Furman 70, Davidson 66
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Robby Bostain scored a game high 18 points and had 10 rebounds as Furman beat Davidson 70-66 Saturday, ending the Wildcats regular season Southern Conference winning streak at 27 games.
Bostain put the Paladins (9-6, 3-1) up for good at 49-48 with a short jumper with just over 13 minutes to go. The basket came during a 17-5 run that gave the Paladins a 58-50 lead at the ten minute mark.
Davidson (9-6, 3-1) cut the deficit to 67-64 on a short jumper by Brendan Winters with 45 seconds left, but a free throw by Tony Carter and a layup by Bostain sealed Furman's first win over Davidson since January 1995.
Winters, Ian Johnson and Kenny Grant each scored 13 for the Wildcats. Johnson also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Tony Carter added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Paladins.
Davidson made just 25 percent (6-of-24) of its 3-pointers, well below the Wildcats' season average of 37 percent.
Furman shot 42 percent (11-of-26) from behind the arc.
Story courtesy of Elon sports information
Elon 62, UNC Greensboro 56
ELON, N.C. Chris Chalko canned 18 points 10 in the second half as Elon staved off UNC Greensboro for a 62-56 Southern Conference men?s basketball triumph its fifth consecutive victory Saturday night at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix (7-9 overall with a first-ever 4-0 start in the Southern Conference) exploded to a 23-11 lead on a pair of free throws by Scottie Rice with 7:15 to play in the first half. The Spartans (8-9, 1-2) replied by reeling off 11 straight points, drawing within 23-22 on a jumper by David McClenny with 3:26 to go before halftime.
An inside basket by LeVonn Jordan and a three-point bucket by Chalko ended the run, stretching the Elon edge to 28-22 with 2:37 left before the break. Kyle Hines sank a jumper to pull UNC Greensboro within 28-24 for the eventual halftime margin with 2:12 remaining in the opening period.
Midway through the second stanza, the Spartans used a 6-0 spurt to trade a 39-34 deficit in for a 40-39 edge on a fastbreak basket by Ricky Hickman with 10:10 to play. Brett James drained a three-pointer as the Phoenix regained the advantage at 42-40 with 8:57 remaining, and Elon never trailed again.
After the teams traded buckets, Hickman tied the contest up at 44-44 on a jumper with 7:41 left. The Phoenix used a 10-2 surge to pull ahead 54-46 on a three-point bomb by Chris Chalko with 3:51 to go.
UNC Greensboro responded with a 10-4 run to draw within 58-56 on a basket by Hines with 37 seconds remaining. Jackson Atoyebi knocked down a pair of free throws with 33 seconds to go and Montell Watson netted a pair of charity shots with 19 ticks left to determine the final margin.
Watson (12 points, four assists, three steals) and Scottie Rice (11 points) turned in key performances for the Phoenix. For the Spartans, Hines (19 points, 10 rebounds) posted his conference-best sixth double-double of the season while Hickman (16 points, 12 rebounds, five assists) put up his first career double-double and Kevin Oleksiak tallied 13 points.
UNC Greensboro won the battle of the boards 40-36 while Elon edged out the Spartans 11-12 in turnovers. The Phoenix fired 34.7 percent (17-for-49) from the floor and 69.0 percent (20-for-29) from the line while UNC Greensboro shot 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the field and 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from the stripe.
The Spartans outscored Elon 32-14 in the paint, 11-9 off turnovers and 12-8 in second chance points. The Phoenix bench outscored the Spartan bench 16-5.
Western Carolina visits UNC Greensboro in SoCon play at 7 p.m. Monday. Enjoying its longest winning streak in 15 seasons, Elon will play its final non-conference contest of the season when it hosts Montreat at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Georgia Southern 91, Wofford 75
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) - Elton Nesbitt scored 23 points to lead Georgia Southern to a 91-75 victory over Wofford on Saturday.
The Terriers (5-12, 0-4 Southern Conference) took their only lead at 23-22 with 7:56 remaining in the first half. But the Eagles (12-4, 3-0) finished the half with a 23-6 run, capped by Dwayne Foreman's free throws, giving Georgia Southern a 47-29 advantage.
Wofford cut the lead to 11 points with with 9:51 left to play. But Georgia Southern pushed its lead up to 16 when Courtnei Houston got a steal then made a 3-pointer.
Foreman had 18 points and eight assists for the Eagles, who extended their home-winning streak to 18 games. Donte Gennie scored 18 points and Louis Graham added 12.
Howard Wilkerson led Wofford with 18 points.
Story courtesy of Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 74, Chattanooga 56
Cullowhee, N.C. ? For the second time this season, Western Carolina established a single-game record, making 15 3-pointers, en route to a 75-56 victory over Chattanooga Saturday night at the Ramsey Activity Center. The Catamounts, led by Kyle Greathouse and Negus McKenna, snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Mocs (9-9, 1-3 Southern Conference) while improving to 8-10 overall and 2-1 in the SoCon. Also, by reaching the eight-win mark, Western ties its win total from last season.
