Story courtesy of Davidson sports information

Davidson 112, St. Mary’s (MD) 59

DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Senior Matt McKillop tied a career high with six three-pointers to help his father and Davidson head coach Bob McKillop tie the record for most wins by a Southern Conference coach in a 112-59 Wildcat victory over visiting St. Mary’s (Md.). Senior Ian Johnson led the Wildcats with 20 points as Davidson improved to 6-2 on the season while the Division III Seahawks dropped to 5-3.

Bob McKillop has 243 victories since Davidson rejoined the Southern Conference in 1992-93, tying him with Chattanooga’s Mack McCarthy (1985-97) and Maryland’s Burt Shipley (1923-47). Now in his 17th season with the Wildcats, McKillop has an overall record of 268-204.

Johnson was one of five senior Wildcats to score in double figures, reaching 20 points for the fourth time in eight games this year on 8-of-11 shooting. All of Matt McKillop’s 18 points came by way of the three-pointer as he drained 6-of-8 long-range shots. Brendan Winters scored 14, Jason Morton 13 and Eric Blancett chipped in 10. Fourteen of the 15 players that suited up scored for Davidson, which hit 43-of-80 (.538) from the floor as a team and a season-high 14 three-pointers on 30 attempts (.467).

St. Mary’s hung tough with the Wildcats over the first nine minutes of the game. A three-pointer by Valdez Preston with 11:34 left in the first half got the Seahawks within two at 22-20. But Davidson took control of the game with an 11-1 run over the next four minutes and an 8-0 spurt a bit later that spanned 1:31 to take a 17-point lead into the locker room, 48-31.

Preston and Tyson Lesesne kept the Seahawks in the game with 27 of the team’s 31 first-half points while the pair shot 10-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-11 from behind the arc. The rest of the squad managed just one field goal in seven tries, a three-pointer by T.J. Jordan.

The Wildcats began the second half with a four-point play by Johnson on a layup and an intentional foul, sandwiched between a pair of three-pointers by McKillop. Another bucket by Johnson put Davidson up by 29 before St. Mary’s scored its first points of the stanza on a three-point play by Preston.

Those points hardly slowed up the ’Cats as McKillop knocked down his sixth trifecta, Winters scored on a reverse layup and Grant drained a 15-footer for a 67-34 lead. Davidson pushed the lead to 40 points with 9:39 left, then 50 on a pair of free throws by freshman Can Civi, his first collegiate points, with 3:45 to play.

Davidson dominated the boards as well, 48-28, led by sophomore Boris Meno’s career-high 16 rebounds. Grant dished out nine of the Wildcats’ 31 assists while Richards and Blancett each handed out five.

The 112 points were the most for the ’Cats in almost three years to the day ? the Wildcats defeated Washington & Jefferson 125-44 on Dec. 21, 2002. Davidson scored 49 points in the paint to St. Mary’s 10, 23 points off 22 Seahawk turnovers and 21 fast-break points as well.

Preston tallied nearly half of St. Mary’s points, hitting 9-of-14 shots, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc, for a season-high 25 points, plus grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Lesesne also reached double figures with 13 points.

Davidson takes its four-game winning streak to Syracuse on Sunday, Dec. 18 to square off against the Orange in the Carrier Dome at 1 p.m. St. Mary’s, meanwhile, plays at Washington College on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Furman 99, Sewanee 69

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Junior guard Eric Webb scored a game high 23 points as Furman broke loose in the second half to route Division III opponent Sewanee 99-69 Thursday night.

Moussa Diagne added 16 and Jadee Jones 15 for the Paladins (4-4), who led by just 5 at halftime but shot 61 percent in the second half to pull steadily away.

They reached a 15-point lead at 58-43 on Robby Bostain's layup and made it a 20-point game at 72-52 on Diagne's slam midway through that period. The final score represented Furman's largest lead of the night.

Junior guard Joey Garcia scored 20 to pace the Tigers (4-4) whose last lead was 29-27 on his running drive 7 minutes before halftime. Furman responded with 9 straight, including the go-ahead points on a 3-point shot by Webb for a 32-29 lead.

Chattanooga 92, Virginia Intermont 62

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Khalil Hartwell had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Chattanooga to a 92-62 win over Virginia Intermont Thursday night.

Chattanooga (4-5) led the entire game, going up 52-26 at the half. The Mocs controlled the boards with 43 total rebounds and 23 points off second chances. They also had 29 rebounds on defense while holding the Cobras to only two offensive rebounds.

Jerice Crouch added 13 for the Mocs, followed by Ricky Hood with 10. Steve Cherry and Alphonso Pugh each had six rebounds.

Virginia Intermont (3-10) was led by Juan Ornelas with 12 points and Patrick Glenn and Randy Henry each had 11. Glenn and Chris Babbitt each had four rebounds.

The Citadel 73, Webber International 56