Story courtesy of Davidson sports information
Davidson 83, Georgia Southern 58
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Senior Eric Blancett scored a career-high 17 points, including a trio of trifectas, to lead the host Davidson Wildcats to an 83-58 triumph over Georgia Southern in a Southern Conference game on Saturday afternoon. Davidson (11-6, 5-1) won its 17th straight home game to maintain its first-place standing in the South Division. The Eagles lost their second straight after an eight-game win streak to fall to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Shooting guards Matt McKillop and Jason Morton got into early foul trouble, giving Blancett the opportunity to shine. Averaging just 2.8 points a game this season and 2.1 for his career, he took advantage of the playing time and enjoyed his finest collegiate game by hitting 6-of-7 of his shots and 3-of-4 from downtown. Blancett’s career has been hampered by several injuries, including ACL tears of both knees, but he has been able to shake the injury bug in his final season.
“I could not be happier for a player more than I am right now of Eric,” stated Davidson head coach Bob McKillop. “He never has let any of the injuries dampen his work ethic, spirit or confidence, and he demonstrated this afternoon he is capable of being another weapon for us.”
With Georgia Southern holding a 10-6 advantage six minutes into the contest, the Wildcats went on a 14-3 spurt over the next five and a half minutes to take a 20-13 lead. Backup guard Jason Richards scored five points with a three-pointer during the run, while Blancett capped the run with a pair of buckets.
Blancett continued his scoring surge with two of the next three Wildcat field goals as the two teams traded baskets. Three-pointers by Ian Johnson and Brendan Winters gave Davidson a double-digit advantage for the first time in the game with 4:03 left in the half, 32-22. Those trifectas came at the start of a 19-3 Wildcat run as the ’Cats built up a 20-point lead before settling for a 45-28 halftime score.
Davidson scorched the nets to the tune of 60 percent (18-of-30) in the opening half while connecting on 4-of-9 (.444) threes. The Wildcat defense held Georgia Southern to just 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from the floor as Elton Nesbitt led the Eagles with 10 points, but hit just 3-of-10 shots.
In the second half, Georgia Southern never got closer than 15 points. The Davidson bench proved to be the difference maker in the game, scoring 44 points with Blancett leading the way.
This was the first game all season in which neither Winters nor Johnson led the team in scoring, but the pair did score in double figures with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Sophomore forward Thomas Sander tallied 10 points as well while grabbing seven boards. Boris Meno provided some highlights with a pair of dunks and a team-high nine rebounds as the ’Cats won the battle of the boards, 39-34.
Davidson finished the game hitting just over half its shots (33-of-65, 50.8 percent) while knocking down 9-of-22 (.409) from behind the arc. The team also registered 22 assists, eight by point guard Kenny Grant and six more from Richards, while turning the ball over just eight times.
Georgia Southern struggled all afternoon from the floor at just 38.3 percent (23-of-60). Nesbitt, the SoCon’s leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, managed 15 points while Donte Gennie had 11.
Davidson hits the road to play at Chattanooga on Monday evening at 7 p.m. The Eagles, meanwhile, will try to snap their two-game skid at Appalachian State on Monday at 7 p.m. as well.
Furman 81, The Citadel 57
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Robby Bostain scored 15 points and had eight rebounds as Furman used a strong second half to beat The Citadel 81-57 on Saturday.
The Paladins (11-6, 5-1 Southern Conference) led by six at halftime, but came out of the locker room with a 10-2 run to take a 45-31 lead on Eric Webb's 3-pointer.
Four minutes later, Tony Carter's reverse layup started a run of 16 consecutive points for Furman, who led 67-40 with about eight minutes left.
Demetrius Nelson scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs (6-12, 0-6) who lost their ninth straight. Donny McLendon and Dante Terry each added 14.
Webb had 15 points, all on 3-pointers, for Furman, who shot 11-of-22 from beyond the arc.
The Paladins outrebounded The Citadel 43-23.
Story courtesy of Wofford sports information
College of Charleston 66, Wofford 58
SPARTANBURG, SC ? Josh Jackson scored 18 points by making nine of 10 field goal attempts to lead the College of Charleston to a 66-58 win over Wofford Saturday night at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Jackson made all six of his field goal attempts in the second half . His final field goal, a jump hook with 7:23 remaining, put the Cougars on top to stay at 53-52. College of Charleston (10-7, 3-3) outscored Wofford (6-13, 1-5) by a 15-6 margin over the final 7:23 of the game.
