SoCon Men’s Basketball recaps for December 5, 2007:
WESTERN CAROLINA 84, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 64
CULLWHEE, N.C. - Freshman point guard Michael Porrini equaled his career best in the first 20 minutes of play, finishing the game with a career-high 17 points as Western Carolina beat North Carolina Central, 84-64, Wednesday night in non-conference action at the Ramsey Center.
Porrini scored 15 points in 17 minutes of action in the first half and established a new benchmark on a slicing drive and lay-in with six minutes remaining in the game to pace three Catamounts in double figures. His front court classmate, Blake Gallagher, tied his career-high for the second-straight game with 11 points while posting his first collegiate double-double with 12 boards in the win.
Coming off a career-high 32 points on Saturday, sophomore Brandon Giles posted his third-straight double-digit performance tallying 10 to round out WCU's double-digit scorers. Brigham Waginger just missed double figures with nine points and three steals.
"We really put an emphasis on defending North Carolina Central. The other thing that jumped out at me tonight was that we really passed the ball very well. We are executing and our shot selection has gotten a lot better," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter. "I thought we had two pretty solid halves of shooting the basketball. There is a lot we can still build on - there were a lot of mistakes we made tonight that we can continue to get better on. Everybody got to play and get significant minutes and that always helps your team when you can have that happen."
"I thought Mike Porrini had a really good first half for us. He got some energy going on the court. Blake Gallagher had a double-double tonight and is shooting almost 70 percent from the field. I think he is growing by leaps and bounds on the court every night we play," Hunter added.
Western (3-5) started out well the Catamounts' first four baskets of the game came from behind the 3-point arc. Sophomore Jake Robinson scored six of his nine points on the night within the opening four minutes, with Porrini sinking the other two treys as WCU rallied from down two, 5-3, to take the lead for good, 6-5, at the 16:40 mark of the first half.
The Catamounts outscored the Eagles 20-to-7 over the final eight minutes of the half after NCCU had trimmed the WCU advantage to just one, 21-20, to lead at the break by 14, 41-27.
Out of the halftime locker room, WCU continued to stretch its lead with junior transfer Tim Magowan connecting on his first field goal as a Catamount with a 3-pointer that ballooned the advantage to a game-high 28 with 9:20 remaining in the game. Magowan finished with four points in his first substantial action of the year.
North Carolina Central continued to battle, however, and trimmed the lead back into the teens with three-unanswered baskets to pull within 17, 75-58. Yet, Western used a dunk by freshman Camden Miller and two field goals by senior Negus McKenna to push the lead back in to the 20s, ending at 84-64.
The Eagles (1-10) put two players in double-figures led by a game-high 23 points from guard Bryan Ayala, who was 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Forward Charles Futrell added 18 points and a team-best seven boards in the loss.
Western's bench outscored the Eagles, 33-9, and the Catamounts held a 46-to-32 edge on the boards, including a 17-to-9 advantage on the offensive glass. WCU continued to shoot the ball well from outside, canning 10-of-28 from beyond the 3-point arc, but struggled from the free throw line only making 16-of-28 for 57-percent. Conversely, NCCU was 16-of-22 from the charity stripe in the losing effort.
Western Carolina will now break for final exams before returning to action in 10 days, visiting No. 15 Indiana at Assembly Hall on Saturday, Dec. 15. The Catamounts will also face Illinois in Champaign before coming home two days after the Christmas holiday to host Presbyterian, like North Carolina Central, another Division II program amidst reclassification to Division I this year.
CHARLOTTE 75, DAVIDSON 68
CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? Davidson’s Stephen Curry scored 32 points, but Charlotte’s Leemire Goldwire went for 34 as the 49ers posted a 75-68 victory over the Wildcats Wednesday night at Halton Arena.
Twelve of Goldwire’s points came in the game’s final 3:30 to help Charlotte reclaim the Hornets’ Nest Trophy after the Wildcats won it at Davidson last year.
The contest had all the characteristics of a heated rivalry ? a climactic finish, a raucous crowd, late-game heroics and two teams that were completely gassed when it was over. Curry was 9-for-19 from the field and 7-for-14 from 3-point range, while Goldwire went 10-of-23 from the floor and 9-of-20 from long distance.
With Charlotte (5-2) leading 70-68 and under a minute to play, Goldwire nailed a triple from the wing to make the margin 73-68 with 33 seconds left. Davidson (3-4) missed a couple chances on its trip down the floor, and An’Juan Wilderness came away with the rebound and was fouled.
The freshman went 1-for-2 from the line, and Curry missed a trey from the top of the key. Charlotte corralled the rebound to seal the victory.
A Thomas Sander free throw left the score tied 58-58 with 3:39 to play. Goldwire canned back-to-back 3-pointers with a man in his face, and Charlie Cooley added a conventional 3-point play as Charlotte opened a 67-60 cushion.
After Curry hit a pair of free throws, Goldwire nailed another triple, but Max Paulhus Gosselin answered with a 3-ball to make the margin 70-65 with 1:38 to go.
Davidson got a stop on Charlotte’s trip down the floor, and Curry drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull the ?Cats to within two at 70-68 with less than a minute on the clock.
The 49ers pressure defense bothered the Wildcats into a season-low 36.7 shooting percentage and 16 turnovers, but Davidson made up for it by outrebounding Charlotte 49-38, including 15-10 on the offensive end.
Jason Richards posted his sixth career double-double with 11 points and 12 assists. Boris Meno had nine points and 13 rebounds, and Sander finished with seven points and matched his career high with 14 boards.
