CONFERENCE NOTES:
Nesbitt a Scoring Machine: Georgia Southern’s Elton Nesbitt has scored in double figures in 15 consecutive games and leads the SoCon with a 21.9 points-per-game average. Nesbitt scored 32 points in a road win over Chattanooga on Saturday, his second 30-point outing in his last three games. He scored a season-high 36 points in a win over UNC Greensboro on January 28. In his last 15 games, Nesbitt is averaging 23.3 ppg.
Elon’s Magic Number in North is Two: Elon moved to 8-2 in the North Division with a 76-69 victory Monday over College of Charleston. Brett James came off the bench to score a career-best 18 points, while Simon Harris also added a career-high 13 points. The Phoenix’s magic number to win the North Division is two. Elon is 9-4 overall at home and are a perfect 6-0 in league play. Elon has won its last seven games in Alumni Gym.
SoCon Tournament Tickets On Sale: Tickets for the Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Tournament officially went on sale Feb. 3 at Ticketmaster outlets and at the North Charleston Coliseum box office. Single session tickets are $12 or a tournament book for all sessions is $60. Tickets are also available through SoCon member institution ticket offices.
Seven Games on SIRIUS in February: Seven SoCon games will be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the month of February, beginning with the Wofford at Appalachian State game Feb. 2. Each game will take the home feed. Below is a listing of this month’s scheduled games.
Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Schedule for February on SIRIUS
Feb. 2 ? Wofford at Appalachian State, 7 p.m. (Channel 110)
Feb. 4 ? Western Carolina at Davidson, 1 p.m. (Channel 117)
Feb. 11 ? Elon at Appalachian State, 3:30 p.m. (Channel 107)
Feb. 13 ? Georgia Southern at College of Charleston, 7 p.m. (Channel 110)
Feb. 18 ? Furman at Davidson, 2 p.m. (Channel 181)
Feb. 23 ? UNC Greensboro at Appalachian State, 7 p.m. (Channel 110)
Feb. 25 ? College of Charleston at Davidson, Noon (Channel 110)
Coaching Milestones: Davidson’s Bob McKillop became the first SoCon coach to win 150 league games with his victory over Elon on January 27. On January 29, he won his 275th for his career (and 250 since the Wildcats have been in the league) with a win over Princeton. College of Charleston’s Tom Herrion won his 75th career game on January 30 against Appalachian State. Elon’s Ernie Nestor won his 100th career game on Monday against College of Charleston.
Home Teams Continue To Win: Home teams have won 20 of the last 22 league contests. Entering this week’s games, home teams are 36-17 in conference games. Only Davidson, Elon, and Georgia Southern, all at 2-2, have a .500 record on the road in conference play.
Big Game for Wofford’s Estep: Wofford’s Matt Estep scored a career-high 18 points in last Thursday’s win at Appalachian State, connecting on all six field goal attempts from beyond the arc. Prior to his career game, Estep had scored a total of 18 points in his last six games combined. His 6-for-6 performance from 3-point range was a school record and was only the fourth time in league history that a player had gone 6-for-6 from long range.
SoCon Television Schedule: The SoCon’s eight-game television package on FSN South is idle until Saturday, February 18 as Davidson hosts Furman, while the next CSS telecast is Saturday, February 11 as Furman entertains College of Charleston. CofC then hosts Georgia Southern on Monday, February 13.
SoCon Tournament Returns to Charleston: After a one year hiatus where the conference tournament was being held in Chattanooga, TN in 2005, the SoCon Tournament returns to the North Charleston Coliseum for the fourth time in five seasons ? and for each of the next two years. The start of the championship is being moved back a day to Thursday-Sunday, March 2-5 to accommodate a Sunday afternoon finals broadcast on ESPN2. The 2006 edition of the conference championship will be the SoCon’s 86th tournament, the longest Division I men’s basketball championship.
