FURMAN 69, CHATTANOOGA 56
GREENVILLE, S.C. --- Furman's Alex Opacic tallied a career-high 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field to lead the Paladins to their first Southern Conference win of the season, a 69-56 victory over Chattanooga, in front of 1,913 Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.
With Furman trailing 43-42 and less than 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Opacic scored eight points, including a pair of treys, to key a 16-0 spurt to give Furman its biggest lead of the game at 58-43 with 4:22 left. Kevin Bridgewaters scored six straight points to trim the lead to nine, but Furman converted 8-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the victory.
"We really concentrated on defense the last couple of days in practice, and I think it paid off tonight, especially in our second half run," said Furman head coach Jeff Jackson. "We got solid production off of the bench. Alex did a really good job. We've challenged him to be tougher, and he stepped up to that challenge."
Tied 27-27 at the break, Furman and Chattanooga traded the lead eight times in the opening nine minutes of the second half before Opacic pushed the Paladins in front for good. Furman, just 35.5% (11-31) from the field in the first half, shot 50% (12-24) from the floor and connected on 14-of-19 free throws after intermission to outscore the Mocs 42-29 over the final 20 minutes.
Fellow sophomore Jadee Jones joined Opacic in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 beyond the arc. Sophomore Stanley Jones tallied nine points and six rebounds, while Gerad Punch contributed eight points and seven boards. Moussa Diagne added a game-high eight boards to go with eight points, while Robby Bostain netted nine points.
Furman finished at 41.8% from the field and 33.3% (8-of-24) from three-point range. The Paladins converted 15-of-20 shots from the charity stripe and held a 35-29 rebounding advantage.
Chattanooga shot 40.4% from the floor, but just 28.0% (7-25) from long range. The Mocs made 11-of-17 free throw attempts.
Bridgewaters led the Mocs with 14 points, all in the second half. Keddric Mays and Niccheaus Doaks each added 12 points. Ricky Hood registered a team-high seven rebounds.
After falling behind 5-0 to start the game, Furman used an 11-0 run to help build a 23-12 lead with 7:19 left in the period. UTC answered with a 15-4 run, keyed by seven points from Doaks, to pull even at half. The Paladins outscored the Mocs 26-18 in the paint and received a combined 32 points from five players off of the bench.
The loss drops Chattanooga to 7-8 overall and 0-3 in league play. UTC opens a three-game homestand hosting Appalachian State Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Furman, winners of seven of its last nine versus the Mocs, improves to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins return to action Saturday when they travel to Statesboro, Ga., to face the Georgia Southern Eagles. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
THE CITADEL 53, ELON 50
ELON, N.C. Kevin Hammack netted 11 points including a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left as The Citadel erased an early 12-point deficit to out-scrap Elon for a 53-50 Southern Conference men?s basketball victory Wednesday night at Alumni Gym, snapping the Phoenix?s nine-game home winning streak in SoCon play.
The Phoenix (3-9 overall, 1-2 SoCon) forged an early 16-4 lead on a three-pointer by T.J. Douglas with 9:34 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs (4-10, 1-2) responded with a 12-1 run to draw within 17-16 on a pair of charity shots by Hammack with 5:08 to go in the opening period.
Answering with a 13-6 spurt, Elon extended its edge to 30-22 on a jumper by LeVonn Jordan with 22 ticks left before the intermission. The Phoenix maintained a lead of four to eight points early in the second half, going up 40-32 on a lay-up by Brett James with 12:57 remaining in the contest.
The Citadel reeled off eight consecutive points to force the game?s first tie at 40-40 on a lay-up by Hammack with 9:56 to play. A three-point bucket by Vytautas Valiulis gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the contest at 43-40 with 8:48 remaining.
A jumper by Ola Atoyebi ended The Citadel?s string of 11-straight points, pulling Elon within 43-42 with 8:08 to go. After a lay-up by the Bulldogs? Demetrius Nelson, Jordan sank a jumper for Elon?s final field goal with 6:48 left.
A basket inside by J?Mel Everhart stretched The Citadel advantage to 47-44 with 6:10 remaining. Chris Chalko canned three consecutive charity shots to even the count for the second and final time at 47-47 with 4:57 to play.
