CIT Tournament 2014 bracket results: Yale, Towson, Murray State among 1st-round winners
Eight games, eight winners, eight teams moving on to the second round of the tournament.
In a matchup of Northeastern schools known very much for things other than athletics, the Ivy League Bulldogs triumphed over the 20-win Bobcats. Yale's Javier Duren and Quinnipiac's Evan Conti each scored a game-high 17 points, but it was forward Justin Sears who was the hero of the day. The 6'8 sophomore hit a three-pointer with one second left to play, giving the Bulldogs the dramatic victory.
Towson 63, USC Upstate 60
Pat Skerry’s revitalization of the Towson program continues, as the Tigers defeated USC Upstate for their 24th win of the season. The win comes just two seasons after Towson set an NCAA record with 41 straight losses, and is the school’s first postseason win (not including conference tournaments) in program history.
Ohio 64, Cleveland State 62
Forward Antonio Campbell scored 21 points for the Bobcats, while 20 points from Ryan Forbes was not good enough for Cleveland State. The bigger story of the day, however, was the absence of fifth-year senior Jon Smith for Ohio, who reportedly simply decided not to play in the game.
IPFW 97, Akron 91
By far the highest scoring game of the day, IPFW came through with their 25th win of the season, thanks in large part to an incredible 64.3 percent effort from the floor. Akron wasn't far behind at 60 percent, but 25 points from Demetrius Treadwell and 23 from Quincy Diggs gave the Mastodons the victory.
Omaha 91, North Dakota 75
One of the newest members of Division I, Nebraska-Omaha is not eligible for postseason play until the 2017 season, but that does not exclude them from pay-for-play tourneys like the CIT. They showed that they belong Wednesday night, with five different players scoring in double-digits in the drubbing of North Dakota.
Murray State 66, Missouri State 63
Jarvis Williams scored 20 points with 10 rebounds, while Cameron Payne scored 19 as Murray State recovered from a halftime deficit to take home the win. The Racers shot just 40.7 percent from the floor, but were able to get to the line repeatedly and make their free throws (13-of-17 compared to Missouri State's 8-of-10).
Texas A&M-CC 82, Northern Colorado 71
Rashawn Thomas scored 22 points off the bench for the Islanders on 9-of-11 shooting, as Corpus Christi completely dominated the second half en route to a double-digit victory. The Islanders outrebounded the Bears by nine, and shot nearly 30 percentage points higher at the free throw line than their opponent.
Pacific 69, Grand Canyon 67
Grand Canyon had two 20-point scorers in Daniel Alexander and Killian Larson and made 11-of-22 three-point attempts, but Pacific was able to pull out the win thanks to a strong rebounding effort and a fierce second-half comeback. The Tigers trailed, 35-25, at the break, but outscored their opponents by 12 points in the second period to extend their season by at least another game.
Here is the second-round schedule (all times ET):
Friday, March 21
Towson (24-10) @ ETSU (19-15) 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 22
IPFW (25-10) @ VMI (20-12) 1 p.m.
Wright State (21-14) @ Ohio (23-11) 2 p.m.
Yale (16-13) @ Holy Cross (20-13) 7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan (22-14) @ Columbia (20-12) 7 p.m.
San Diego (17-16) @ Sam Houston State (24-10) 8 p.m.
Texas A&M C.C. (18-15) @ Pacific (16-15) 10 p.m.
Monday, March 24
Nebraska-Omaha (17-14) @ Murray State (19-11) 8 p.m.
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