Chattanooga 82, Wofford 71
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Keddric Mays led six players in double figures and Chattanooga beat Wofford 82-71 Monday by shooting 68 percent in the second half.
Chattanooga (14-11, 5-5 Southern Conference) overcame a 15-point deficit early on for the win.
Mays scored 17 points, Charles Anderson and Ricky Wood 12 each, and Casey Long, Jerice Crouch and Nicchaeus Doaks 11 each.
Shane Nichols led Wofford (9-14, 4-6) with 24 points and Matt O'Connor had 13 and was 5-of-5 from the floor and 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Tyler Berg added 12 points for the Terriers.
Wofford's last lead was 53-51 with 10:32 left in the game.
The Terriers had six players on the floor following a timeout for one possession in the first half.
The officials did not notice and the Terriers scored on a 3-pointer by Nichols, with Drew Gibson assisting.
After players and coaches from both benches shouted about the mismatch, Gibson left the court.
Wofford opened the game by scoring 17 of the first 19 points, but Chattanooga had cut it to 34-29 at halftime.
Story courtesy of Elon sports information
Elon 76, College of Charleston 69
ELON, N.C. Brett James pumped in a career-high 18 points, pacing five Elon double-digit scorers as the Phoenix upended the College of Charleston for a 76-69 Southern Conference men?s basketball victory Monday night at Alumni Gym. In doing so, Elon won for the 10th time in 12 games while snapping the Cougars? four-game winning streak.
Despite playing without starters Jackson Atoyebi, Chris Chalko and Montell Watson due to injuries and illness, the Southern Conference-leading Phoenix (12-11 overall, 8-2 SoCon) erupted to a 15-6 lead on a post move by Colin Wyatt with 11:53 to go in the first period. Atoyebi, Chalko and Watson entered this week?s action as Elon?s top three scorers.
Outscoring the Cougars (13-8, 6-4) 20-12 in the paint in the first half, Elon gradually pushed its advantage to 33-20 on an old fashion three-point play by LeVonn Jordon with 1:39 left in the opening frame. Paced by a period-high eight points by James, the Phoenix eventually settled for a 33-22 halftime edge.
College of Charleston, which was victorious in all of its four previous meetings with Elon, stormed back in the second stanza. The Cougars fashioned an 18-8 run to cut a 37-24 deficit to 45-42 on a three-point bomb by Philip McCandies with 12:48 remaining in the contest.
The Phoenix, who trailed only once all evening at 2-0, eventually stretched the difference to 56-47 on an old fashion three-point play by James with 9:10 left. The Cougars clawed their way back to within 59-56 on a lay-up by Josh Jackson to cap a 9-3 spurt with 5:51 to play.
Elon answered with a 15-8 surge, extending its edge to 74-64 on a free throw by Brian Waters with 16 seconds remaining. With the victory, the Phoenix improved to 6-0 versus Southern Conference opponents at Alumni Gym this season.
The win also marked the 100th career triumph for Elon skipper Ernie Nestor, who improved to 100-133 in his eighth season as a head college men?s basketball coach. He is now 32-52 in his third campaign at the helm of the Phoenix.
The Cougars averaged a league-leading 42.7 rebounds per game entering the evening, but only won the battle of the boards by a 28-27 margin. Meanwhile, Elon fired a season-high 64.3 percent (27-for-42) from the field while holding the College of Charleston to 40.0 percent (24-for-60) including 31.0 percent (9-for-29) in the first half.
The Cougars outscored the Phoenix 18-7 off turnovers, committing just 11 miscues for the contest while forcing 13. Elon outscored the College of Charleston 36-28 in the paint for the game.
James, who canned seven of his eight shots from the floor, was joined in double-digit scoring by teammates Simon Harris (career-high 13 points, game-high eight rebounds), Jordan (13 points), Waters (10 points) and Wyatt (10 points).
Dontaye Draper entered the evening as the Cougars? leading scorer with 18.5 points per game the fourth-best average in the Southern Conference. He finished the night with 11 points on 2-for-13 shooting. Josh Jackson (16 points) and Renardo Dickerson (10 points) paced the College of Charleston.
