DAVIDSON 79, WESTERN CAROLINA 59
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop secured his 300th career victory tonight as the Wildcats defeated visiting Western Carolina, 79-59, in a Southern Conference game at Belk Arena. Freshman Stephen Curry led Davidson (18-4, 9-1 SoCon) with 25 points, sending the Catamounts (7-13, 4-5) to their fourth straight defeat.
McKillop, the all-time winningest coach in school and conference history, holds a career mark 300-217 in 18 years at the helm of the Wildcats. The five-time SoCon Coach of the Year has guided Davidson to seven regular season titles and six postseason appearances ? the NCAA Tournament in 1998, 2002 and ’06, and the NIT in 1994, ’96 and 2005.
Playing just 25 minutes of action, Curry reached at least 20 points for the ninth time in his brief Wildcat career. The native of Charlotte, N.C., made 8 of his 11 attempts from the floor including five buckets from long range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Others in double figures for Davidson included Thomas Sander with 18 points, while William Archambault added 10 off the bench.
After the Catamounts clawed their way back from an early 10-point deficit to grab an 18-15 advantage midway through the opening period, Davidson outscored its visitor 31-11 to close the half and lead 46-29 at the break.
The Wildcats drilled eight buckets from downtown in the first 20 minutes of action highlighted by four straight, two each from Archambault and Curry, prior to intermission.
For the second time in as many contests, the Wildcats torched the nets to begin the game knocking down 50 percent (14-28) overall and 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from behind the arc. The Wildcats assisted on all but one field goal in the first half.
Western Carolina closed to within 12 (59-47) at the 7:55 mark in the final stanza, but was unable to inch closer as the Wildcats responded with seven unanswered to put the game out of reach.
The Wildcats shot 44.2 percent (14-28) from the floor and hit 11-of-26 trifectas for a total of 42.3 percent. They entered the night 11th nationally in free throw percentage and helped their 76.0 percentage making 22 of their 27 tries.
Western Carolina managed just a 37.9 field goal percentage and made only 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from downtown.
Nick Aldridge was the only Catamount to reach the 10-point mark as he finished with 14 on 7-of-11 shooting.
Despite 14 from Boris Meno and nine from Andrew Lovedale off the bench, Western Carolina edged the Wildcats on the glass, 37-36.
Davidson will hit the road for a 7 p.m. tip-off at SoCon foe Elon Tuesday, Jan. 30. The Catamounts return home where it will entertain Wofford Monday at 7 p.m.
APPALACHIAN STATE 95, THE CITADEL 54
BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State sank a school- record 17 three-pointers en route to a lopsided victory over The Citadel at the Holmes Center on Saturday, 95-54. The Mountaineers continued their hot shooting, converting a 63-percent clip from the field and three-point range for their largest margin of victory ever against the Bulldogs.
Nate Cranford (Harrisburg, N.C.) was the force behind the school- record effort with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Cranford’s performance is tied for the third-most in school history, two behind his school record of 10 set earlier this season at Chattanooga.
Donny McLendon and Demetrius Nelson were the only two Bulldogs in double-figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. The Citadel shot 41 percent and committed 17 turnovers, off which ASU scored 26 points.
Appalachian improved to 16-5 overall and 8-2. The Citadel fell to 6-15 and 3-7 in the Southern Conference.
The Citadel scored the opening basket of the game, but that would be its only lead of the afternoon as the Mountaineers built up a double digit lead in the first 10 minutes of the half. The Citadel pulled back within nine, 31-22, on a Donny McLendon three-pointer at 4:49 but wouldn’t score again for the next 4:48 allowing the Mountaineers to assemble a 19-0 run to take the air out of the Bulldogs’ sails. The Citadel ended the run with one second remaining in the half off a desperation heave from Jonathan Brick from deep in the backcourt that hit nothing but net to cut ASU’s lead to 25, 50-25, at halftime.
ASU assumed a 30-point lead early in the second half and never let The Citadel get any closer, extending the margin to a game-high 43 with
1:32 left before running out the clock for the 41-point 95-54 victory.
