Men's Basketball Southern Conference

South Division Race Tightens After Saturday's Games

Story courtesy of Davidson sports information

Western Carolina, Davidson 70

DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Western Carolina followed the recipe for success against the Davidson Wildcats this year ? hold them under 41 percent shooting and lead at the half ? and cooked up a 77-70- upset victory, ending Davidson’s 19-game home win streak. Corey Muirhead tied a career high with 23 points to help the Catamounts improve to 11-13 on the season and 5-4 in the Southern Conference. The Wildcats fell to 13-8 overall and 6-3 in the league.

With Western Carolina playing without leading scorer Antonio Russell ? suspended a game for violating team rules ? Muirhead headed up the offense by hitting 9-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line, plus hauled in a team-high seven rebounds. Center David Berghoefer added 17 points on 6-of-8 from the floor, and canned 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 4:31 despite a 52.3 free throw percentage this year. Also in double figures was Trey Hopkins with 15 points while hitting 3-of-5 from downtown.

Western Carolina never led by fewer than six points in the second half until Davidson guards Brendan Winters and Jason Morton connected on consecutive three-pointers, cutting the deficit to four at 72-68 with 40 seconds to play. But the last-gasp effort quickly died when the Wildcats were whistled for an intentional foul seven seconds later and Berghoefer hit both free throws.

Trey Hopkins lived up to his name right away, draining a pair of threes in the first 24 seconds, plus hit a free throw for a four-point play and a quick 7-0 Western Carolina lead. While the Catamounts managed just two more trifectas in the opening period, they slashed to the basket for some easy buckets and maintained at least a four-point advantage for the remainder of the game. Western led by as many as 12 during the game.

At the Davidson end of the floor, meanwhile, the Wildcats were stymied by WCU’s zone defense as they hit just six of their first 22 shots and 3-of-15 from behind the arc. Davidson did finish the first half strong by connecting on three three-pointers among their final five shots, making the score 37-31 at the intermission. Morton single-handedly kept the Wildcats in the game with 16 points in the first 20 minutes with four three-pointers.

The Catamounts put Davidson on its heels by changing defenses from a 1-3-1 zone to a 3-2 zone to man-to-man. In the second half, the Wildcats shot the ball better, including 40 percent (6-of-15) from long range, but WCU shot 50 percent (26-of-52) for the game and 76 percent (19-of-25) at the charity stripe to ward off all comeback attempts.

Morton finished the game with 22 points and Winters scored 16 ? 15 in the second half ? in his return to the court after missing the last game with a stomach virus. Point guard Kenny Grant chipped in 11 points and seven assists.

The 19-game home winning streak was tied for the third longest in the nation with Florida. The Wildcats last lost in Belk Arena on Dec. 29, 2004 to Seton Hall. Davidson had also won 21 straight home conference games with the last defeat coming on Feb. 25, 2003 against College of Charleston in overtime.

Davidson continued its pattern of losing when not leading at the half this season ? 0-8 when trailing or tied at the intermission and 13-0 when leading. And by shooting 38.3 percent for the game, the Wildcats dropped to 1-8 when hitting less than 41 percent.

Western Carolina moved into sole possession of second place in the North Division with Chattanooga having lost to Georgia Southern this afternoon. Davidson fell back into a three-way tie for first in the South with College of Charleston and GSU, while Furman could make it a four-way tie with a win at UNC Greensboro this evening.

The Wildcats finish off a four-game homestand on Wednesday, Feb. 8 against UNCG at 7 p.m. Western Carolina next plays at Georgia Southern on Monday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Story courtesy of Chattanooga sports information

Georgia Southern 93, Chattanooga 71

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--Georgia Southern made 10 first-half three-pointers while building a 15 point halftime lead and was never threatened en route to a 93-71 win over Chattanooga at The McKenzie Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Senior guard Elton Nesbitt scored 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting, including a season-high 8-of-15 from behind the arc. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Louis Graham added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles.

Chattanooga (13-11, 4-5 Southern Conference) shot 36.7 percent from the floor in the first half, while Georgia Southern (15-7, 6-3 SoCon) was 50 percent and was aided by the fact that 10 of their 16 field goals were from long distance.

Georgia Southern, who entered the games as the Southern Conference’s worst rebounding team, bested the Mocs on the glass, 48-37. The Eagles are also the SoCon’s worst team in field goal defense, held UTC to 39.1 percent from the floor. Georgia Southern made a season-high 14 shots from behind the three-point line, shooting 51.9 percent from long distance.

Jerice Crouch led UTC with 13 points. Keddric Mays added 12 on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point. Casey Long was 6-of-7 from the line while scoring 10 points.

The Mocs will host Wofford at The McKenzie Arena on Monday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information

UNC Greensboro 65, Furman 59

GREENSBORO, NC ? For most of the night, Ricky Hickman’s double-digit scoring streak was in jeopardy. But it was the shot that kept the streak alive that made everyone forget the streak.

 

Hickman knocked down a 22-footer from above the top of the key with 52 seconds to play to break a 56-56 tie and lift UNC Greensboro to a 65-59 win over Furman in Southern Conference men’s basketball action at Fleming Gymnasium on Saturday night.

 

Hickman finished with just 14 points, more than five below his average of 19.5 ppg. But it was enough for the SoCon’s second-leading scorer to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 21 consecutive games ? the longest by a Spartan since 1992 ? and to give the Spartans a much-needed conference win.

 

UNCG (11-12, 4-5 SoCon) trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half after a 23-4 run by Furman (12-9, 5-4) early in the contest. The Spartans were still trailing by 13 at the intermission.