Back-to-back inside moves by Nelson gave the Bulldogs a 51-47 edge with 2:31 left. A pair of free throws by Jordan and a charity shot by Brett James pulled the Phoenix within 51-50 with 1:21 to go, but Elon was unable to score again.
The Phoenix shooters were held to a season-low 26.9 percent (season-low 14 of 52) from the floor, including 22.2 percent (6 of 27) from beyond the arch. Elon, which missed all 13 of its second-half attempts from three-point land, fired 80 percent (16 of 20) from the free throw line.
The Citadel shot 40.4 percent (19 of 47) from the field, 28.6 percent (4 of 14) from behind the three-point line and 68.8 percent (11 of 16) from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards by a 36-34 margin and outscored the Phoenix 30-10 in the paint and 25-9 off the bench. The Phoenix tallied 11 turnovers to 13 for the Bulldogs.
Jordan led Elon with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Chalko added 11 points. Jordan?s double-double performance marked the first by a Phoenix player this season. He also became the first Elon player to record double digits in the rebounding department this season.
This coming Saturday, Elon returns to non-conference action when Penn visits Alumni Gym at 2 p.m. while The Citadel visits Wofford at 7 p.m.
WOFFORD 94, WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 60
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -? Wofford tied a school record by making 18 three-point field goals and coasting to a 94-60 win over West Virginia Wesleyan Wednesday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Shane Nichols tied his career-high with 28 points including seven 3-pointers to lead Wofford. Matt Estep added five treys for 15 points while Drew Gibson notched 12 for the Terriers.
Keshawn Creighton led the Bobcats with 11 points.
Wofford (5-9) snapped an eight-game losing streak. The Terriers had last won at Cincinnati 91-90 on Nov. 21. West Virginia Wesleyan dropped its eighth straight game and fell to 1-8 on the year.
“We needed this win,” said head coach Mike Young. “We needed a game like this. It was a game where everybody stepped up and made a contribution.”
Nichols drained six 3-pointers in the first half and had 23 points at halftime. The Terriers led 46-29 at intermission.
The game was tied at 2 and 5 before Wofford went on an 11-2 tear to open up a 16-7 advantage. Over the first six and one-half minutes of the first half, Nichols by himself outscored WVW 14-7.
In the second half, Wofford’s lead grew to as many as 44 points at 92-48 with 3:11 to play in the game.
Wofford will host The Citadel Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. The game will be the nightcap of a basketball doubleheader where the Terrier women will host the College of Charleston at 3 p.m. Both games will be televised by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) with the women’s game being tape delayed for a 4 p.m. start on TV.
SOUTH CAROLINA 67, WESTERN CAROLINA 53
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? South Carolina connected on 10-of-20 attempts in the second half ? seven beyond the 3-point arc ? to down the upset-minded Western Carolina Catamounts, 67-53, Wednesday night at the Colonial Center.
Western (5-9) put three players in double-figures led by 13 from freshman Jake Robinson who was 5-of-7 from the field including a 3-for-5 showing from long range. Robinson’s frontcourt classmate, Nick Aldridge, added a dozen in the loss with Negus McKenna hitting three, 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Catamounts trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, but closed the opening stanza on a 17-to-7 run to trim the deficit to one point, 29-28, at the half. Out of intermission, the game see-sawed back-and-forth before Western was able to tie the game at 34 then take a one-point, 35-34, lead on a pair of Aldridge free throws at the 16:52 mark. However, an 8-0 spurt by South Carolina erased WCU’s advantage and gave the Gamecocks and advantage they would not relinquish.
Refusing to go away, the Catamounts managed to cut the USC lead to two, 51-49, at the 7:59 mark, but a six minute scoring drought for Western helped South Carolina pull away for its sixth-consecutive victory.
South Carolina (10-2), playing without leading scorer Tre Kelley, duplicated the trio of Catamounts in double-figures led by a game-high 20 from Bryce Sheldon which included six, 3-pointers. Guard Brandon Raley-Ross added 18 with Dominique Archie chipping in with 11.
Western Carolina returns to action this Saturday in Southern Conference play when it hosts UNC Greensboro in the first half of a Catamount basketball double-header. The special tip time between the Cats and Spartans is set for 2:00 pm in the Ramsey Center, which will be followed immediately by the Lady Catamounts hosting the league-leading Davidson Wildcats at approximately 4:00 pm.