ELON 79, WOFFORD 69
ELON, N.C. Brett James poured in 22 points and Devan Carter chipped in 19 as Elon staved off Wofford for a 79-69 Southern Conference men?s basketball triumph Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.
James? scoring outburst fell one point shy of his career-high 23-point performance earlier this month at Davidson. Carter?s point total equaled his career high. James and Carter each scored 12 points in the second half.
Never trailing and only tied twice, the Phoenix (2-7 overall, 1-1 Southern Conference) erupted to an 11-2 lead on an inside bucket by Chris Chalko with 12:39 remaining in the first half. The Terriers (4-8, 0-3) responded with a 10-1 spurt to even the count at 12-12 on a fast break lay-up by Drew Gibson with 9:10 to go before the intermission.
Elon reeled off 14 of the game?s next 21 points to go ahead 26-19 on an inside move by Carter with 5:14 remaining in the opening period. Wofford used a 10-3 spurt to force the contest?s second stalemate at 29-29 on a three-pointer by Junior Salters with 1:34 left in the first stanza.
The Phoenix went on a 19-10 run to build a 48-39 advantage on a put-back by Scott Grable with 15:26 remaining in the game. An 11-5 spurt pulled the Terriers within 53-50 on a fast break lay-up by Gibson with 10:11 left to play.
Elon replied by going on an 18-5 run to stake a commanding 71-55 lead on a pair of charity shots by LeVonn Jordan with 3:46 remaining. The Phoenix?s lead never fell under eight points the rest of the way.
Chalko pumped in 11 points and pulled down a season-high eight rebounds while Jordan added 10 points and six rebounds. Wofford was led by Shane Nichols (18 points), Eric Marshall (17 points) and Gibson (10 points).
Elon outscored the Terriers 34-20 in the paint and 17-7 in second chance situations. Wofford edged the Phoenix 19-17 off turnovers and 18-9 off the bench. Each team hauled in 39 rebounds. Elon committed 17 turnovers to Wofford?s 18.
The Phoenix fired 47.5 percent (29 of 61) from the field, 44.4 percent (8 of 18) from behind the arc and 54.2 percent (13 of 24) from the free throw line. The Terriers shot 38.6 percent (22 of 57) from the floor, 34.5 percent (10 of 29) from beyond the arch and 83.3 percent (15 of 18) from the charity stripe.
Mountaineers Advance to San Juan Shootout Championship With a 75-64 Win Over UCF
by Appalachian Sports Information
APPALACHIAN STATE 75, CENTRAL FLORIDA 64
GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO --- Fueled by a second-consecutive strong performance from Nate Cranford (Harrisburg, N.C.), the Appalachian State University men's basketball squad defeated UCF 75-64 to advance to the San Juan Shootout Championship game.
The Mountaineers will face Vanderbilt at 4 p.m. EST for the Shootout title at Morales Coliseum. Vanderbilt (8-3) defeated Tennessee Tech, 75-62, in the other semifinal contest.
Cranford followed up Tuesday’s career high versus Virginia with 18 points against the Golden Knights. All 18 of his points came via three-pointers on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc to up ASU’s record to 9-3. UCF falls to 7-2 overall and was led by Jermaine Taylor’s 16 points.
The Mountaineers continued their hot shooting, converting on 51 percent of their shots from the field and 48 percent from three-point range. The Golden Knights managed to shoot 46 percent from the field and converted on 39 percent of their three-point attempts.
Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C.) and Donte Minter (Salisbury, N.C.) anchored ASU’s post presence as Clayton recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Minter scored 13 points and frustrated the Knights with his size and aggressiveness inside. Minter shot half of ASU’s free throws in a clean contest that only saw a combined 24 fouls whistled.
The first five minutes were played relatively closely before ASU’s shooting warmed up and the team closed the final nine minutes of the first half on a 17-7 run to take a 37-30 lead into the locker room.
The Knights closed the gap at the start of the second half, going on a 8-1 run to tie the game at 40-40 with 16 minutes left. However, the Mountaineers’ defense responded by holding the Knights without a point for the next 6:17, keying a 14-0 run that gave ASU a 14-point, 52-38, lead with 10 minutes left in the half. ASU would hang onto the lead as the final score was closer than the game actually was with UCF scoring 10 unanswered points in the final minute after ASU’s starters had been removed from the game.
The atmosphere in the Morales Coliseum was decidedly in Appalachian’s favor as a large contingent of Eduardo Bermudez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) and Ryann Abraham’s (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) friends and family were on hand to cheer on the Mountaineers.
Appalachian’s meeting with Vanderbilt will be the third in the series. Vanderbilt has won both previous meetings.
WEST VIRGINIA 63, THE CITADEL 36
MORGANTOWN, W.VA. --- Despite holding West Virginia to only 37.5 percent shooting in the second half, The Citadel was unable to come back from a 22-point halftime deficit, losing to the Mountaineers, 63- 36, Wednesday night in Morgantown, W.Va. Jumping out on a 20-8 run at the beginning of the first half, West Virginia shot 48.3 percent from the field and hit seven from long range for 41.2 percent. Leading the Mountaineers going into the locker room at the half was freshman forward Da’Sean Butler, who came off the bench to score 12 first half points, going 5-of-6 from the field.
The Bulldogs, although down 28-16 at the half and outsized by West Virginia, matched the Moutaineers’ on the board totaling 17 going into the second period. “I thought we came out and executed the way we wanted to, but we had difficulty knocking down shots and a few turnovers in a key stretch toward the end of the half,” head coach Ed Conroy said.
Making a strong defensive effort in the second half, The Citadel returned to hold the Mountaineers to under 40 percent shooting, allowing only nine baskets in the second period. The Bulldogs also recorded the fewest turnovers of any West Virginia opponent this season with 16 for the game.
“Overall, I could not be more pleased with our defensive performance and how we took care of the basketball. We showed great improvement from the last game to this game in our focus and concentration on the defensive end,” Conroy added. Leading The Citadel in scoring for the night were senior guards Kevin Hammack and Donny McLendon, who recorded 10 points each, while McLendon led the team in boards with seven. Freshman forward Bryan Streeter, who earned his third career start, put six points and three rebounds on the board for the Bulldogs.
Senior forward Frank Young scored 14 points each for the Mountaineers, while The Citadel held Butler to only one second half basket, also totaling 14 point for the night. The Citadel Basketball will break for the holiday before returning to the court at McAlister Field House to take on Atlanta Christian, their last non-conference opponent of the season, on Dec. 30 at 1:05 p.m. For more information on Bulldog Basketball or The Citadel Athletics, go to www.citadelsports.com.