Trailing 36-35, Charlotte opened the second half with a 10-4 spurt to open a 45-40 advantage. The Wildcats were cold from the floor, making just 2-for-10 from field in the half’s first seven minutes.
The Davidson defense answered the bell and kept the ?Cats within striking distance. Davidson held the 49ers without a field goal for a stretch of 4:44 that allowed the Wildcats to make an 11-4 run, capped by consecutive Curry 3-pointers, to reclaim a 51-49 lead with 7:38 remaining.
The Wildcats return to action against No. 7 UCLA (AP Poll) at the Wooden Classic Saturday. It will be the third time this season Davidson has faced a top-10 opponent, and tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. (EST). The game will be televised live on WGN and HDNET.
MERCER 75, FURMAN 59
MACON, GA. -- Shaddean Aaron poured in 24 points, including 17 in the second half, to lead five Bears in double figures as Mercer upended Furman 75-59 in non-conference action Wednesday evening at the University Center.
Aaron connected on 6-of-8 second half field goal attempts and Brian Pfohl tallied 14 of his 16 points after the break as Mercer outscored Furman 43-27 over the final 20 minutes.
The Bears improve to 3-5 while Furman dips to 0-7 on the season. The Paladins winless start is just one loss short of the school record of eight straight losses to open the season in 1944.
With Furman leading 37-35 early in the second half, Aaron drained a three to give Mercer the lead and trigger an 8-0 run. Pfohl followed with a jumper and Sam Dolan converted one of two at the foul line before Pfohl’s bucket in the lane capped the streak and gave the Bears a 43-37 lead with 16:02 remaining. Dolan and Pfohl scored in the paint and Calvin Henry delivered a two-handed jam to extend the streak to 16-4 and give Mercer a 53-41 lead with under 12 minutes left.
Furman cut the lead back to seven points on two occasions in the final 10 minutes, but the Bears continued to blister the nets shooting 63.0 percent (17-27) from the floor in the second half to pull away.
Henry joined Aaron and Pfohl in double figures with 12 points while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. James Florence added 11 and Dolan chipped in 10 points. Mercer shot 53.4% from the field (31-58) and held a 33-32 edge on the glass.
Freshman Noah States made 5-of-8 field goal attempts, including 3-of-4 beyond the arc, to net a career-high 13 points for Furman. The 6-foot-8 forward added four rebounds and three blocked shots on 27 minutes of action. George Brozos and Justin Dehm each contributed 12 points for the Paladins.
Furman, losers of eight straight dating back to last season, shot just 39.0% (23-59) from the field and 9-of-28 from three-point range. The Paladins committed 18 turnovers while Mercer was guilty of 13 miscues.
Furman will take a 10-day break for final exams before traveling to Greensboro, N.C., to face UNC Greensboro on December 15.
TUSCULUM 74, ELON 60
ELON, N.C. ? Kyle Moore poured in 23 points and tallied five three-point field goals and five assists to pace Tusculum to a 74-60 non-conference men’s basketball triumph over Elon Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.
The Pioneers (3-4), NCAA Division II members of the South Atlantic Conference, exploded for a commanding 33-16 advantage on a three-point basket by Jordan Lear with 4:45 remaining in the first half on their way to fashioning a 39-22 halftime edge.
The Phoenix (4-4) soared to a 27-13 run to open the second stanza, drawing within 52-49 on a layup by Adam Constantine with 8:43 to go in the contest. Tusculum later reeled off 11 consecutive points to extend a 54-51 lead to 65-51 on a three-point bucket by Ryan Troutman with 2:23 to play.
Moore sank five of his eight shots from beyond the three-point line and six of his seven attempts from the charity stripe. The Pioneers received 18 points and nine rebounds from Lear and 13 points from Jimmy Boone.
Tusculum fired 48.9 percent (22 of 45) from the field ? 59.1 percent (13 of 22) in the first period ? and 68 percent (17 of 25) from the free throw line. The Pioneers shot a sizzling 61.9 percent (13 of 21) from three-point land.
Elon hit 37.7 percent (23 of 61) of its shots from the floor and 68.8 percent (11 of 16) of its tries from the stripe. The Phoenix connected on just 14.3 percent (3 of 21) of its attempts from beyond the arc, missing all nine of its first-half shots from behind the three-point line.
Elon won the battle of the boards (36-33) and turnovers (11-13) and outscored Tusculum 32-14 in the paint, 11-5 off second chances and 13-8 off the bench. The Pioneers, who led throughout, outscored the Phoenix 17-13 off turnovers.
Elon, which entered the contest with a 4-0 record at Alumni Gym on the season, suffered its first home loss and its first setback of the year when outrebounding its opponent.
“I feel for our kids,” Elon coach Ernie Nestor said. “Our inability to score consistently was the difference. You do not win games when that happens and you surely do not when games when you start the second half down 17 points. You cannot have a dead period. You just cannot have one because you are battling to make up such ground.”
The Phoenix’s Ola Atoyebi canned a career-best 10 of his 16 shots from the field and all five of his tries from the free throw line on his way to posting 25 points and 13 rebounds ? both career highs ? to forge his second double-double performance of both the season and his career. His five free throws also marked a career high.
Chris Long tallied 18 points, a career-high eight rebounds and a team-high five assists ? tying a career high ? and teammate Devan Carter scored a season-high 11 points for the Phoenix. Elon’s T.J. Douglas pulled down a career-high five rebounds while teammate Terrance Birdette scored the first points of his career, knocking down a pair of freebies.
Tusculum visits Concord at 4 p.m. Saturday while Elon will take a break from the action to concentrate on final exams. The Phoenix will return to the court when Wofford visits Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. on Dec. 15.