to West Point, N.Y. for a second-straight game against a service academy as the Keydets take on the US Military Academy (Army). Action is set for noon at Michie Stadium.

The Dukes, who won their third straight, improved their overall record to 18-5 and their CAA record to 10-3.  With Hofstra’s loss at Virginia Commonwealth Thursday night, JMU claimed sole possession of second place in the league standings.

Drexel’s record is now 11-11 overall and 7-5 in CAA play.  The Dragons lost their third straight home game.

Hislop, who led all players with 22 points, hit a 17-foot jumper with 1:18 left in regulation to tie the game at 43 and force overtime.

JMU opened overtime play with four straight points to start a 10-2 run that put the Dukes up 53-45 with 1:06 remaining.  Hislop scored the last six points of the run, including four at the foul line where she twice hit both ends of 1+1s.

Drexel pulled within three, 54-51, with 15.1 seconds remaining, but Hislop’s two free throws with 12.7 seconds on the clock sealed the Dukes’ win.

Also scoring in double figures for JMU were sophomore guard Kirby Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), who scored 12 and grabbed nine rebounds, and redshirt senior forward Lauren Whitehurst (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River), who had 10 points and nine rebounds.  Junior forward Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) led all players with 10 rebounds.

Drexel was led by junior guard/forward Hollie Mershon (Malvern, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) with 17 points.  Senior forward Kamile Nacickaite (Siauliai, Lithuania/Regis Jesuit, Colo.) added 12 and senior forward Tyler Hale (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) scored 11 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

“I am thrilled and honored to contribute back to the Virginia baseball program,” Hultzen said. “Virginia has done so much for me. My experiences at UVa have been critical in helping me grow into the player and the man that I am today, and I would not be where I am without my time there. I had an amazing experience at Virginia, and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to give back to UVa and help the program and its players remain among the best in college baseball.”

Hultzen was 32-5 with a 2.08 ERA (74 ER, 320.0 IP) in 51 games (50 starts) in his college career. He holds the Virginia career wins record with 32 victories and also owns the Cavaliers’ career strikeout record with 395. He ranks in the top 10 in UVa history in ERA (2.08), innings pitched (320.0), win percentage (.865) and games started (50).

Hultzen won the 2011 John Olerud Two-Way Player Award, presented to the top two-way player in college baseball. He was a three-time first-team All-ACC selection and twice was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year. He succeeded in the classroom as well and was a Capital One First-Team Academic All-American in 2011.

Hultzen went 12-3 with a 1.37 ERA in 18 starts during his junior season for Virginia in 2011. He limited opponents to a .184 batting average, while striking out 165 batters and walking only 23 in 118.0 innings. His 1.37 ERA was the fifth-lowest in Division I, while his 165 strikeouts ranked second and were the most in a single season in Cavaliers history. He also hit .309 with 18 runs scored, 14 extra-base hits and 35 RBI in 43 games.

“During Danny Hultzen’s three years at UVa, he was 100 percent committed to help make our baseball program the best it can be,” UVa head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Now to see Danny’s continued commitment to Virginia baseball shows his respect for his career in a Cavalier uniform.”

After signing with the Mariners in mid-August, Hultzen made his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League in October and was a standout there, posting a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 innings of work. He was one of the starting pitchers in the AFL’s Rising Stars Game and earned the win in that contest. He recently was ranked by MLB.com as the 16th-best prospect in professional baseball.

The 16 seasons since the arrival of Ralph Simpson had been pretty good for the school – a pair of NIT titles, two visits to the Final Four and shares of four ACC regular season championships.

The 16 years since haven’t been much to talk about.

The 2011-2012 Cavaliers started strong, pushing their way toward the top. They get a chance to impress Saturday when they visit North Carolina at 1 p.m. on the ACC Network.

At the halfway point of the conference season, the Tar Heels and Duke share the lead with Florida State, with Virginia close behind. After a blowout win over Wake Forest Wednesday, the Cavaliers get North Carolina and Florida State at home before the season ends.

Other parts of the ACC area will see Miami vs. Florida State.

CBS shows Syracuse against Connecticut Saturday at 1 p.m., then goes to the Big Ten Sunday at 1 p.m. for Illinois’ game with Michigan.

ESPN starts Thursday in the Big Ten as Wisconsin plays Minnesota. Colorado travels to Arizona at 9 p.m.

The Gameday crew closes Saturday at Kentucky’s game on Vanderbilt at 9 p.m. on ESPN. The day starts at noon with West Virginia-Louisville, followed by Kansas State at Texas. Maryland battles Duke at 4 p.m. before Michigan State goes against Ohio State.

Sunday, St. John’s takes on Georgetown at 1 p.m.

ESPN2′s Thursday begins in the SEC with Mississippi-Mississippi State, then Virginia Tech plays Miami at 9 p.m. Out west at 11 p.m., Gonzaga tackles St. Mary’s.

Six games fill the ESPN2 schedule on Saturday. Butler meets Cleveland State at 11 a.m., followed by Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Middle Tennessee and New Mexico State-Utah State. At 5 p.m., Wichita State goes against Creighton before Alabama-LSU. The day closes in the Atlantic 10 with Temple against Xavier at 9 p.m.

Comcast heads west Thursday, with Washington facing Oregon at 11 p.m. The CAA starts the day Saturday on Comcast, with Towson meeting James Madison before VCU takes on Old Dominion. Clemson plays Wake Forest at 4 p.m., then in primetime it’s off to Conference USA for UAB-Memphis.

MASN goes to the WAC Thursday at 9 p.m., with Louisiana Tech at Utah State. Saturday starts in the Big East as Notre Dame plays DePaul at noon. It’s CAA action at 7 p.m., with George Mason visiting UNC-Wilmington. Pittsburgh faces Seton Hall Sunday at noon.

San Diego State battles UNLV Saturday at 4 p.m. on NBC Sports network.

It’s off to Peeble Beach for the PGA tour, with CBS having coverage Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.

ABC’s Sunday NBA game brings together the Bulls and Celtics at 3:30 p.m.

TNT’s Thursday doubleheader features the Lakers in Boston at 8 p.m., followed by the Thunder facing the Kings. The Lakers visit New York Friday at 8 p.m. on ESPN, then the Thunder play the Jazz. There’s another ESPN doubleheader Sunday, with the Hawks and Heat at 7 p.m. before the Jazz play the Grizzlies.

The Wizards take on Miami Friday at 7 p.m. on Comcast before heading to Detroit Sunday at 6 p.m. to play the Pistons.

The Capitals face division rival Winnipeg Thursday at 7 p.m. on Comcast before playing the Rangers Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on NBC. The Flyers take on Detroit Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC Sports network.

NBC Sports network has a college ice hockey twinbill Friday. Boston College travels to Vermont at 7:30 p.m., followed by Minnesota-Denver.

MASN has Big East women’s basketball between Connecticut and Georgetown Saturday at 4 p.m. Comcast shows USC vs. California Saturday at 11 p.m. Sunday at 1 p.m., Duke takes on Florida State before the PAC-12 matchup between UCLA and Stanford.

High school basketball takes the stage Friday on ESPN2, with DeMatha facing Gonzaga of D.C. at 7:30 p.m.

NBC offers the Dew Winter Tour from Utah Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

The USA Track and Field Classic goes on ESPN2 Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

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