Men's Basketball Southern Conference

SoCon Men's Basketball Results, Wednesday, Feb. 18

Davidson 73, Wofford 63

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson men's basketball team was all over the glass on Wednesday night, recording its sixth straight victory with a 73-63 win over the Wofford Terriers in Belk Arena. The Wildcats outrebounded the Terriers, 46-31, to improve to 14-11 overall, 9-5 in the SoCon. Wofford, who hasn't won in Belk Arena since the 1990-91 season, fell to 8-17 overall, 4-10 in league action. Davidson is a perfect 12-0 at home this season.

"We learned some lessons from our experience playing Wofford earlier this year," said head coach Bob McKillop. "I thought our rebounding was terrific - Conor was a warrior and showed why he was the SoCon's top rebounder last year."

After holding a 10-point advantage with just under seven minutes to play until the halftime break, Wofford outscored Davidson 16-6 to take a tie game, 29-29, into the locker room. The Terriers scored the first two points out of the break, but that was the last lead they would have. Junior Conor Grace put the Wildcats back up 10 points with two of the 'Cats 17 second-chance points in the contest. Grace had a season-high 14 rebounds, including a season-best six on the offensive end.

The Wildcat lead continued to hover around double digits, reaching as many as 14 points with 10:16 remaining. Consecutive three-pointers by the Terriers cut the lead to eight, but the Davidson defense held its ground. Davidson held its opponent to under 65 points for the third time in SoCon action and recorded its third straight 10-point victory.

The 'Cats didn't shoot particularly well from the field, especially in the first half. Davidson shot 36 percent in the opening half, then rebounded to connect on 44.8 percent in the second half. The Wildcats managed to get to the line 28 times compared to only five for the Terriers, the least amount by a Davidson opponent this season.

The Wildcats are averaging almost 43 rebounds per game in the last seven contests and have outrebounded their opponents in those contests by more than 10 boards a game. Davidson pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, its best mark against a Division I opponent this season.

Sophomore Brendan Winters once again led the Wildcats in scoring, putting up 19 points which included 9-of-10 from the free throw stripe. Winters has been the top scorer in the last five games and seven of the last eight. For the Terriers, Howard Wilkerson recorded his fourth double-double in the last five games, dumping in a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds. Wilkerson is tied for the SoCon lead with seven double-doubles.

With College of Charleston suffering a home loss this evening against Georgia Southern, Davidson has pulled within one game of the Cougars for second place in the South Division. The top two teams in each division earn a bye in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament, which will take place March 3-6 in Charleston, S.C.

"I don't have enough energy to forecast what could happen," McKillop stated. "If I start focusing on that, it will take away from getting this team prepared for the next game. We just have to concentrate on what we can control."

Davidson goes back on the road, where it has won two in a row, to battle Appalachian State on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Wofford returns home to take on The Citadel on Monday, Feb. 23. Both games are scheduled to tip at 7 p.m.


Georgia Southern 82, College of Charleston 76

CHARLESTON, SC - Terry Williams scored a career-high 25 points as Georgia Southern downed College of Charleston 82-76 in Southern Conference men's basketball action in front of 3,779 at John Kresse Arena. Jean Francois equaled his career-high with 16 points as the Eagles improve to 19-5 overall and 10-3 in the Southern Conference. With the win the Eagles took possession of first place in the SoCon South Division over the Cougars at 18-6 overall and 10-4 in SoCon play.

Tony Mitchell led the Cougars with 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Five Cougars placed in double digits including Mike Benton, Stanley Jackson and Bernard Jackson with 11 points.

Williams led all scorers with 20 first half points including 8-for-8 from the foul line and 4-for-6 from the three-point line. The Eagles jumped out to the early lead but the Cougars took back the lead at 17-15 on Jackson's lay in off a Dontaye Draper pass. Charleston held their largest lead of the game at 24-17 with 10:06 left in the first half on a Benton put back.

The Eagles responded to the deficit with a 9-1 run capped off by Elton Nesbitt's jumper to set the score at 26-25 Eagles. The Cougars went on their own run over the next two minutes and on Tony Mitchell's mid-range jumper Charleston led 34-26. The Eagles would again respond and Marcus Byams' lay up with two seconds left in the half gave Georgia Southern a three point advantage heading into the half.

Georgia Southern scored the first bucket of the second half to give them a five point advantage. The Cougars playing in front of the third largest crowd at the John Kresse Arena fought back and took the lead at 64-60 with 8:17 to play on Thomas Mobley's three-pointer.

The Eagles took the lead for good at 69-68 on a William's three pointer with 5:28 to play. The Cougars got as close as two on two different occasions including Bernard Jackson's bucket with 2:28 to play to make it 68-66 Eagles. Georgia Southern went 6-for-7 from the foul line in the game's final 28 seconds to close out the Southern Conference road win.

Georgia Southern hosts UNC Greensboro on February 21st at 7:30. The Cougars take part in ESPN's Bracket Busters this Saturday when they travel to face Western Michigan. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 at 4:00.