Demetrius Scott (Orlando, Fla.) personified the Apps’ unselfish effort with a career-high 11 assists in 22 minutes of action. As a team, ASU had 25 assists and only committed nine turnovers. Nine of the 14 Mountaineers that stepped on the hardwood recorded a helper.
Kellen Brand (High Point, N.C.) and Donte Minter (Salisbury, N.C.) continued their strong play with 15 and 13 points, respectively, off the bench.
ASU’s 63-percent performance (17-27) from three-point range was its highest since shooting 61 percent (11-18) against USC Upstate on December 6, 2004. ASU’s previous single-game three-point record of 16 was set twice, against JMU on November 28, 2005 and Chattanooga on February 12, 2005.
The Mountaineers will return to action on Monday for a much- anticipated contest with the College of Charleston and former ASU head coach Bobby Cremins. Tipoff before a regional television audience on CSS is scheduled for 7 p.m.
UNC GREENSBORO 69, FURMAN 54
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Ricky Hickman came off of the bench to tally 31 points and Kyle Hines added 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead UNC Greensboro to a 69-54 victory over Furman in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday evening at Fleming Gym.
Leading 48-43 with 9:24 remaining in the game, Hickman delivered the deciding run by outscoring the Paladins 17-4 to give the Spartans a 65-47 advantage with 3:38 left. Hickman, who led the Spartans with 29 points in UNCG’s double overtime victory over Furman in December, netted three layups, two three-pointers and connected on 4-of-5 free throws during the run. During the second half stretch, Furman managed just one basket over a 5:54 span.
UNCG, who never trailed in the game, took a commanding first half lead with a 16-0 spurt to open a 20-4 cushion with 11:34 left in the period.
Kevin Oleksiak opened the run with a layup and a three-pointer, while Ben Stywall capped it with a jumper and a three-point play.
After trailing 33-22 at intermission, the Paladins twice trimmed the Spartan lead to five before Hickman put the game out of reach.
Furman shot 47.1% from the field, but connected on just 2-of-16 three-point attempts and 4-of-8 free throws. UNCG, who shot 46.5% from the floor and made 4-of-13 treys, controlled the game with a 36-24 rebounding margin and 23 points off of 16 Paladin turnovers.
Senior Gerad Punch made 5-of-7 attempts from the field to lead Furman with
12 points, while guard Robby Bostain chipped in with 10. Hickman finished
10-of-14 from the field, 2-of-4 beyond the arc and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe Stywall joined Hines with 10 boards for the Spartans.
The improves UNCG to 11-9 overall and 8-2 in Southern Conference play.
Furman, losers of six straight road contests and all four of its SoCon road games this season, falls to 10-11 overall and 4-6 in the league.
The Paladins look to bounce back on Monday when they travel to face the Chattanooga Mocs in a 7 p.m. contest at McKenzie Arena.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 67, CHATTANOOGA 54
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- Dontaye Draper scored 20 points and added a career-high six 3-pointers leading the College of Charleston to its sixth straight win in a 67-54 victory at Chattanooga in Southern Conference basketball action before 3,801 at McKenzie Arena and a regional television audience on Saturday.
The victory improved CofC to 15-7 overall and 8-2 in the SoCon, while Chattanooga dropped to 9-13 and 2-8.
Both teams traded baskets during the initial part of the first half and a jumper by David Lawrence tied the score, 9-9, with 10:39 left in the half. However, Charleston finished with a 24-16 run that was punctuated with a lay-up by Tony White, Jr. with seven seconds left in the half. The Cougars held a 33-25 lead going into halftime.
Charleston shot 56.5 percent in the first half, which is the third-highest percentage the Cougars have shot in a half. CofC shot a season-high 62.5 percent in the second half of its’ 74-62 victory at The Citadel on Jan. 9. Chattanooga shot 27.8 from the field in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Cougars continued their strong shooting in the second half and a jumper by Lawrence 4:38 into the second half gave Charleston the 41-39 advantage. Chattanooga responded with its own 13-4 run and a converted free-throw attempt by Nicchaeus Doaks with 10:39 left in the game made the score 46-42 and cut the Cougars’ lead to only four. Draper sparked an 11-0 run over the next 2:30 by hitting three consecutive three-pointers that was followed by a Marcus Hammond layup to give the Cougars their second largest lead of the game, 59-42.
