DAVIDSON 81, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 73
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Junior forward Thomas Sander registered 25 points and 10 rebounds to lift host Davidson to its ninth straight win, 81-73, over College of Charleston on Saturday evening at Belk Arena in front of 4,254 fans. The Wildcats improve to 13-3 on the season and maintain a flawless 4-0 mark in the Southern Conference. Charleston had its six-game winning streak end as it falls to 9-7 overall and 2-2 in the league.
Sander, a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, was one of three Davidson players in double figures, missing just four of his 14 attempts from the floor.
Tonight?s scoring performance marked the fifth time that the 6-8 forward has gone for 20 points or more in a contest.
The backcourt duo of Stephen Curry and Jason Richards combined to score 37 points for the Wildcats with 19 and 18, respectively. Richards also contributed eight of the club?s nine assists.
Like Davidson, the Cougars had three in double digits with Dontaye Draper and Marcus Hammond leading the way with 20 points each. Josh Jackson was the third with at least 10 adding 17 off the bench in 27 minutes of action.
The Wildcats raced out of the gates grabbing an early 24-11 advantage following a Sander three-point play at the 9:12 mark. Draper connected on back-to-back treys to spark a 16-4 College of Charleston streak to cut the deficit to one, 28-27 with 4:37 remaining. Following the Cougars? spurt, Davidson stretched its lead back to seven on three separate occasions before the break and led 38-35 at halftime despite not scoring in the final 1:48 of the stanza.
Charleston?s Hammond led all-scorers at intermission with 15 points, while the Wildcats? Sander knocked down 6-of-8 field goals in the first 20 minutes to score 14.
Tied at 42-42, Davidson appeared to have put the game away grabbing the game?s largest margin (61-45) with a 19-3 streak, but as they did in the opening period, the Cougars went on a lengthy run of their own (23-8) to make it just a one point game, 69-68, after a Draper trey with 4:08 to go, but that?s as close as they would get.
Averaging 10.2 trifectas per contest entering the evening, the Wildcats managed just four tonight, but none were bigger than Curry?s from the left baseline with 3:35 remaining to make it 73-68. Jermaine Johnson responded with a layup to make it a one possession game, but the Wildcats went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 1:46 to secure the win.
The Wildcats finished on a strong note shooting an even 50 percent in the final half to conclude the game at 48.3 percent (29-60) from the field.
College of Charleston shot 46.8 percent (29-62), but also struggled from deep hitting just six of its 24 attempts. Davidson made the most of its tries from the free throw line making 19-of-25, while the Cougars took six less than the Wildcats converted.
College of Charleston?s lone bright spot on the stat sheet came on the boards, outrebounding Davidson 36-34.
Davidson will play its next two on the road, beginning with a 7 p.m. tip on Jan. 10 against Furman at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, S.C. The Cougars return to the hardwood at cross-town rival The Citadel on Jan. 8 at 7:05 p.m.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 72, FURMAN 70
STATESBORO, GA. --- Georgia Southern's Jimmy Tobias banked in a short jumper with 52 seconds left and the Eagles survived a flurry of Furman shots in the final seconds to prevail over the Paladins 72-70 Saturday at Hanner Fieldhouse.
With the victory, GSU moves to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the league, while Furman falls to 7-7 and 1-2 in SoCon play.
After knotting the contest at 69-69 less than two minutes earlier, Tobias grabbed a rebound off of his own miss on the right side of the lane a buried a jumper to give the Eagles a 71-69 lead with less than a minute remaining. Diogo Salazar upped the lead to three with a foul shot, but missed the second opportunity from the charity stripe.
Stanley Jones trimmed the margin back to two by converting a free throw with 14 seconds left, but Furman was forced to foul when the second shot drew iron. Louis Graham missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. After clearing the rebound, Robby Bostain dribbled into the front court and passed to Eric Webb who had the ball knocked out of bounds with 3.3 seconds left.
After a failed inbounds attempt was deflected out of bounds, Webb took the inbounds pass along the right baseline. Graham swatted Webb's driving shot into the hands of Gerad Punch at the left elbow, but the senior's jumper fell short at the buzzer.
