Wofford 74, Erskine 58

SPARTANBURG, SC ? Eric Marshall recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Wofford to a 74-58 victory over Erskine in the home opener for the Terriers.

 

Wofford is now 1-1 on the season.  The contest was an exhibition game for Division II Erskine.

 

Erskine took an early 10-5 lead before Marshall scored 10 straight points to put the Terriers up 15-13.  Corey Godzinski hit a field goal for a 17-13 Terrier advantage and Wofford never trailed again.  The Terriers outscored the Flying Fleet 29-13 to close the half and take a 42-26 advantage at the half.

 

Wofford opened the second half by outscoring Erskine 10-4 to open a 52-30 lead.  Erskine was never able to close the gap to less than double digits in the second half.

 

Three other Terriers joined Marshall in double figure scoring.  Sophomore Tyler Whatley tied his career-high with 10 points, Drew Gibson scored 18 points for the second straight game and Shane Nichols finished with 13.

 

Wofford made 8 of 31 three-point attempts in the game and out-rebounded Erskine 51-39.

 

“Erskine has good basketball player and they’re exceptionally well coach,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young.  “I relieved to get out of here with the win.  We weren’t picture-perfect by any stretch of the imagination but we out-rebounded them by 13 and that’s encouraging.  We held them to 33 percent shooting (from the floor) and that’s encouraging.

 

“We wanted to play in fifth gear and they wanted to play in second gear,” said Young.  “We were stuck all night in third gear.  But I will walk out of here tonight happy with the win.”

 

Erskine was led by Brandon Wright with 20 points including five 3-pointers.  T.J. Taylor added 13 points.

 

Wofford will host Union College of Kentucky on Thursday night at 7:00 in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.

 

Elon 85, Montreat 72

ELON, N.C. ? Brett James tallied a career-high 20 points and LeVonn Jordan added 18 to lead the Elon Phoenix to an 85-72 victory over Montreat on Tuesday night in Alumni Gym.  With the win, Elon moves to 1-1 while Montreat falls to 2-3.
 
Elon scored on seven straight possessions to go ahead 18-7 with 15:26 left to play in the first half.  Chris Chalko started the scoring with a three-point field goal at 19:05. James followed that with a trey of his own and back-to-back field goals by James and Jordan on the next two possessions put Elon ahead 10-0 at 17:58.  Another three by Chalko and a put back by Brian Waters put the Phoenix up 15-4 before a three-pointer from James closed the run with Elon up 18-7.
 
Montreat then scored four straight points to cut the lead to seven at 18-11 on a pair of free throws from Kinard Barnett at 13:41.  But Elon would push the lead to 13 on a lay up from Jordan at 11:34.  Montreat cut the lead back to eight, 26-18, on a three-pointer by Stephen Whiteside and a lay up by Noble Anthony at 9:58.  Elon took another 13-point lead with 7:11 left at 34-21 on a field goal from Jon Ogolo, who went 4-for-4 in the first half with nine points in eight minutes.  The Cavaliers would again cut the lead to eight at 36-28 with 4:25 remaining in the half, but Elon would push the lead back to 13 at 43-30 with 2:30 on the clock.  A jumper by Tim Lewis cut the lead to 11 at 1:05 for a 43-32 score at the intermission.
 
Elon maintained its lead early in the second half.  Ahead by 11 at 51-40 with 17:13 remaining, Elon used a 9-0 run, behind seven points from James, to take a 20-point 60-40 advantage at 14:56.  The Cavaliers scored the next four baskets to cut the lead to 14 at 60-46 with 13:28 left in the half.  Down by 14 at 65-51, Montreat used a 12-5 run to get within six points at 69-63 with 3:44 left to play.  Anthony was responsible for six of the 12 points while three-pointers from Thomas Nicholson and Aaron Collazo accounted for the other six points.  
 
Elon extended the lead back to 10, 75-65, at 1:45 on two free throws from James.  The Phoenix, who was 6-for-6 from the line in the final 1:45 of the game, took a 16-point lead at 85-69 with 16 seconds on the clock on a lay up from Adam Constantine.  A three-pointer from Nicholson with 10 second left cut the lead to 13 and produced the final, 85-72.
 
James was 7-for-12 from the field and tallied three rebounds along with two steals.  Jordan shot 64 percent from the floor, going 7-for-11 while grabbing seven rebounds and recording four assists.  Ola Atoyebi posted career bests with 14 points and nine rebounds along with two blocks and three steals.  He was 6-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line.  Chris Chalko tallied 12 points and four rebounds while Constantine added six point and five boards and Brian Waters contributed six points and a career-high eight assists.
 
Lewis led the Cavaliers with a double-double performance. He posted 12 points and 15 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, along with five assists.  Anthony added with 17 points, going 7-for-10 from the field while Nicholson notched 14 points, tallying four three-points on six attempts.  
 
Elon returns to action on Friday, Nov. 17 in an 8 p.m. contest at Wake Forest.  Montreat will be in action again tomorrow night in a home tilt with Georgetown College at 7:30 p.m.

 

Western Carolina 61, UNC Asheville 46

Asheville, N.C. ? Catamount freshman Nick Aldridge scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Western Carolina to a 61-46 road victory over UNC Asheville Tuesday night at Justice Center. It marked the second time in the two-year tenure of WCU head coach Larry Hunter that the Cats have won their season opener, with WCU defeating Bowling Green away from Cullowhee last season.

 

Eric Wilson, who scored 11 second-half points, and Antonio Russell contributed 13 points each. Local product Jake Robinson added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Also, Negus McKenna, known for his long range shooting as he ranked second in the SoCon in 3-pont field goal percentage, grabbed eight rebounds and came away with two steals.

 

Western Carolina won, despite shooting 36 percent (21-of-58) from the field. The Cats did a good job from the free throw line as they shot 75 percent (15-of-20).  Western’s defense held the Bulldogs (1-1) to just 31 percent (19-of-62) shooting from the field and 22 percent (4-of-18) from the three-point line. Added to UNCA’s woes were its dismal 36 percent (4-of-11) from the foul line and committing 16 turnovers.

 

Bryan Smithson led Asheville with 13 points. He added five assists and five rebounds. Brett Warner and K.J. Garland contributed nine points each. Warner collected seven rebounds.

 

The Bulldogs did not score in the first half until Brett Warner scored on a lay-up at the 10:27 mark. Western Carolina was not much better but did score the first 10 points of the game to lead 10-2 after Warner's score.

WCU led 13-7 after Smithson scored at the 6:36 mark but the Bulldogs went ice cold again from the field allowing the Catamounts to go on a 12-4 run to end the half and lead 25-11 at halftime. Aldridge keyed the run with eight points, including a three-point play with 1:01 left in the half to give the Cats a 14-point halftime lead.

 

Two free throws from Russell gave WCU a 47-26 lead with 9:14 left before Asheville made a spirited rally to try and get back in the game. The Bulldogs went on a 15-6 run, but were never able to cut its deficit to single digits, trailing 52-41 after freshman Sean Smith sank a trey with 3:03 left.

 

But Wilson scored on lay-ups the next two times down the floor to get the lead back up to 56-41 and Robinson converted a fast-break dunk to put the game out of reach.

 

Western Carolina heads to Purdue for a game with the Boilermakers Friday night starting at 8:30 pm.