APPALACHIAN STATE 100, WESTERN CAROLINA 91
BOONE, N.C. --- Led by a combined 42 points on 19-of-21 shooting from forwards Donte Minter (Salisbury, N.C.) and Davis Bowne (Hickory, N.C.), Appalachian State University men’s basketball scored a season-high 62 points in the paint en route to a 100-91 win over archrival Western Carolina on Monday evening at the Holmes Center.
Minter poured in a team-high 22 points on 10-of-12 field-goal shooting and Bowne was a perfect 9-of-9 for 20 points to lead ASU’s dominance in the paint. Freshman Kellen Brand (High Point, N.C.) also drained 6-of-8 shots for a career-high 20 points, mostly courtesy of fast-break layups.
The Mountaineers benefited from 28 assists to shoot 34-of-53 (64.2 percent) from the field, both season highs and team's best shooting performance since hitting 64.7 percent of its shots against Tennessee Tech on November, 11, 2004. D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C.)matched a careeer high with nine assists to pace the unselfish play.
Appalachian (13-4, 5-1 SoCon) never trailed after the first minute and led by as many as 22 to break a first-place tie with Western Carolina (7-10, 4-2 SoCon) atop the Southern Conference North Division standings. The Catamounts were led by Nick Aldridge's career-high 31 points and nine rebounds.
The Apps held a 38-33 advantage on the glass with Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C.) pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.
The game was relatively close for the first 10 minutes until the Mountaineers rattled off a 10-0 run to take a 15-point, 35-20 lead with eight minutes left in the opening half. ASU added to its first-half lead going up by as many as 18 before finishing with a 17-point, 53-36 halftime lead. Thompson had eight of his nine assists in the first-half alone.
Appalachian extended its lead to 22 points on a Brand layup with 14:30 on the clock in the second half and a 69-47 ASU advantage. ASU's lead wouldn't dip below 15 until a 7-0 Catamount run made the score 92-80 with 3:12 left to play. WCU pulled within nine twice in the final minute but couldn't overcome ASU's dominant post play to make a charge at the Apps.
The Mountaineers will play another pivotal Southern Conference contest on Thursday when they travel to preseason North Division favorite UNC Greensboro. Tipoff against the Spartans is slated for 7 p.m.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 67, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 64
Charleston, S.C. ? Josh Jackson had a game-high 17 points and Marcus Hammond blocked a potential 3-point attempt at the buzzer as the College of Charleston rallied for a 67-64 win over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference action before 3,122 at John Kresse Arena on Monday.
With the win, Charleston’s ninth win in the last 10 games, the Cougars improved to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in league play. Georgia Southern fell to 9-9 and 2-5.
Georgia Southern rallied from a nine-point deficit with 7:16 remaining to cut the margin to 65-62 with 19 seconds left on a layup by Dwayne Foreman. Hammond missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw attempt but the Eagles couldn’t grab the rebound and knocked it out of bounds giving Charleston possession with 13 seconds left.
After GSU forced a 5-second turnover on the inbounds pass, Jackson fouled Foreman on a three-point try with 6.4 seconds left.
Foreman hit the first two free throws but missed the third with Hammond grabbing the rebound. Hammond hit two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to give Charleston a 67-64 lead, then blocked Foreman’s game-tying attempt at the buzzer to secure the victory.
GSU, which streaked out to a 25-15 lead, held a 30-27 lead at intermission thanks to hitting 5-of-8 3-point attempts (62.5%).
The Cougars, who shot 44.8 percent for the game including 53.6 percent in the second half, did not allow the Eagles a 3-pointer in the second half as they missed all nine attempts.
Jackson hit 8-of-10 from the floor and added five rebounds, while Dontaye Draper added 14 points and a career-best nine assists. Jermaine Johnson had a team-high nine rebounds.
Foreman finished with a team-high 16 points, while teammates Jimmy Tobias and Louis Graham added 15 and 14 points each, respectively. Diogo Salazar had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Charleston plays host to Elon in a 6:00 start on Saturday, while the Eagles return home to take on Davidson in a 7:00 start on Tuesday.
FURMAN 68, WOFFORD 65
GREENVILLE, S.C. --- Robby Bostain and Tony Anderson each converted a pair of foul shots in the final 10 seconds to help Furman hold off Wofford for a 68-65 Southern Conference victory before 2,106 Monday night at Timmons Arena.
