Cryer, Shead lead No. 6 Houston to Charleston title with 69-55 victory over Dayton

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — LJ Cryer had 18 points and Jamal Shead had 16 as No. 6 Houston ran past Dayton 69-55 to win the Charleston Classic tournament title on Sunday night.

Shead scored his season high and had seven of the Cougars first nine points as they opened a 14-4 lead less than six minutes in. They are 6-0 to open for a second straight season. It’s the first Charleston title for Houston and its 35th regular season tournament crown all-time.

Shead, the senior who started his 66th straight game for Houston, also added six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Cryer, the Baylor transfer, had four of Houston’s eight 3-pointers.

The Cougars took advantage of Dayton’s cold start — the Flyers made just one of their first seven shots — to open an early double-digit lead. The Flyers (3-2) came as close at 19-15 after that until Houston responded with an 11-3 burst to restore the large margin.

The Cougars, as Cryer and Shead combined for six 3-pointers, were able to keep Dayton at arms length and took a 36-28 lead into the break. They continued pushing the pace and eventually opened a 54-34 lead midway through the second half.

DaRon Holmes II had 16 points for Dayton.

THE BIG PICTURE

Dayton: The Flyers had to rally in the second half in their first two Charleston games in beating LSU and St. John’s. They could not get away with it a third straight game as they managed to shoot just 26.9% (7 of 26) in the final 20 minutes.

Houston: Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson talked throughout the tournament of the struggles in pulling together this group that lost three starters from a 33-win team a year ago. The blending process seemed to go very well in these three game, all won by double digits.

UP NEXT

Dayton returns home to play Youngstown State on Friday night.

Houston also plays next at home against Montana on Friday.

Jenkins, Dingle lead St John’s over Utah 91-82 in Charleston Classic

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Daniss Jenkins had 19 points, Jordan Dingle scored 18 and St. John’s cruised to a 91-82 victory over Utah in the consolation final of the Charleston Classic on Sunday night.

Jordan Dingle hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 in the first half as St. John’s (3-2) took a 52-43 advantage into halftime. Cole Bajema’s layup gave Utah a 7-5 lead, but Joel Soriano scored the first four points in a 14-0 run and St. John’s never trailed again.

Jenkins made 8 of 17 shots and handed out eight assists for the Red Storm. Dingle hit four 3-pointers and added five assists. Soriano totaled 12 points and 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the young season. Chris Ledlum pitched in with 15 points and nine boards.

Branden Carlson finished with 22 points and eight rebounds to pace the Utes (3-2). Bajema had 14 points and Gabe Madsen scored 11. Rollie Worster totaled 12 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Madsen, Carlson, Worster and Ben Carlson all started as juniors last season for Utah.

The last time the two teams matched up Utah beat St. John’s 72-68 in the first round of the 1977 NCAA Tournament. St. John’s last defeated an opponent from the Pac-12 Conference in December of 2019 with a win over the 16th-ranked Arizona Wildcats.

Baker scores 23 and LSU finishes off Wake Forest 86-80 in overtime

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Will Baker had 23 points, LSU scored the last five points of overtime, and the Tigers defeated Wake Forest 86-80 in the fifth-place game of the Charleston Classic.

Kevin Miller’s fastbreak layup gave the Demon Deacons a 76-74 lead one minute into overtime. It was their first lead of the game although there were three ties in the second half.

LSU responded with a 3-pointer and a jumper by Tyrell Ward. Andrew Carr’s jumper got Wake Forest within 81-80 with a minute to go but Jalen Reed scored in the paint and LSU added three free throws to close out the win.

Jordan Wright scored 15 points and Reed added 12 for LSU (3-2). Wright contributed nine rebounds and Baker had eight.

Hunter Sallis made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points for Wake Forest (2-3). Miller added 19 points with eight assists, Cameron Hildreth had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Carr had 17 points and nine rebounds.

After leading by double digits for much of the first half, LSU’s biggest lead in the final 13 minutes of regulation was four points several times, the last with 34 seconds left.

Carr then scored in the lane to get Wake Forest within two and after Wright missed two free throws for LSU, Carr made another layup to tie it with 15 seconds left, leading to overtime.

LSU hosts North Florida on Friday. Wake Forest hosts Charleston Southern, also on Friday.

Scott scores 19 as North Texas knocks off Towson 65-39

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Aaron Scott scored 19 points as North Texas beat Towson 65-39 Sunday in the seventh-place consolation game at the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic.

Scott also contributed eight rebounds for the Mean Green (3-2). Jason Edwards was 6 of 11 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 5 for 5 from the line to add 19 points. Rubin Jones was 4 of 8 shooting (1 for 3 from 3-point range) to finish with nine points, while adding five assists and six steals.

Christian May led the way for the Tigers (2-4) with 12 points. Mekhi Lowery added eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks for Towson. Dylan Williamson also had five points, four assists and two steals.

NEXT UP

Both teams next play Sunday. North Texas hosts Angelo State and Towsonsquares off against Morgan State at home.

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