Chattanooga 78, UNC Greensboro 69
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Casey Long scored a career-high 24 points to lead Chattanooga to a 78-69 win over UNC Greensboro on Saturday.
Keddrick Mays and Ricky Hood added 16 points each for the Mocs.
The Mocs (9-7, 1-1 Southern Conference) pulled ahead in a close game with a 10-2 run to open the second half, giving them a 46-37 lead.
UNCG (7-8, 1-1) got to within 5 points to make it 74-69 with 1:05 to play, but Chattanooga hit four-of-four free throws to secure the win.
Chattanooga shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half and knocked down 16-of-21 from the free throw line.
The first half was close with neither team leading by more than four points at any given time. The Spartans led for much of the half.
Kyle Hines led the way for UNCG with 23 points, while Ricky Hickman had 20.
The game was a rematch of last year's Southern Conference championship, which Chattanooga won.
Georgia Southern 83, The Citadel 65
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Elton Nesbitt’s season-high 33 points led Georgia Southern to an 83-65 win at The Citadel on Saturday in the Eagles' Southern Conference opener.
Georgia Southern (10-4, 1-0) extended its winning streak to six.
The Eagles gained a quick 4-0 lead before The Citadel (6-8, 0-2) tied the game with 16:30 on the clock. Nesbitt then scored three consecutive 3-pointers to give the Eagles a 13-4 lead. A pair of free throws by Dwayne Foreman at 7:53 gave the Eagles a 22-point edge. The half ended the Eagles leading 49-28.
The Citadel went on a 16-3 run to cut the Eagles' lead to 12 with 13:20 remaining in the second half. But the Eagles responded with a 15-7 run that gave them a 71-51 advantage with less than 7 minutes to play.
Nesbitt led all scorers with 33 points, including a season-tying seven 3-pointers. Donte Gennie added a season-high 17 points and seven assists.
Dante Terry led The Citadel with 16 points, while Kevin Hammack added 13. Demetrius Nelson and Matt Davis each added 10.
College of Charleston 66, Furman 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Josh Jackson tied a career-high with 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the College of Charleston beat Furman 66-53 on Saturday night.
The Cougars (8-5, 1-1 Southern Conference) closed the first half on a 20-5 run to lead 30-23 at the break.
Charleston led by more than 10 for most of the second half and hit six of nine foul shots in the final two minutes.
Jackson helped the Cougars dominate inside. Charleston had 44 points in the paint, compared to 26 for the Paladins (7-6, 1-1), and outrebounded Furman 49-34.
The Paladins have never beaten the Cougars in eight games at John Kresse Arena.
Stanley Jones had 16 points and Eric Webb added 10 points for Furman.
Drew Hall added 12 points and Jermaine Johnson pulled down 12 rebounds for Charleston.
Davidson 80, Wofford 62
DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) - Brendan Winters scored 20 points to lead Davidson to an 80-62 victory over Wofford Saturday.
Kenny Grant added 15 points - including four 3-pointers - and Jason Morton posted 16 points off the bench for the Wildcats (8-5, 2-0 Southern Conference).
Howard Wilkerson posted a double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds to lead Wofford (5-10, 0-2). Byron Fields added 16 points.
Winters broke out of a shooting slump and hit 6-of-9 from the floor and made 6-of-7 from the foul line.
Davidson led 39-28 at the half.
Wofford made 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from the floor, compared to Davidsons 42.9 percent (12-of-28).
The Terriers outrebounded Davidson 35-34.
Story courtesy of Elon sports information
Elon 65, Appalachian State 59
ELON, N.C. Jackson Atoyebi knocked down a season-high 22 points and Chris Chalko poured in 17 points 15 in the second half as Elon overcame Appalachian State for a 65-59 Southern Conference men?s basketball triumph Saturday night at Alumni Gym. Atoyebi and Chalko each pulled down eight rebounds apiece.
Atoyebi canned eight of his 12 shots from the field and six of his seven attempts from the free throw line as the Phoenix (5-9 overall) emerged victorious for the third time in as many games. Chalko connected on six of his 10 shots from the floor, including three of his seven tries from beyond the arc, as Elon claimed its first-ever 2-0 start in SoCon action.
A tight first half featured seven ties and four lead changes. Eduardo Bermudez sank a three-pointer to give Appalachian State a 19-12 lead with 7:35 left in the opening stanza, marking the first of three seven-point first-half leads for ASU.
The Phoenix later exploded for an 11-2 run to transform a 23-16 deficit into a 27-25 edge on a jumper by Atoyebi with 44 seconds remaining in the first period. D.J. Thompson?s jumper 11 seconds later led to a 27-27 halftime deadlock.
Early in the second stanza, Elon went on a 12-6 surge to trade a 34-29 deficit in for a 41-36 advantage on an old fashion three-point play by Atoyebi with 15:12 to play in the contest. After that, the Phoenix never trailed the rest of the way.
The Mountaineers (5-9 overall, 0-2 Southern Conference) were paced by Thompson (15 points, eight rebounds, five assists), Demetrius Scott (11
points) and Jeremy Clayton (10 points).
Elon edged Appalachian State in points off turnovers (20-15), second chance points (14-10), bench points (29-11), rebounds (38-33), assists (15-11), turnovers (17-18) and steals (11-8).
The Mountaineers edged the Phoenix 26-24 in points in the paint. ASU fired 43.9 percent (25-for-57) from the floor while Elon shot 42.6 percent (23-for-54). The Phoenix fashioned a 66.7-percent clip (14-for-21) from the charity stripe while the Mountaineers hit 36.4 percent (4-for-11) of their freebies.
The Phoenix will visit defending Southern Conference champion Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Monday. Meanwhile, Appalachian State hosts SoCon foe Western Carolina, also at 7 p.m. Monday.