INSTITUTE, W. Va. – The
Josh Gibson era commenced Friday as the Urbana University men's basketball team fell 67-63 to Livingston College in the season lid-lifter for both teams at the Earl Lloyd Classic.
Urbana (0-1) only led twice, which came early in the game, and trailed by 16 late in the second half before nearly pulling off the comeback. UU stormed back within a point when Mario Lacy's jumper made it 64-63 with 45 seconds left. Livingstone scored with 19 seconds remaining and then added a free throw following a missed potential game-tying three by the Blue Knights.
Jordan Bradley led Urbana with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and added three assists.
Shaunn Monroe went 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and finished with 13 points.
Tehree Horn added nine points on three treys and grabbed five boards.
Kyle Kegley grabbed a team-high eight boards and with eight points. Lacy also notched eight points.
Urbana shot 38 percent (24-63) overall with nearly half of its field goals coming from three-point range, finishing 11 of 37 (30%) from deep. It was the team's most three-point attempts since 2010.
Navar Elmore and Lydell Elmore each posted double-doubles and shot a combined 17 of 27 from the field to lead Livingstone. Navar paced all scorers with 20 points and 12 boards while Lydell scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Ray Roger (18) also reached double digits for the Blue Bears.
Livingstone opened the game shooting 10 of 13 from the floor and led by as much as 15 in the first half. Back-to-back three's by Monroe and
Mike Ryan's putback sliced the deficit to seven, 27-20, with eight minutes left until halftime.
Then, a 7-0 run capped by a Lacy dunk got Urbana within four, 33-29, with under four minutes, but the Blue Knights went scoreless the rest of the period and trailed 37-29 at the break. Livingstone shot nearly 60 percent in the first 20 minutes, while finishing the game with an overall 54 percent shooting mark.
UU remained within single digits to start the second half as a
Drew Thomas jumper put the Blue Knights down five, 47-42, with 12:48 remaining.
However, Livingstone countered with a suffocating 11-0 run as the deficit swelled to 58-42 with under seven minutes.
Bradley and Monroe combined for 10 points down the stretch, but time ran out on the Blue Knights' comeback bid.
The Blue Knights only turned the ball over six times, but lost the rebounding battle 41-33. Both teams struggled at the free-throw line, shooting a combined 9 of 24, as the Blue Knights converted just four of 10 chances at the stripe.
Livingstone controlled the interior and outscored Urbana 51-20 on points in the paint. The Blue Knights held a 19-2 advantage in bench scoring.
Up Next: Urbana will close out the Earl Lloyd Classic against Elizabeth City (0-1) tomorrow afternoon in a 2 p.m. tipoff inside the Walker Convocation Center. The Vikings fell 90-88 in a close matchup against West Virginia State Friday night.
