Wofford 96, Union (Ky.) 84
SPARTANBURG, SC ? Shane Nichols scored 22 points and Eric Marshall added 20 as Wofford defeated Union College of Kentucky 96-84 Thursday night at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford (2-1) jumped off to a big early lead at 19-2 as the Terriers made nine of 10 free throws in the first four minutes of the game. Tyler Whatley and Drew Gibson each converted 3-point plays with a field goal and a free throw. The Terriers led by as many as 22 points in the opening stanza, taking a 50-28 lead just 2:08 before half. Union (3-3) outscored Wofford 7-2 over the final two minutes to close to 52-35 at intermission.
Wofford started the second half with a 16-8 scoring run to open its biggest lead of the night at 68-43 following a pair of free throws by Corey Godzinski with 15:55 to play in the game.
Over the next 11 minutes, Union used full-court pressure to create turnovers and outscored Wofford 34-17. The Bulldogs closed the deficit to as few as eight points on two occasions, the last coming with 4:20 to play in the game as the Terriers held an 87-79 lead.
Wofford was able to make five of eight free throws in the final three minutes to secure the 96-84 win.
Besides Nicholls and Marshall scoring in double figures, Drew Gibson scored 13 points and Matt O’Connor added 11. O’Connor and Marshall tied for game-high rebound honors with nine.
Wofford turned the ball over a season-high 22 points but head coach Mike Young is not concerned.
“I’m not worried about this team handling the basketball,” said Young. “We relaxed a bit. We had a comfortable lead when (Union) threw something at us that we hadn’t practiced much against. We’re still a long way from a finished product. We’ll be fine.”
Charleston Southern 72, The Citadel 63
North Charleston, S.C. ? The Citadel’s late second half rally against Charleston Southern brought the Bulldogs within four points with 33 seconds left in the game, but their effort fell short as a Buccaneer lay-up and four free throws increased the CSU lead back to double-digits, ending the game 72-63.
A slow start in the first half of Thursday night’s battle between the Bucs and the Bulldogs left The Citadel down by 16 points at the half, 37-21.
Shooting 33.3 percent from the field, the Bulldogs only connected on eight shots, three of which were from long range. Charleston Southern on the other hand, almost doubled the Bulldogs’ shots, hitting 15-of-30 field goals for 50 percent on the half, while dominating the boards, 24-9.
“I was really disappointed in the first half how we executed on the offensive end,” said The Citadel Head Coach Ed Conroy. “We wanted to press early in the game, but when we can’t make baskets and rebound the ball, it’s hard to get into our press.”
Allowing Charleston Southern to increase the lead to as much as 21 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs did not find their rhythm until back-to-back lay-ups by Demetrius Nelson at 8:51 in the game started a 21-14 Bulldog run. Nelson added three more baskets, while senior guard Kevin Hammack added a pair lay-ups, followed by a long range shot by senior guard Donny McLendon, decreasing the Buc lead to four points with 2:11 left in the game.
However, the Bulldog defense could not put a stop to the Buccaneer triple-threat of guards Donnelle Covington, Dwayne Jackson and Chris Moore, who recorded a basketball each, along with four free throws in the last 1:30 to put the Bucs back up by 12 with :06 left in the game. Hammack connected on a last second shot from half court, ending the game, 72-63.
“They showed a little heart and compassion at the end that they showed at Michigan State and Iowa. However, I thought they would come out a little better than they did earlier in the game,” Conroy said.
Hammack led The Citadel in scoring with 16 points, four assists and three steals. McLendon added 12 points, all scored in the second half, while Nelson and Chris Diasparra both recorded 10 points. Everhart added five boards and six points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from the field.
For the Buccaneers, Covington, Jackson and Moore combined for 52 of Charleston Southern’s 72 points. Jackson led the Bucs with 22 points, while Moore and Covington added 16 and 14, respectively. Moore also led CSU in boards with eight on the night.
The Bulldogs are 1-3 overall, while Charleston Southern improved to 2-1. The Citadel will head to South Bend, Ind. to take on Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov.
19 before heading to Los Angeles to play at Southern Cal’s new Galen Center.
Duke 75, UNC Greensboro 48
DURHAM, NC ? Tenth-ranked Duke had four players in double figures to offset a 17-point night by Kyle Hines as the Blue Devils came away with a 75-48 win over the Spartans on Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Spartans (0-3) had pulled within 54-40 midway through the second half after struggling in the first 20 minutes. UNCG shot just 6-for-26 in the first half and trailed 45-20 at the break.
“I liked the way our defense played in the second half,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement, a former Duke assistant. “They took us out of our sets in the first half. They are tough on Hines because they are just so big in the middle with the two seven-footers (Josh McRoberts and Brian Zoubek). I guarantee you that is the first time Kyle has seen that in two years and that he won’t have to see that when we get into the conference schedule.”
Zoubek finished the game with 17 points in a match-up of big men from South Jersey. Hines hails from Sicklerville, NJ, just 15 miles from Zoubek’s hometown of Haddonfield. The two had played against each other in summer leagues and had worked out together during their high school days.
Gerald Henderson added 12 points while DeMarcus Nelson and David McClure chipped in 11 points each.
Ricky Hickman, a junior from Winston-Salem, N.C., added 12 points for the Spartans. Hines’ 17 points extended his string of double-figure scoring games to 24 straight games, three shy of the school record. He also had eight rebounds and three blocks.
Duke (3-0), ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and No. 10 in the ESPN / USA Today Coaches’ Poll, scored the first nine points of the game before UNCG settled down following a timeout. UNCG scored eight of the next 13 before a Duke 14-2 run opened up a 27-10 advantage.
UNCG, however, came out of the locker room to the tune of a 13-4 run to open the second half, cutting the Duke lead to 49-33. UNCG held Duke without a field goal for nearly five minutes during that run. A Kevin Oleksiak three-pointer cut it to 54-40 with 10:52 to play.
“Give UNCG credit for that,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “They held us without a field goal for five minutes during that stretch.”
But Duke would hold UNCG to just eight points the rest of the way on 2-for-10 shooting from the field.