Earlier this season, Western hit a then school-record 14 treys in a win over UNC Asheville.
Greathouse, who was 6-of-11 from 3-point range, finished with a season-high 18 points, adding a season-high eight assists. McKenna, who was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, also had a season-high with 15 points, while getting five rebounds. Western was also led by David Berghoefer, who had his second-consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Antonio Russell contributed 11 points.
Western raced out to an 11-0 lead to start the game and never relinquished the advantage. Chattanooga would call a timeout and responded by closing the gap to four (11-7). However, McKenna drained a trey and put momentum back on Western’s side. The Mocs kept the game close over the next five minutes with the Cats owning a 10-point advantage (28-18) with 9:43 left before the break. From that point, Western went on a 10-0 run to take a 20-point cushion, thanks to 3’s by McKenna and Russell as well as jumpers from Eric Wilson and Corey Muirhead, and would eventually take that same 20-point lead into the locker room at intermission.
Chattanooga came out with better intensity to start the second half and worked its deficit to 14 (52-38) at the 14:29 mark. The Mocs got a 3-pointer from Keddric Mays, a layup by Casey Long, a layup from Alphonso Pugh and four points from Charles Anderson during their early second-half spurt. However, Greathouse sank a 3-pointer with 14:17 left and Western did not look back. Greathouse also hit the record-breaking 3-pointer with 8:18 remaining to push the Cats’ lead to 24 (66-42).
The Catamounts made 28 baskets, with 20 assists, and got off 67 shots, while the Mocs were only 19-of-44 from the field. Western, who is second in the SoCon in 3-point field goal percentage, were 15-of-39 beyond the arc, but were just 3-of-10 from the free throw line. The Mocs only sank 3-of-16 shots from long range.
Steve Cherry came off the bench to pace the Mocs with 15 points, while Pugh added 12 points and led UTC with six rebounds.
Western Carolina will return to action Monday (Jan. 16) to play at UNC Greensboro at 7:00 pm. Chattanooga will stay on the road to play at Appalachian State on Monday at 7 pm as well.
Story courtesy of College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 77, The Citadel 65
Charleston, S.C. -- Dontaye Draper and Jermaine Johnson scored 14 points each, and David Lawrence added his third double-double of the season lifting the College of Charleston to a 77-65 win over The Citadel in Southern Conference basketball action before 3,678 at John Kresse Arena on Saturday.
Lawrence's 11 points and 11 rebounds helped the Cougars improve to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in league play. It was CofC's seventh straight win over the Bulldogs, who fell to 6-10 and 0-4.
The Citadel's Aaron Xia finished with a career-best 13 points, including the first three 3-pointers of his career. Xia, a junior, went 3-for-5 from behind the arc. His final 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 29-25 lead with 6:29 left in the first half. A layup by Drew Hall sparked a 15-8 run that gave the Cougars a 40-37 lead at intermission.
Donny McLendon's layup with 8:41 left cut Charleston lead's to 58-54. Charleston reserve J.R. Hairston's steal and an eventual layup by Hall sparked a 12-3 run that gave the Cougars 70-57 advantage with 4:10 left in the game.
Hairston finished with six points, four offensive rebounds and two steals in nine minutes of action. Hall added 13 points and a game-high five assists in 34 minutes of work.
McLendon finished with a game-high 25 points hitting on 8-of-15 from the field, 3-of-8 from behind the arc and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. J'Mel Everhart had a team-high six rebounds for The Citadel.
For the game, the Cougars shot 47.6 percent from the field while the Bulldogs hit on 52.4 percent. The Cougars held a 36-30 edge in rebounding, including 17-7 on the offensive glass. Charleston had just 10 turnovers while forcing the Bulldogs into 24.
Charleston outscored The Citadel 48-24 in the paint, 25-7 in points off turnovers and 18-7 in second chance points.
The Cougars play host to Davidson in a 7:00 start on Tuesday, Jan. 17th. The Citadel plays host to Wofford at 7:15 on Monday, Jan. 16th.
Appalachian State 105, Montreat 57
BOONE, N.C. (AP) -- D.J. Thompson scored 18 points, all from 3-point range, as Appalachian State ran past Montreat 105-57 on Saturday.
Appalachian State’s 105 points were its most since a 107-99 win at Chattanooga on Jan. 18, 2003.
The Mountaineers never trailed and shot 42 of 74 from the field, or 56.8 percent. Appalachian State (7-9) connected on 60 percent of their field goals in the first half while building a 51-31 halftime lead.
Six Mountaineers scored in double-figures. Jarvis Jackson had 16 points,
P.L. Henderson 15, Jeremy Clayton 14 points and Demetrius Scott and Eduardo Bermudez added 11 points each.
Montreat (7-4) shot 24.1 percent from 3-point range. Thomas Nicholson led the Cavaliers with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, and Jazz Cathcart added 11.