SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP)—Quincy Douby scored 19 points to lead Rutgers to a 55-52 victory over Kent State Friday in the South Padre Island Invitational semifinals.
Rutgers advanced to Saturday’s championship against No. 15 Illinois, which beat Wichita State 55-54 in Friday’s other semifinal.
Kent State had a chance to force overtime, but Armon Gates missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left.
Rutgers (3-0) saw its 12-point halftime lead whittled to four with 1:29 remaining when Kevin Warzynski hit a 3-pointer to pull Kent State (1-2) within 53-52.
Kent State’s Nate Gerwig then missed a jumper with 34 seconds left and Anthony Farmer hit two free throws to extend Rutgers’ lead.
Farmer finished with eight points and J.R. Inman had 11 for Rutgers, which made 89 percent of its free throws but shot 38 percent from the field.
Gerwig scored 12 points for Kent State, which was 18-for-28 from the line and shot 36 percent for the game.
The Scarlet Knights had 33-21 lead at halftime, but Kent State opened the second half with a 19-8 run.
