COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 77, WOFFORD 75
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Philip McCandies 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired lifted the College of Charleston to a thrilling 77-75 win over Wofford in Southern Conference action before 3,431 at John Kresse Arena on Monday.
The victory improved Charleston’s record to 14-7 overall and 7-2 in league play. Charleston has won 11 of its last 12 games and five in a row overall. Wofford is 6-14 and 1-8.
After Wofford’s Junior Salters hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to give the Terriers a 75-74 lead, McCandies inbounds the ball to Dontaye Draper, who drove to the top of the key, was double teamed, but eventually found McCandies open for the game-winner. It was Draper’s career-best 11 assist and McCandies only 3-point field goal and just his 10th on the season.
Salters’ trey capped a 6-0 Wofford run to erase a 74-69 deficit.
The Terriers roared out to a 35-17 lead with 5:20 left in the first half on Eric Marshall’s 3-pointer. Marshall left the game later in the first half with an apparent knee injury and did not return. The Cougars closed the half on a 14-2 run over the final 4:25 cutting the margin to 37-31 at intermission.
The Cougars opened the second half with a 24-13 run to take a 55-50 lead with 11:14 remaining. Wofford answered by outscoring CofC 17-4 to take a 67-59 lead with just 6:50 remaining.
Jermaine Johnson had a career-best 22 points while Draper added 22 points for his first career double-double. His 11 assists was the most by a Cougar since A.J. Harris had 11 in an 89-72 win over Chattanooga on February 19, 2001. David Lawrence led the Cougars in rebounds with 10.
Junior Salters led Wofford in scoring with 16 points, while Tyler Whatley scored 14 points with nine rebounds. Drew Gibson scored seven points with a team-high 10 assists and nine rebounds.
For the game, Charleston shot 50.0 percent from the floor hitting 30-of-60 attempts, including 17-of-29 in the second half (58.6%). The Terriers shot 45.9 percent for the game and 46.4 percent from behind the 3-point line connecting on 13-of-28 attempts.
Charleston travels to Chattanooga to battle the Mocs in a 2:00 start on Saturday. Wofford plays at Western Carolina on Monday at 7:30.
FURMAN 63, THE CITADEL 59
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Freshman Tony Anderson scored a career-high 20 points to help Furman overcome a sluggish first half and hold on to beat The Citadel 63-59 before 3,036 Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
The win, Furman’s third straight overall and fifth straight at Timmons, improves the Paladins to 10-9 overall and 4-4 in Southern Conference play.
The Citadel falls to 6-14 overall and 3-6 in the league.
Trailing 55-41 with 6:27 to go, The Citadel exploded on a 18-6 run to cut the Furman lead to 61-59 with 1:07 remaining. Demetrius Nelson started the rally with a pair of layups and a pair of free throws, and guard Kevin Hammack converted a driving layup and buried a three-pointer to pull the Bulldogs within three. J’Mel Everhart hit the front end of a two-shot opportunity at the charity stripe, but the missed the second shot.
Following a Furman miss in the paint, The Citadel had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Gerad Punch stole a Hammack pass on the left wing with 21 seconds remaining and Anderson sunk two free throws for the final margin.
Anderson connected on 5-of-7 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 beyond the arc, and 7-of-9 at the foul line for a game-high 20 points. The Paladins overcame a 26.9% (7-26) shooting effort in the opening 20 minutes to shoot 53.8% (14-26) from the floor in the second half. Furman buried
6-of-13 three-pointers after intermission to finish 9-of-25 from long range.
The Citadel shot 52.0% (13-25) in the second half, but allowed Furman 12 second-chance points in the second period. Donny McLendon paced the Bulldogs with 19 points on 8-of-21 shooting from the field, while Hammack added 17 points and Nelson chipped in 12.
The Citadel opened the game on an 8-0 spurt and held Furman scoreless for the game’s first 6:26. Furman followed with a 13-0 run of its own while keeping the Bulldogs off of the scoreboard for the next seven minutes.
Tied at 36-36 with under 11 minutes left in the game, Greenville, S.C., native Tony Anderson drained a trey and two free throws to ignite a 19-6 Furman run over the next four minutes. The Paladins managed just one more field goal the rest of the way, but converted 6-of-8 attempts at the line to secure its third straight victory.
Furman opens a three-game road trip Wednesday evening when it faces Appalachian State at 7:00 in Boone, N.C. The Citadel is idle until travelling to Appalachian State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
ELON 77, WESTERN CAROLINA 64
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Utilizing a 9-0 run to open the game and 52.5-percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Elon Phoenix raced to a double-digit lead and cruised to a 77-64 victory over Western Carolina Monday night in Southern Conference action in front of a season-best 3,910 in the Ramsey Center. The loss was Western's third-straight and marked just the second defeat at home this season for the Catamounts.
Western (7-12, 4-4 SoCon) put two players in double figures as both junior Antonio Russell and freshman Nick Aldridge recorded 18 points apiece, with Aldridge securing eight points from the free throw line and tallying three steals. His classmate, Brigham Waginger, added eight points including two 3-pointers. Junior transfer Arnold Gore battled through foul trouble to finish with six points and tied Aldridge for the team-high with five rebounds.
LeVonn Jordan posted 21 points and Chris Chalko added 16, including nine of Elon's first 11 points and 14 total in the first half, to pace the Phoenix, which improved to 5-13 overall and 3-6 in the SoCon's North Division. Brett James rounded out Elon's double-digit scorers with 10.
Chalko was hot right out of the gates for Elon (5-13, 3-6 SoCon), scoring less than 30 seconds into the game with a lay-up on the opening possession, and then converting a WCU turnover into one of his two 3-pointers for the early 5-0 lead. The South Bend, Ind., native would run the EU advantage to seven with a pair of free throws, with James capping the opening spurt by the Phoenix with a lay-up of his own. Aldridge finally snapped WCU's scoreless drought, turning a Kyle Greathouse steal into a fast break lay-up and a 9-2 score at the 15:27 mark.
However, Elon managed to balloon its lead into double-digits midway through the half and, as it would turn out, the closest Western could pull for the final 30 minutes was 10. Chalko capped off his first half scoring barrage with his second trey and a lay-up to give the Phoenix their largest lead of the opening stanza, 19 at 28-9, at the 7:58 mark of the first half with Elon managing a 14-point halftime lead, 37-23.
The Phoenix opened the second half with a 14-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, a 21-point advantage at 51-30, with 13:40 left to play. However, the Catamounts, refusing to go away, put together a 17-6 run to slice the lead to 10, 57-47, with 7:31 remaining after back-to-back Russell free throws. But, Elon responded with from the charity stripe, connecting on four-straight to push the cushion back to 14. Following an Aldridge jumper and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Russell, Western again pulled to within 10, 62-52. Elon converted a John Charlesworth jumper on the ensuing possession with WCU rallying yet again with a dunk by Brandon Giles from Russell to close to within 10 for the final time. After Giles' slam, the Phoenix outscored the Catamounts 11-to-1, including a pair of technical foul free throws, to pull ahead by 20 and managed the game down the stretch despite Western closing the game on an 9-2 run to cut the final edge to 13 at 77-64.
Between the two halves, Elon shot 51.2-percent from the floor, 40-percent from 3-point range and 76.3 percent from the line. On the flip side, the Catamounts shot 35.6-percent from the field, just 15-percent (3-of-20) from behind the arc and 67.9-percent from the line.