Wofford rallied back from deficits on numerous occasions throughout the game.
Wofford took its only lead of the first half on a three-pointer by Shane Nichols with 14:09 to play that put the Terriers on top 13-12. Charleston responded by going on a 13-2 run and opening a 25-15 lead with 7:26 left in the half. Wofford outscored CofC 13-7 over the final 7:26 to pull within four at 32-28 at the half.
Howard Wilkerson scored 12 points for the Terriers in the first half on five of eight shooting from the floor. He finished the game with a team-high 17 points.
Early in the second half the Terriers tied the game at 32 as Tyler Berg and Byron Fields each scored on layups to erase CofC’s halftime advantage. The Cougars then went on an 8-0 run to open a 40-32 lead.
Wofford tied the game at 42 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Wilkerson. Wofford took its biggest lead of the night at 47-44 on a spinning inside move by Wilkerson with 10:50 to play. A three-pointer by CofC’s Dontaye Draper knotted the game at 47 and the Cougars went up 49-47 on a dunk by Jackson.
A Tyler Berg three-point play gave Wofford a 50-49 lead. Berg and Jackson then traded field goals as Wofford led 52-51 with 7:45 remaining.
Jackson’s dunk put the Cougars in front 53-52. Jermaine Johnson gave Charleston a 55-52 lead with 5:45 left. A free throw by Drew Hall and a layup by Draper provided the Cougars a 58-52 lead with 4:33 to play. Charleston held a 61-53 advantage with 3:02 remaining.
Berg hit a layup with 2:34 left and converted the three-point play to cut the deficit to five points. A Berg dunk with 1:35 left pulled Wofford within three at 61-58. Charleston’s Draper sealed the game with a driving layup with 27.2 seconds remaining that put the Cougars on top 63-58.
Jermaine Johnson finished with 13 points for Charleston and a game-high nine rebounds. Draper finished with 15 points.
Berg tallied 14 points for Wofford while Shane Nichols and Drew Gibson each scored 10.
Wofford will host UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Jan. 28. The College of Charleston will play at Western Carolina on Monday night.
UNC Greensboro 62, Appalachian State 60
GREENSBORO, NC -- Sophomore forward Kyle Hines had 16 points nine rebounds, five blocks, and five steals, including the clincher with two seconds left as UNC Greensboro nipped Appalachian State, 62-60, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action at Fleming Gym.
Hines’ fifth steal of the night sealed the win for UNCG (9-10, 2-3 SoCon). UNCG led by two after Ricky Hickman knocked down the first of two free throws with 4.1 seconds to play. Hickman missed the second and the Mountaineers called timeout after grabbing the rebound with 2.6 seconds to play.
The long entry pass by Doug McLaughlin-Williams was intercepted by the long-armed Hines and time expired.
Hickman, a junior from Kernersville, NC, led the Spartans with 18 points, his 17th straight game in double figures. Kevin Oleksiak also added 10 points for UNCG, his 15th double-scoring effort of the season.
Appalachian State got most of its scoring from the backcourt duo of Demetrius Scott and D.J. Thompson. Scott had 24 points and Thompson added 22 points to account for 46 of the Mountaineers’ 60 points.
UNCG rallied from a five-point halftime deficit, the first time this season that the Spartans have won when trailing at the half. Each of UNCG’s 10 previous losses came when trailing at intermission.
UNCG came out to score seven of the first nine points to start the second half, capped off by a three-pointer by Oleksiak, to tie the game at 36-36.
The lead see-sawed for a while from there with six lead changes and seven ties over the next 12 minutes. UNCG gained a five-point advantage with just over five minutes to play with a 6-0 run, but Appalachian scored four straight to close back within one.
The game remained tight after that, although the Spartans never surrendered the lead. Two free throws by Hickman with 1:40 to play gave UNCG a three-point lead, 60-57. Hickman missed a three-pointer with 48 seconds left, giving Appalachian State a chance to tie. Thompson came off a ball screen to get an open three-pointer from the top of the key, but could not get it to go down.
Hines was fouled on the rebound and made one of two to make it a four-point game. Demetrius Scott, however, answered with a three-pointer from the left wing with 5.7 seconds left and Appalachian State immediately called a timeout to set its defense.