Georgia Southern shot a season-best 58.3% (28-48) from the floor, including 65.4% in the first half to earn its first conference win of the season. GSU dominated the glass holding a 34-18 rebounding advantage, including 14 offensive rebounds.
Junior Louis Graham led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor. Donte Gennie finished with 15 points, but his streak of 10 straight games with a three-pointer was snapped. Junior Dwayne Foreman added 12 points and Tobias had 11 points and a season-high nine rebounds.
Moussa Diagne recorded a team-best 17 points, shooting 3-for-3 from behind the arc and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe for the Paladins. Eric Webb totaled 14 points, including four treys. Stanley Jones chipped in 11 points and Diagne tallied 10 to round out Furman's double figure scorers.
Georgia Southern used a 16-4 run to erase a 24-22 Furman lead and build a 10-point advantage with 4:35 left in the first period. The Paladins chipped away at the lead cutting the margin to 44-40 at intermission.
The Eagles led for the first 14 minutes of the second half until Webb netted a three-pointer from the left wing to give Furman a 67-66 lead with 5:42 left. The Paladins, however, connected on just one of the final eight shots and only one of their final three free throws the remainder of the contest.
Georgia Southern takes a day off before hosting Wofford Monday at 7:30 p.m. Furman will return home to host Davidson on Wednesday at the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Tickets for the Paladins return to downtown Greenville are $13. Season ticket holders can purchase additional tickets for just $11. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets at $8 each by contacting Dwight Covington by phone at (864) 607-5148.
WESTERN CAROLINA 57, UNC GREENSBORO 54
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Junior forward Kyle Hines set the UNC Greensboro career record with his 28th career double-double, but Western Carolina rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat the Spartans 57-54 in men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.
Kendall Toney led the Spartans with 15 points. Hines, an All-American candidate, had his seventh double-double this season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. It was also his 35th straight game scoring in double figures, extending his school record.
The Spartans (6-8, 3-2) were hampered by foul trouble all day long as four players finished with four fouls.
Western Carolina (6-9, 3-1) snapped a five-game losing skid. The Catamounts were led by Nick Aldridge’s 15 points and 14 points by Antonio Russell.
“We’ve done this a couple of times this year,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “We play 32 minutes very well and then don’t finish. We’ve had 10 point leads a couple of times and lost. We’ve got to turn that around.”
Behind seven early points by Dwayne Johnson, the Spartans opened up a 14-8 lead midway through the first half. But Johnson, a junior from Queens, NY, was sidelined with 9:31 left in the half with his second personal foul. To compound matters, Hines, the Spartans’ leading scorer and rebounder, picked up two quick fouls shortly thereafter and headed to the bench and the frontcourt alternatives of freshman Pete Brown and junior Matt Akinosho picked up their second fouls shortly after that. In fact, Akinosho was whistled for a third and fourth foul in the closing minutes of the first half and had to go to the bench.
That helped the Catamounts stay within striking distance throughout the first half, although UNCG led for the last 15 minutes of the half. Despite all the foul trouble, however, UNCG took a 24-20 lead to the locker room.
After Western Carolina scored the first points of the second half, UNCG went out on a 10-0 run, establishing Hines down low quickly. The junior from Sicklerville, NJ scored five of the 10 points in the run as the Spartans took the first double-digit lead of the day, 34-22, with just under 15 minutes to play.
But the Catamounts slowly climbed back in it as UNCG recorded just two field goals in an eight-minute span. Western pulled back to within five before a three-pointer by the Catamounts’ Jake Robinson cut the deficit to two, 44-42, with 6:42 to play. Kyle Greathouse then gave Western the lead with a three-pointer off a steal with 5:14 to play, 48-47.
Hines extended his streak when he scored with five minutes to play to give the Spartans the lead once again, 49-48, but picked up his fourth foul on the ensuing possession.