TEAM NOTES:
APPALACHIAN STATE (9-13, 3-6 SoCon): Appalachian State fell for the second straight time this past Thursday, losing 60-59 to Wofford at home...D.J. Thompson led the Mountaineers with 18 points... ASU had its two-game winning streak snapped last Monday with a 64-53 loss at College of Charleston...The loss to the Cougars was its fourth straight defeat in Charleston, and the Mountaineers have not won on CofC’s home floor since the 1959-60 season...Thompson has led ASU in scoring in each of the past four games, including a 21-point performance against The Citadel last Saturday...Thompson moved past the 900-point mark for his career, and has 926 points entering Tuesday’s game against Furman...Jeremy Clayton is second in the league in blocks-per-game average (2.11) and also is third with 40 blocked shots...Clayton has 78 career blocks, sixth all-time in school history...ASU is off until a road contest Tuesday at Furman.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (13-8, 6-4 SoCon): The Cougars had their season-long four-game winning streak snapped Monday at Elon, 76-69...Josh Jackson led College of Charleston with 16 points, while Dontaye Draper added 11 points and four assists...Renardo Dickerson came off the bench to add 10 points...In his past two road games, Dickerson is averaging 10.0 ppg...Drew Hall dished out a game-high eight assists and committed only one turnover in 40 minutes of action...Hall is third in the league in assists-per-game average at 4.90...The Cougars are off until Saturday when they face Furman on the road.
CHATTANOOGA (14-11, 5-5 SoCon): Chattanooga rebounded from a 93-71 setback on Saturday to Georgia Southern with an 82-71 win over Wofford on Monday...Keddric Mays led six UTC players in double digits in scoring with 17, while Charles Anderson and Ricky Hood each chipped in 12...Casey Long added 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists...The Mocs shot 68 percent in the second half against the Terriers, hitting 17-of-25 shots from the floor...After winning three in a row in the middle of January, UTC has alternated with a loss and a win in each of its past four games...Chattanooga splits its final four league games between home and on the road, beginning with a game Saturday at UNC Greensboro.
THE CITADEL (6-16, 0-10 SoCon): The Citadel fell for the 13th straight game on Saturday, dropping a 73-62 decision at Elon...J’Mel Everhart had 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Phoenix for his fifth double-double on the season, which is tied for second in the league...Dante Terry led the Bulldogs in scoring for the third time in the past four games with 14 points...Demetrius Nelson came off the bench to add 12 points...The Bulldogs host Savannah State on Tuesday then return to league play on Saturday at Georgia Southern.
DAVIDSON (13-8, 6-3 SoCon): Davidson had its 19-game home winning streak snapped on Saturday by Western Carolina, 77-70...Jason Morton came off the bench to lead the Wildcats with a career-high 22 points...Brendan Winters added 16 points, while Kenny Grant chipped in 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds...With 402 career dimes, Grant became the fifth Wildcat to dish out 400 or more assists in a career...The loss to the Catamounts was only their third loss in their last ten meetings at home dating back to 1995...Winters became only the fifth player in SoCon history to record 250 3-point field goals in their career, and he needs six more to move into fourth place in the league record books...Davidson hosts UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, then heads to Wofford on Saturday.
ELON (12-11, 8-2 SoCon): Elon has rattled off two straight victories after dropping two in a row...The Phoenix pulled out a 76-69 win at home over College of Charleston on Monday, despite not having the services of Montell Watson, Chris Chalko and Jackson Atoyebi -- the team’s top three scorers...Brett James came off the bench to score a career-best 18 points...The win over the Cougars was Ernie Nestor’s 100th career coaching victory...Simon Harris also had a career game, scoring 13 points in only his second start of the season...Elon shot 64 percent in the game, the best field goal percentage by a SoCon team this season...The 12 wins this season are the most for Elon under nestor, while the eight league victories are tied for the most conference wins since moving to Division I...The Phoenix are at Appalachian State on Saturday then host Chattanooga in its final home game of the regular season.