Kevin Bridgewaters hit a three-pointer for the Mocs with 3:18 left in the game to cut the lead to 10 and make the score, 62-52, in favor of CofC. Charleston responded with a three-pointer by Hammond and a lay-up by McCandies with 1:03 left in the game to earn the victory.
Hammond scored 15 points, while Lawrence scored 12 points with five rebounds for the Cougars. Josh Jackson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with a career-high four blocks for CofC.
Doaks scored a team-high 11 points for Chattanooga and grabbed eight rebounds. Khalil Hartwell had a team-high nine rebounds for the Mocs.
Overall, Charleston shot 55.3 percent from the field, which was the second-highest percentage the Cougars have shot in a game this season. CofC shot 55.8 percent in its 82-75 victory at Western Carolina on Dec. 21, 2006. The Cougars made 11 out of 26 three-pointers to shoot 42.3 percent for the game. Chattanooga shot 31.3 percent from the field, which is the second-lowest percentage an opponent of CofC has shot this season. Elon shot a season-low 28.1 percent from the field in CofC’s 67-45 victory at the John Kresse Arena on Jan. 20. The Mocs also made only four three-point attempts out of 23 to shoot 17.4 percent.
Chattanooga grabbed more rebounds than CofC, 37-34. Charleston had 17 turnovers, while Chattanooga gained only eight.
The Cougars return to action on Jan. 29 to face the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Boone, N.C. beginning at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS). Chattanooga’s next game will be at home against Furman on Jan. 29 beginning at 7 p.m.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 68, ELON 67
ELON, N.C. Donte Gennie poured in 20 points and Louis Graham dropped 18 points as Georgia Southern built an 11-point, second-half lead and then held off a furious Elon rally to come away with a 68-67 Southern Conference men?s basketball victory Saturday night at Alumni Gym.
In the early going, the Phoenix (5-14 overall, 3-6 Southern Conference) used a 14-3 spurt to turn an 8-2 deficit into a 16-11 edge on a jumper by Scott Grable with 11:30 to go in the opening period.
After Elon went ahead 22-16 on a three-pointer by Brett James, the Eagles (10-10, 3-6) erupted for a 15-2 run to seize a 31-24 halftime advantage on a jumper by Jimmy Tobias with 13 ticks left in the stanza. Gennie canned a trey to open the second half, stretching the run to 18-2 and the Georgia Southern lead to 34-24 with 19:29 left in the contest.
Trailing 45-34 at the 13:10 mark, the Phoenix went on a 17-7 run to draw within 52-51 on a lay-up by LeVonn Jordan with 5:26 to play. The Eagles responded with an 11-4 spurt to fatten their lead to 63-55 on a free throw by Matt Fields with 53 seconds remaining.
Elon closed the contest with a 12-5 run as Jordan sank a three-point bomb as time expired, but was unable to draw a foul to even the score at the charity stripe. Gennie netted three of four free throw shots during that stretch.
Georgia Southern received 10 points from Tobias and six assists from Dwayne Foreman as the Eagles fired an even 50.0 percent (21 of 42) from the field
55.6 percent (5 of 9) from three-point land and 58.3 percent (21 of 36) from the line.
Jordan paced the Phoenix with 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double performance of the season. Ola Atoyebi narrowly missed his first double-double, posting 11 points and nine rebounds. James added 10 points.
Elon fired 35.4 percent (23 of 65) from the floor 31.8 percent (7 of 22) from behind the arc and 77.8 percent (14 of 18) from the stripe. The Phoenix won the battle of the boards 38-35 and turnovers 11-16. Each team scored 26 points in the paint. Elon outscored the Eagles 12-9 off turnovers, 18-6 off second chances and 32-12 off the bench.
Georgia Southern visits UNC Greensboro at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Elon hosts Davidson at 7 p.m. Tuesday.