The lead sea-sawed back and forth from that point. Hines gave UNCG a 54-53 lead with 1:43 to play with a move in the low post. On the next possession, Western Carolina’s Antonio Russell was fouled driving to the basket. He converted both free throws to give Western the lead with 1:26 to go.
After Stywall missed a three-pointer and Western grabbed the rebound, Hines blocked a shot with 44 seconds to play in the low post to give the Spartans a chance with a seven second difference on the clock.s. The Spartans had two shots at it, a miss by Hickman and a putback attempt by Hines, but neither would go down and the ball went out of bounds with 8.2 seconds to play.
Greathouse hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds left to give Western Carolina a three-point lead.
Western had a foul to give on the in-bounds and used it at midcourt. After the ball was inbounded again, Ricky Hickman got a look at a long three-pointer, but it was off the mark and the Spartans had lost their second in a row.
UNCG will look to bounce back when it visits Elon on Monday at 7 pm.
APPALACHIAN STATE 77, CHATTANOOGA 63
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - The Roundhouse saw another Appalachian State shooter make history as Nate Cranford (Harrisburg, N.C.) drained a school-record 10 three-pointers to lead Appalachian State University men’s basketball to a 77-63 Southern Conference win over Chattanooga Saturday evening.
Cranford’s 10-of-12 performance behind the arc bested Noah Brown’s nine three-pointers on the McKenzie Arena hardwood on January 12, 2004.
Cranford finished the evening with a career-high 30 points. Jeremy Clayton (Greensboro, N.C.) and Demetrius Scott also finished in double figures with 14 points each. Khalil Hartwell paced the Mocs with 17 points. The win, ASU’s seventh straight, improved ASU to a sterling 4-0 in SoCon play and 12-3 overall. UTC fell to 7-9 overall and 0-4 in the league.
The Apps opened up with a 13-point, 19-6, lead in the first 5:30 off of three of Cranford’s three-pointers and their lead only dipped below 13 twice the remainder of the half as the team shot 63 percent in first 20 minutes to take a 44-28 lead into halftime.
ASU’s lead remained in double-digits until Ricky Hood’s three-pointer with 7:23 left pulled the Mocs within eight at 61-53. UTC would stay within striking distance for the next minute until three-straight turnovers keyed a 14-2 ASU run capped off by Cranford’s record-setting three-pointer with 2:49 left to give ASU a commanding 77-57 lead. UTC scored six unanswered points against ASU’s reserves in the final minutes for the final, 77-63, tally.
The Mocs’ defense limited Donte Minter (Salisbury, N.C.) and D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C.) to a combined five points as Minter was double-teamed nearly every time he touched the ball. However, Thompson matched a career-high with nine assists to just one turnover, while Minter pulled down four boards and dished out two helpers.
Davis Bowne (Hickory, N.C.) combined with Clayton to provide a strong inside presence, finishing with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting. Scott also filled out the stat sheet with five assists and three steals in addition to his 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-4 evening from the free-throw line.
The Mountaineers finished the evening shooting 59 percent, their best performance of the season and fifth-straight outing of 50 percent or better.
ASU will attempt to move to 5-0 in the league and grab its 13th victory of the season on Saturday, January 13 versus Elon at the Holmes Center at 3:30 p.m. The game will be the red-hot Apps first home contest since December 16.
THE CITADEL 74, WOFFORD 71
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ?The Citadel’s Donny McLendon scored 26 points and the Bulldogs broke open a tie ballgame in the final minute to post a 74-71 win over Wofford at the Benjamin Johnson Arena Saturday evening.
The Bulldogs improved to 5-10 and 2-2 in the Southern Conference. Wofford is now 5-10 and 0-4.
The game was tied at 69 when Drew Gibson was called for an offensive foul with 51.2 seconds remaining. The Citadel was able to convert on its ensuing possession when Vytautas Valiulis hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Bulldogs a 72-69 lead.
Shane Nichols was fouled while putting up a 3-pointer with 31.2 seconds left and was able to hit the first two free throws before missing the third, leaving the Terriers behind by one at 72-71.
