BATON ROUGE, La. --- Junior Jerome Hill (Adel, Ga.) poured in a game-high 25 points to pace the Gardner-Webb men's basketball team Saturday, as the Runnin' Bulldogs' late push fell just short after LSU opened the second half with a 16-6 run en route to a 93-82 win in the season opener for both teams in the Maravich Center.
Both teams shot well from the floor on the afternoon, with LSU (1-0) shooting 52.2 percent (36-of-69) from the field compared to Gardner-Webb's (0-1) mark of 46.7 percent (35-75). The Tigers held a 47-28 advantage on the glass when the horn sounded, outrebounding the Runnin' Bulldogs by a 31-18 margin on the defensive boards while converting 13-of-14 attempts at the free throw line.
"Both teams were pretty good offensively," said head coach Tim Craft. Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin were terrific. I thought when Coach Jones went to the zone in the second half it changed the game. It kept us shooting a lot of jump shots and a lot of threes, and we weren't making very many of them."
Hill led all scorers with 25 points on 12-of-17 shooting, as Tyrell Nelson (Charlotte, N.C.) and Tyler Strange (Leominster, Mass.) added 16 and 14 points, respectively. Jarvis Davis (Columbia, S.C.) chipped in 11 points with a trio of three-pointers while junior Dylan Poston (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) knocked down three treys of his own.
Hill and Nelson paced the Runnin' Bulldogs with five rebounds each, as Strange dished out a game-high seven assists to move within four of the 400-mark for his career. The senior point guard also knocked down a pair of three-pointers to move within one of a tie for fourth on the program's all-time list.
Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey led the way for LSU with 21 points each, as Martin added a game-high 11 rebounds to post a double-double. Josh Gray and Keith Hornsby poured in 18 and 17 points, respectively while Mickey dished out six assists. Hornsby hit a trio of threes for the Tigers.
Gardner-Webb opened with a flurry, scoring six of the game's first eight points after Strange deflected the opening tip to himself and coasted in for the first basket. A layup by Hill at the 18:22 mark would push the Runnin' Bulldog advantage to 6-2 before the Tigers quickly closed the gap, knotting the score at 6-6 on a lay-in by Mickey and taking a 7-6 lead on the ensuing free throw with 17:27 left.
The three-point play would send the Tigers on a 16-4 surge, as LSU jumped out to a 20-10 lead on the back of a Brian Bridgewater jumperwith 12:23 left on the clock. Gardner-Webb answered right back with a 12-3 run over the next three minutes, cutting the margin to one at 23-22 after McBride knocked down a three at the 9:31 mark.
After LSU pushed the lead to 30-24 on a Martin jumper Gardner-Webb fought back with another run, closing the gap to 30-28 before nudging ahead, 31-30, on a sweet stroke from downtown with 5:27 to go in the half. The lead would change hands on almost every possession down the stretch, with Hornsby knocking down the second of two late treys at the 1:54 mark to give LSU a narrow 39-38 advantage.
Gardner-Webb finished strong with five of the half's final eight points, taking a 43-42 lead into the break after Hill tucked a jumperaway with 19 seconds left.
The Tigers roared out of the gate in the second half, opening the period with a 16-6 run to take a 58-49 advantage on a corner three by Hornsby at the 15:18 mark to force a Gardner-Webb timeout. LSU widened the gap to 72-58 over the next seven minutes, capping the stretch with a throw down by Mickey with 9:02 left to play.
After LSU opened its largest lead of the game at 80-64 on a Gray lay-in at the 4:26 mark, Gardner-Webb began to claw back, whittling away over the next several minutes to cut the margin to 85-77 on a nifty drive by Strange with 1:44 remaining on the clock.
The Runnin' Bulldogs would cut the lead further to 87-82 on a clutch fast-break trey by Strange with 44 ticks left. LSU answered with the next six points, converting 4-of-5 attempts at the free throw line and adding a last-second lay-in by Gray to hang on for the win.
"At the end of the day, we weren't good enough on the defensive end to sustain the game and put ourselves in position to win," continued Craft. "Credit LSU and their effort on the offensive glass that led to 22 second-chance points."
Gardner-Webb returns to the court on Monday in Charleston, S.C., where the Runnin' Bulldogs will square off with The College of Charleston at 7:30 p.m.
