College basketball roundup: Duquesne holds off St. Francis in Dambrot debut
Rene Castro-Caneddy and Tarin Smith combined to score 40 points as Duquesne held off St. Francis Brooklyn, 80-70 in the season opener Saturday night.
The win is Duquesne’s first under Keith Dambrot, who takes over after 13 seasons coaching Akron. Duquesne now is 80-4 when opening the season at home.
The game was tied, 32-32 at intermission, and St. Francis twice got within five points in the final 1:13, but the Dukes pulled away each time. After Rasheem Dunn got to the basket for a layup to cut the lead to 75-70 with :33 left, Eric Williams converted five of six from the line to pad the Duquesne lead.
Duquesne struggled from the field, hitting 23 of 59 attempts (39 percent), including just 3 of 26 from long range. But the Dukes were 31 of 45 from the free throw line while allowing the Terriers just 16 free throw attempts.
California 88, West Virginia Wesleyan 83: Isaiah Lewis scored eight of his game-high 29 points in overtime as California University won its season opener by outlasting West Virginia Wseleyan 88-83 in the Jakobi’s Journey Basketball Classic hosted by Glenville State.
Cal battled back from an eight-point deficit midway through the second half and led by eight with 3:24 remaining before the Bobcats made a push to force overtime. West Virginia Wesleyan’s Aaron Ariri made two free throws with 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 67-67. Cal then played for the final shot and missed twice in the final eight seconds to send the game to overtime.
West Virginia Wesleyan scored the first basket of OT before Cal went on a 14-5 run to open a seven-point lead. The Bobcats never got closer than six the rest of the way.
Lewis, a transfer from Temple, made 11 of 14 free throws and had five assists. Terry Davis Jr., a transfer from Glenville, scored 25 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. Cordell Smith had 11 points including a clutch three-pointer in overtime.
Kevin Kangni led WVW with 20 points.
Women’s result
California 68, West Liberty 61: With two-year starter Seairra Barrett out of the lineup with an injury, teammate Shatara Parsons picked up the scoring slack for the California University women’s basketball team.
Parsons scored a game-high 28 points, junior college transfer Mia Cushon grabbed 15 rebounds and California defeated West Liberty 68-61 Saturday in the season-opening MEC/PSAC Conference Challenge in Euclid, Ohio.
California forged a 20-14 after one quarter and pulled away in the third, outscoring the Hilltoppers 19-14 to open a 49-39 lead.
Parsons made 12 of 21 shots and four of five free throws. She led three Cal players in double figures. In addition to her solid work on the boards, Cushon scored 12 points and D.J. Hahn had 11.
The Vulcans’ defense forced 24 West Liberty turnovers. The Hilltoppers were led in scoring by Marissa Brown with 24 points but West Liberty went to the free-throw line only nine times compared to Cal’s 23.