Wofford fouled Kevin Hammack with 21.8 seconds left and he made the second free throw for a 73-71 Citadel advantage. Gibson was fouled by Hammack with 16.5 seconds to play and missed the front end of a one-and-one and The Citadel rebounded.
Wofford fouled Chris Diasparra with 10.8 seconds left and he hit the second of two free throws for a 74-71 Bulldog lead.
Gibson had a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was off target.
McLendon, a 6-0 senior guard, hit nine of 14 field goal attempts and was six of nine from 3-point range. He scored 18 points in the second half, going six of seven from the floor and making four of five from beyond the arc.
“We knew McLendon could really give us problems,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young.
“Our guys fought their hearts out today,” said Citadel head coach Ed Conroy.
Wofford was led by Eric Marshall who scored 24 points. Gibson finished with 18 points and Nichols added 10. Junior Salters had a career-high six rebounds to tie for team-high honors along with Marshall.
Each team finished 27 of 59 from the floor for 55.1 percent field goal shooting. The Citadel was nine of 17 at the line while the Terriers finished eight of 14 in free throws.
The Terriers return to the court Monday night in a 7:30 game at Georgia Southern. The Citadel will host the College of Charleston on Monday at McAlister Fieldhouse.
PENNSYLVANIA 66, ELON 64
ELON, N.C. Ibrahim Jaaber knocked down 14 points and Steve Danley chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds as the University of Pennsylvania staved off Elon University 66-64 in non-league men?s basketball play Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
The contest featured seven ties and nine lead changes. The Phoenix (3-10) reeled off the game?s first seven points, capped by a three-point field goal by Brett James with 18:14 to go in the opening stanza.
The Quakers (7-6) answered with a 9-2 spurt to knot the score at 9-9 on a jumper by Danley with 16:36 left in the first period. The contest was later tied at 12, 14, 26 and 30 before a trey by Tommy McMahon put Penn ahead 33-30 with 43 ticks to go before intermission.
A dunk by Adam Constantine drew Elon within 33-32 with five seconds left in the half. Constantine was fouled by Danley on the bucket, but he was unable to convert the charity shot.
Penn went on a 15-7 run to open the second stanza, turning a 33-32 halftime edge into a 48-39 advantage on a free throw by Danley with 9:53 left in the contest. Jaaber and Danley each scored five points during the run.
The Phoenix responded with a 10-1 spurt to even the count at 49-49 on a three-point basket by Brian Waters with 6:40 remaining. Lay-ups by McMahon and Jaaber put the Quakers up 53-49 with 5:34 to go.
Back-to-back treys by Chris Chalko gave Elon its first lead of the second period at 55-53 with 4:48 left. After a Mark Zoller three-pointer gave Penn the lead back, LeVonn Jordan replied with an inside bucket to put the Phoenix in front 57-56 at the 4:07 mark.
After a charity shot by Waters, Penn went ahead 59-58 on a three-point bomb by Jaaber with 2:16 remaining. Elon seized the lead again at 60-59 when Jordan sank a pair of free throws with 1:49 to play.
The Quakers used a 6-2 spurt to take control at 65-62 on a freebie by McMahon with 24 seconds left. A put-back by Jordan pulled the Phoenix within
65-64 with seven ticks to go.
McMahon connected on the second of his two free throw attempts to ultimately decide the final score immediately after Jordan?s bucket. Jordan?s shot to send the game into overtime bounced off the rim as time expired.
The Phoenix received 17 points from Chalko, 16 points and seven rebounds from Jordan and 15 points and eight caroms from James. Elon edged Penn on the boards 35-34, but committed 18 turnovers to 11 for the Quakers.
Penn fired 43.6 percent (24 of 55) from the floor while the Phoenix hit 44.2 percent (23 of 52) of its shots from field, including a season-best 47.1 percent (8 of 17) from three-point land. The Quakers outscored the Phoenix 34-20 in the paint, 28-12 off turnovers and 17-7 off the bench.
Elon returns to Southern Conference action when UNC Greensboro visits Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. Monday. Penn begins Ivy League play when it travels to Cornell for a 7 p.m. contest Friday.