 

“Coach told us at halftime that if any of us believed that we couldn’t win the game that those guys should just stay in the locker room,” said Hickman. “It was gut check time. We just looked around at each other and knew that we had to believe it for it to happen.”

 

After Hickman’s three-pointer to break the tie, he, Kevin Oleksiak and Kyle Hines each knocked down both ends of one-and-ones to seal the win.

 

Hines led UNCG with a game-high 17 points, the 13th straight game in double figures for the sophomore from Sicklerville, NJ. Hickman finished with 14, including two three-pointers to extend his consecutive games with a three-pointer streak to 19 straight. Oleksiak also added 12 points.

 

Furman was led by Eric Webb and Robby Bostain with 11 points each. Moussa Diagne also added 10 points. The Paladins, after shooting 62.5 percent from the field in the first half, shot just 22.6 percent in the second half. UNCG, meanwhile, shot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half and got it done from the free throw line. The Spartans, who came into the night shooting just 65.1 percent from the line this season, were a perfect 12-for-12 at the line, including making good on all six attempts after Hickman’s decisive three-pointer.

 

“We got great help from our bench in the second half,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “David McClenny probably played his best game of the season. He made a great feed to Kyle in a high-low situation late in the game and had a couple of big baskets to get things going for us. He also had a couple of blocks for us on the other end of the floor.

 

“We played much better defense in the second half,” said Dement. “They were an offensive machine in the first half. We took it up a notch there in the second half and really got great play from the bench when we needed it. We’ve got four guys who are in the Top 10 in the league in minutes, all playing more than 30 minutes a night. We need those guys on the bench ? Beckford, Simmons, Tooms ? to give us a few minutes here and there and that really helped down the stretch.”

 

After UNCG opened the scoring with a three-pointer by Oleksiak, Furman went on a 23-4 run over the next eight minutes to take a 16-point lead midway through the first half. The Paladins hit 9-of-13 from the floor in that span, but would only make just 13-of-42 the rest of the way.

 

UNCG missed 12 of its first 16 from the floor, but put together a 10-0 run to get back in it. A jumper by Bart Tooms and a conventional three-point play by Kyle Hines got the Spartans going. Brian Beckford followed with a jumper from the left corner and Tooms capped it off with a three-pointer from right wing that got UNCG back within six.

 

Furman, which held UNCG’s lead scorer Ricky Hickman to just two first-half points, regained its double-digit lead by closing out the half with a 15-6 run to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room.

 

However, Hickman started to get on track and Furman got off track to open the second half. Furman went the first 3:40 without a field goal and scored just five points in the first eight minutes. Hickman, meanwhile scored UNCG’s first five points of the second half as the Spartans got the margin back to eight.

 

The Spartans couldn’t cut into the margin any more until an 18-4 run that began midway through the second half. McClenny, who started the run with his first basket of the night, then knocked down a big three-pointer from the right corner to cut the Furman lead to 49-45. After a Furman bucket, a three-pointer by UNCG’s Dwayne Johnson and a basket in the lane by Hines cut it to one. After a stop on the other end, UNCG went back to Hines and he gave the Spartans their first lead since the opening minutes, 52-51, with 5:15 to play.

 

Furman managed to shoot just 4-for-16 from the floor in the final 11 minutes as UNCG capped off its rally.

 

UNCG, which is 9-1 this season when it holds the opposition under 70 points, will travel to Davidson on Wednesday night for a 7 pm tip.

Story courtesy of Elon sports information

Elon 73, The Citadel 62

ELON, N.C. ­ Chris Chalko poured in a game-high 24 points as Elon emerged victorious for the ninth time in 11 games, dispatching The Citadel 73-62 in Southern Conference men?s basketball action Saturday night at Alumni Gym.

 

The Phoenix (11-11 overall, 7-2 Southern Conference) sprinted to a 24-13 advantage on a put-back by Colin Wyatt with 7:16 to play in the opening period. The Bulldogs (6-16, 0-10) ran off a 16-6 run to pull within 30-29 on a fast-break lay-up by Vytautas Valiulis with 2:45 remaining before the break.

 

Elon responded by reeling of the contest?s next seven points to stretch its lead to 37-29 on a pair of Wyatt free throws with 51 seconds left in the half. Matt Davis sank a three-point field goal with 38 seconds remaining in the period to pull The Citadel within 37-32 at halftime.

 

After Chalko opened the second stanza with a jumper, the Bulldogs went on a 10-3 spurt to tie the contest at 42-42 on a basket by Demetrius Nelson with 14:29 left in the contest. The game was later tied for a second and final time at 45-45, but The Citadel never led.

 

The Phoenix used a 24-9 surge to build a 69-54 cushion on an inside bucket by Chalko with 3:52 to go. The Bulldogs used an 8-2 spurt to draw within 71-62 on a field goal by Dante Terry with 17 seconds left, but could inch no closer.

 

Scottie Rice (11 points), Wyatt (nine points, nine rebounds) and Brett James (nine points) all turned in key performances for Elon. Terry (14 points), J?Mel Everhart (13 points, game-high 10 rebounds) and Nelson (12 points) all scored in double digits for The Citadel.

 

Elon ended up with advantages in field goal percentage (48.0-42.0), three-point field goal percentage (44.0-42.1), free throw percentage (77.8-63.2), rebounds (36-25), assists (16-10) and points off turnovers (11-9). The Bulldogs fashioned edges in turnovers (9-11), blocked shots (1-0), steals (7-5), points in the paint (24-20) and second chance points (22-16). 

 

The Phoenix will host the College of Charleston in a Southern Conference confrontation at 7 p.m. Monday at Alumni Gym. The Citadel will host Savannah State in a non-league contest at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at McAlister Fieldhouse.