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  Monday, Dec. 20 5:30pm ET
Reserve Daniels makes most of chance
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Auburn got a win and plenty of rest Monday night.

Damon Fishback
Auburn's Daymeon Fishback, center, gets a shot off while surrounded by Puerto Rico-Mayaguez's Juan Emanuelli, left, and Crisppy Casiano, right.

The seventh-ranked Tigers beat Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 109-52 in the opening round of the San Juan Shootout and no starter played more than 19 minutes.

Reserve guard Marquis Daniels, making his first appearance of the season, had 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting to lead Auburn (8-1) to its sixth straight win since a loss to current No. 1 Stanford.

"We out-talented that team. We had more depth, more strength. We absolutely wore them down," Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said of the Division II host school that didn't have a player taller than 6-foot-6. "This is a three-game tournament and we just didn't want anybody to get hurt."

Auburn will play Virginia Tech, which beat Illinois State 79-71, in Tuesday's semifinals.

"That should be more of an inside game than today," Ellis said of the matchup.

Chris Porter had 16 points for Auburn, which led 52-33 at halftime and then scored the first 10 points of the second half in a 15-1 run that made it 67-34 with 14:52 to play.

Daymeon Fishback added 11 points for Auburn, which beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 100-44 earlier this season in its previous largest win, while Scott Pohlman and David Hamilton had 10 each.

Daniels was cleared by the school and the NCAA Clearinghouse last week but didn't play until this tournament because of a lack of practice time.

"We had some new guys so it was good to get them some time on the floor," Ellis said.

Auburn scored the final 13 points of the game and finished with a 61-25 rebound advantage and forced 32 turnovers by the Bulldogs (0-6).

"These kind of games can happen in a tournament and you just have to go against whoever's there," Porter said. "It was good to keep the legs fresh but you play just as hard no matter who's out there."

Eric Antonsanti had 10 points for Mayaguez, which stayed even with Auburn for 6½ minutes as the game was tied 15-15.

"I am very happy," Mayaguez coach Johnny Flores said. "Really. We have a very young team and we played with them for about 30 minutes. Our second unit couldn't stay with theirs we just don't have the players."

The Bulldogs' previous biggest loss this season was in their last game, 89-43 to West Florida.

"This is an experience my players can tell their grandchildren about, playing the No. 7 team in the whole country," Flores said. "Playing against players like Chris Porter means everything to us. I am very happy."
 


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