After the Spartans needed to use a timeout on their first attempt to get the ball in-bounds, Hickman got fouled on the second in-bounds attempt. He hit one out of two with 4.1 seconds left, leaving the door open for one last chance by the Mountaineers. However, Hines stole the long in-bounds to give UNCG its second conference win of the year and drop Appalachian State to 1-4 in league play and 7-11 overall.
“We played better perimeter defense tonight, I thought,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “I wish we could have a few more free throws there at the end, but we did a better job of hustling after some loose balls in the second half.”
UNCG missed 12 of its first 15 shots from the field to start the contest as Appalachian State opened up an eight-point advantage, 18-10, midway through the first half. But UNCG found its feet, using its defense to get the offense started. The Spartans held Appalachian State scoreless on its next five possessions and turned it into four straight transition buckets to tie the game with six minutes left in the first half.
By the end of the half, however, the Mountaineer duo of Scott and Thompson combined for 28 of Appalachian State’s 34 points to give the Mountaineers a 34-29 lead at the break.
Elon 50, Western Carolina 48
ELON, N.C. Montell Watson pumped in a game-high 16 points as Elon held off Western Carolina for a 50-48 Southern Conference men?s basketball victory its seventh triumph in as many games Saturday night at Alumni Gym.
In the early going, Chris Chalko nailed back-to-back three-point field goals to transform a 6-3 deficit into a 9-6 Elon edge with 12:58 to play in the opening half. The Catamounts (9-11 overall, 3-2 SoCon) responded by going on a 9-2 spurt to claim a 15-11 advantage on a pair of free throws by Corey Muirhead with 7:16 left in the first period.
In the final three minutes of the opening stanza, the Phoenix (9-9, 5-0) scored five of the period?s last six points to cut the deficit from 21-15 to 22-20 for halftime on a lay-up by Montell Watson with five seconds to go. Elon then opened the second stanza with an 18-6 run to forge a 38-28 lead on an old fashion three-point play by Watson with 12:27 remaining.
Western Carolina used a 12-4 spurt to draw within 42-40 on a fastbreak lay-up by Trey Hopkins with 6:43 left. Watson answered the Catamount run with a three-pointer, pushing the Phoenix lead to 45-40 with 6:18 to play.
Trailing 49-44 with 1:27 to go, Muirhead sank a jumper at the 1:12 mark and Jered Outing canned a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to pull the Catamounts within 49-48. Watson netted the second of a pair of charity shots to determine the contest?s final score with 10 seconds remaining.
Watson was joined in double digits in the scoring column by teammate Colin Wyatt (13 points, team-high six rebounds). Muirhead (14 points, four steals) ended up being the lone Catamount to score in double figures.
Kyle Greathouse and Jared Outing grabbed a contest-best seven boards apiece. For Greathouse, the seven caroms equaled a career high that he had previously enjoyed against Wofford on Jan. 22, 2005.
After firing 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from the field in the first half, Elon shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) in the second to shoot 44.1 percent
(15-for-34) for the night. Western Carolina ended up with a 26.7-percent clip (12-for-45) for the game.
The Phoenix outscored the Catamounts 20-10 in the paint and 15-12 off turnovers. Western Carolina, which won the battle of the boards 32-31, forced 19 Elon turnovers while committing 17 miscues.
The Catamounts will host the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Phoenix will host Furman at 8 p.m. Monday, capping an Alumni Gym doubleheader. The Elon women?s basketball team tips off against Furman at 6 p.m. Monday.
Chattanooga 77, Austin Peay 67
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Casey Long scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, leading Chattanooga to a 77-67 win over Austin Peay on Saturday night.
After 14 lead changes and nine ties, Chattanooga (11-9, 2-3 Southern Conference) took the lead on a Khalil Hartwell basket with 7:09 left to play, putting the Mocs up 63-61.
Zac Schlader tied a career high with 27 points for Austin Peay (11-8, 6-4 Ohio Valley). He was 11-of-11 from the free throw line and completed eight-of-10 field goals.
Drake Reed added another 10 points for the Governors.
Jerice Crouch and Charles Anderson both added 15 points for the Mocs. Steve Cherry netted 11 points and had 9 rebounds.
Chattanooga forced 21 turnovers and had 14 steals.
The Mocs' win marks their fourth-straight over the Austin Peay.