ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Laimonas Chatkevicius scored 17 points, Michael Carrera had 16 points and nine rebounds, and South Carolina beat Tulsa 83-75 on Monday night in the championship game of the Paradise Jam.
South Carolina led by as many as 16 points in the second half, but James Woodard's 3-point play and Marquel Curtis' reverse layup pulled Tulsa to 76-71 with 1:53 left. After Carrera answered with a tough layup, Pat Birt made a baseline jumper to make it a five-point game again. But the Gamecocks made 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute to seal it.