This coming Saturday, the Phoenix will visit Appalachian State for a 3:30 p.m. North Division clash at the Holmes Center. Later that same day, the Cougars will visit Furman for a 6 p.m. South Division confrontation at Timmons Arena.
Story courtesy of Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 72, Western Carolina 67
STATESBORO, Ga.-Elton Nesbitt scored a game high 22 points, including 18 in the second half to lead the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team to a 72-67 win over Western Carolina Monday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. With the win, the Eagles are how a half-game ahead of Davidson for first place in the South Division..
The Eagles (16-7, 7-3 SoCon) jumped out to an early 10-6 lead before an Antonio Russell three pointer put the Catamounts (11-14, 5-5 SoCon) within one at 10-9. A Nesbitt fast break layup with 11:20 to play in the half gave the Eagles the 15-11 lead. Donte Gennie hit the Eagles’ first three pointer of the night to increase Georgia Southern’s lead to seven at 18-11 with 10:48 remaining in the half. David Berghoefer’s jumper at the 7:36 mark cut the Eagle lead to three at 18-15, but a quick layup by Sean Olivier put the Eagles back up by five. A three pointer by Trey Hopkins tied the game with just over six minutes to play in the opening half. Western went on a 13-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to take the 28-20 lead with 4:39 on the clock. Gennie’s jumper at the 2:15 mark ended a five minute scoring drought for the Eagles. A Berghoefer layup with 1:15 to play increased the Catamount lead to nine at 31-22. Nesbitt scored with 15 seconds to play to cut the WCU lead to seven but a Negus McKenna jumper at the buzzer gave the Catamounts the 33-24 lead at the break.
Nesbitt started things for the Eagles in the second half, swiping a Catamount pass and hitting his first three pointer of the night. Georgia Southern scored on the next two possessions, pulling them within three a 34-31 with 17:02 to play in the game. Gennie’s layup with 16:26 on the clock put the Eagles within one at 34-33. A Jimmy Tobias layup with 15:32 gave the Eagles the 35-34 lead. Louis Graham’s under the basket layup with 14:55 increased the Eagle lead to three at 37-34. A Russell basket with 14:27 to play ended a 13-0 Georgia Southern run and put the Cats’ within one at 37-36. A Graham block and layup increased the Eagles’ lead to 43-40 with 11:37 remaining in the game. Nesbitt found Will Dunn under the basket for the easy layup giving the Eagles the 45-40 lead with 11 minutes to play. A pair of Dunn free thows capped an 8-0 run by the Eagles before a Greathouse trey ended the run. Gennie’s three pointer on the next possession put Georgia Southern up 52-43 with 8:56 to play. A pair of Dwayne Foreman free throws gave GSU the double digit lead, 54-43 with 8:20 on the clock. The Catamounts responded, going on a 10-0 run to put them within one at 54-53 with under six minutes to play. WCU’s Russell’s three point play at the 5:20 mark gave Western the 58-56 lead. Nesbitt’s layup with 4:20 on the clock put the Eagles back on top 60-58. A pair of Russell free throws tied the game at 60-60 with three and a half minutes to play. Nesbitt connected on a steal by Dunn to put the Eagles back on top 64-60 with 2:20 to play. Nesbitt sank both free throws with 26.7 seconds in the game to give the Eagles the 67-63 advantage. WCU’S Berghoefer cut the Eagle lead to two on a layup with 21 seconds on the clock, but a pair of Foreman free throws and a Nesbitt steal iced the game for the Eagles, as they held on to win 72-67.
Nesbitt led all scorers with 22 points and a season high six steals while Gennie added 16 and Tobias had 10. Graham had 10 rebounds and was two points shy of a double-double. Berghoefer led the Catamounts with 16 points while Russell added 15.
The Eagles outrebounded the Catamounts 40-28, limiting them to just seven offensive boards. Georgia Southern took advantage of Western’s 16 miscues, scoring 23 points off turnovers.
The Eagles return to Hanner Fieldhouse on Saturday as they face The Citadel. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.