FURMAN (12-9, 5-4 SoCon): Furman lost 65-59 at UNC Greensboro on Saturday, dropping its third consecutive road game...The Paladins sit in fourth place in the South Division but are only one game out of first place...Robby Bostain and Eric Webb tied for team honors against UNCG with 11 points each...Moussa Diagne added 10 points...After shooting 63 percent in the first half, Furman hit on only 23 percent in the second stanza...Either Bostain or Webb has led Furman in scoring in four of its last five games...Tony Carter has 168 career steals and needs five more to move into fourth place on the school’s career list...Bostain is 72 points shy of becoming the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 career points...Furman starts a three-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Appalachian State ...It also entertains College of Charleston on Saturday.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (16-7, 7-3 SoCon): Georgia Southern notched its fourth consecutive win on Monday, knocking off Western Carolina 72-67...Elton Nesbitt led the way with 22 points, marking the sixth straight game that he has led the team in scoring...Nesbitt also scored 32 points, incuding eight 3-pointers, last Saturday at Chattanooga...Nesbitt is 16 points shy of reaching the 1,600 career point plateau...Nesbitt has 20-plus points in 12 of his last 16 games and is averaging 23.2 ppg over that span...Donte Gennie added 16 points and six rebounds, tallying double digits in scoring for the 12th time in the last 15 games...Gennie is 15 points from reaching 700 for his career...Louis Graham pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with eight points and three blocks versus the Catamounts...Graham is eight blocks shy of becoming the third GSU player to record 100 career blocks...The Eagles host The Citadel on Saturday, then head on the road for games at College of Charleston (Feb. 13) and Wofford (Feb. 18).
UNC GREENSBORO (11-12, 4-5 SoCon): UNC Greensboro snapped a two-game losing streak with a come-from-behind win over Furman, 65-59...The Spartans overcame a 16-point deficit to knock off the Paladins for their seventh win in eight games at Fleming Gymnasium...Kyle Hines had a game-high 17 points and also added five rebounds, five steals and three blocks, while Ricky Hickman and Kevin Oleksiak combined for 26 points...UNCG shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game connecting on 50 percent of its shots...Hickman’s 14 points increased her consecutive double digit scoring games to 21, the longest streak by a Spartan since 1992...He enters Wednesday’s game needing 26 points for 1,000 for his career...The Spartans are at Davidson on Wednesday, then host Chattanooga on Saturday.
WESTERN CAROLINA (11-14, 5-5 SoCon): Western Carolina had its two-game win streak snapped on Monday at Georgia Southern, 72-67...David Berghoefer led the Catamounts with 16 points and also added five rebounds and three assists...Antonio Russell came off the bench to add 15 points and five boards...The Catamounts ended Davidson’s 19-game home winning streak last Saturday with a 77-70 win over the Wildcats...Corey Muirhead equaled his carer best with 23 points against Davidson, while Berghoefer and Trey Hopkins combined for 32 points...WCU shot 50 percent from the field versus Davidson, giving the team back-to-back outings of 50 percent or better from the field for only the second time this season...Western Carolina closes out the regular season by playing three of its last four games at home...The Catamounts host Appalachian State on Monday, Feb. 13.
WOFFORD (9-14, 4-6 SoCon): Wofford had its season-long three-game winning streak snapped on Monday at Chattanooga, 82-71...Shane Nichols scored a game-high 24 points for the Terriers, the third time in the last four games that he has paced the team in scoring...In his last 10 games, Nichols is averaging 15.3 ppg but in his last six games that average increases to 19.0 ppg...In Nichols’ last six games, 87 percent of his field goals have been from 3-point range...Nichols, who is second in the conference with 77 3-pointers, is ninth in the league in scoring at 14.7 ppg and is the second-highest scoring sophomore in the league...Tyler Berg scored 12 points in the loss to Chattanooga and enters this weekend 60 points shy of 1,000 points for his career...Howards Wilkerson is 13 points shy of 1,100 for his career...The Terriers host Davidson on Saturday, then are at Furman on Monday.