Leading by two with under three minutes left, Bostain and Eric Webb buried back-to-back three-pointers to give Furman a 64-56 lead with 2:25 remaining. Drew Gibson trimmed the cushion to four with a pair at the charity stripe and the Terriers netted consecutive layups off of Webb turnovers to slice the lead to 64-62 with 39 seconds left.
Following a Wofford timeout, Furman held the ball for 25 seconds before Bostain drew a two-shot foul on a drive down the right side of the lane.
After the senior converted both free throws, Wofford’s Shane Nichols answered with a trey from the left corner with 1.2 seconds to go. Tony Anderson drew a foul on the inbounds attempt and sunk both ends of the double bonus to put the game out of reach at 68-65.
Webb and Bostain each tallied a team-high 16 points, while fellow senior Moussa Diagne added 15 and Alex Opacic chipped in 10. Gerad Punch, despite failing to score, grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Furman shot 40.7% (24-59) from the floor and converted 9-of-23 (39.1%) attempts from beyond the arc. After not attempting a foul shot in the first half, Furman connected on 11-of-15 at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes. The Paladins posted a commanding 44-28 edge on the glass that included 15 offensive rebounds.
Nichols scored a game-high 19 to lead the Terriers, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Gibson scored 17 and Marshall added 10 points and seven rebounds. Wofford shot 41.5% (22-53) from the field and 13-of-16 at the foul line. The Terriers made 8-of 21 three-pointers and shot 45.2% from the floor in the second half.
Furman, who shot 46.7% from the field in the first half, built a 33-26 lead at the intermission. The Paladins held the seven-point advantage until Wofford reeled off an 8-0 run to take a 44-43 lead with 11;53 left in the game. Furman regained the lead for good at 9:59 as Webb drained one of his four three-point field goals.
The win, which snaps Furman’s three game losing streak, improves the Paladins to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in the Southern Conference. Wofford dips to 5-13 overall and 0-7 in league play.
Furman resumes its three-gae homestand hosting the Western Carolina Catatmounts Saturday at 4 p.m. at Timmons Arena. Wofford entertains Chattanooga on January 20, at 2 p.m.
CHATTANOOGA 66, ELON 56
ELON, N.C. --- Keddric Mays dropped 20 points and Nicchaeus Doaks added 16 as Chattanooga dispatched Elon 66-56 in Southern Conference men?s basketball action Monday night at Alumni Gym.
The Mocs (9-11 overall, 2-6 SoCon) never trailed, erupting to a 28-11 advantage on lay-up by Matt Gywnne with 6:46 to play in the opening period.
Trailing 30-13 with 6:02 to go in the first half, the Phoenix (4-12, 2-4) reeled off 11 consecutive points to close within 30-24 on a put-back by Chris Chalko with 1:33 remaining before the intermission.
A free throw by Mays and a three-pointer by Ricky Hood gave Chattanooga a
34-24 halftime edge. Elon exploded into the second stanza on a 16-6 run to tie the score at 40-40 on a jumper by Chalko with 13:17 left in the contest.
The Mocs responded by scoring the next nine points, building a 49-40 lead on a dunk by Tyler Troupe with 10:23 remaining. The Phoenix went on an 11-3 spurt to draw within 52-51 on a trey by Brett James at the 6:56 mark.
Doaks stretched the Chattanooga advantage to 54-51 on a lay-up with 5:29 to play, but Ola Atoyebi canned a jumper to pull Elon within 54-53 with 5:01 left. The Mocs then reeled off the game?s next eight markers a pair of freebies by Doaks sandwiched by a pair of treys by Mays to go ahead 62-53 with 2:46 to go.
Mays finished 6-for-11 from the field, including a 5-for-10 showing from beyond the three-point line. Doaks connected on seven of his 12 attempts from the floor as the Mocs fired 51.0 percent (25 of 49) from the field and
38.1 percent (8 of 21) from three-point land.
The Phoenix shot 43.1 percent (22 of 51) from the field and 16.7 percent (3 of 18) from behind the arc. Elon surrendered 14 turnovers to the 15 committed by Chattanooga.
The Mocs won the battle of the boards 30-29. Chattanooga also outscored the Phoenix 32-24 in the paint, 19-17 off turnovers and 18-11 off the bench.
Elon was paced by Chalko (14 points), LeVonn Jordan (13 points, eight
rebounds) and Atoyebi (nine points, three steals). Scott Grable tied a career high with eight points and Devan Carter dished out a career-best six assists for the Phoenix.
The Mocs play next at Wofford at 7 p.m. Saturday while Elon visits the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. Saturday.