Chattanooga Holds off Terrier Comeback for Win
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Chattanooga held off a second-half surge by Wofford, as it picked up the win in the opening game of the men’s Southern Conference Tournament, 64-55, Wednesday at North Charleston Coliseum.
The Mocs improved to 15-17 on the season and will face No. 1 Davidson at 2 p.m. on Thursday in the quarterfinals. The Terriers ended their season at 10-20 overall.
Casey Long led the eighth-seeded Mocs with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, as Chattanooga never trailed the entire 40 minutes. Marcus Watts and Niccheaus Doaks added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Junior Salters put up a game-high 17 points for No. 9 Wofford, while Shane Nichols was the only other Terrier in double figures with 15 points. Tyler Whatley chipped in nine points and eight boards.
The Terriers put together a comeback to cut the 14-point halftime lead to 10 at the 17 minute mark. The Mocs extended their lead back to 15 points, 41-26, at 16:18, before Wofford used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to single digits at 41-32 with just under 12 minutes to play. Led by Salters, the Terriers hacked away at the UTC lead to tie the ballgame at 45 apiece with just over eight minutes left in the game.
After Wofford pulled within one, Chattanooga took advantage of a missed Terrier opportunity on the offensive end to extend the lead to three at 53-50 with 3:10 to play. Wofford answered with a jumper by Whatley to trail by one once again.
UTC hit five-of-six from the charity stripe on its next three possessions to extend the lead to six points, 58-52 with 54 seconds remaining. Ten seconds later, Nichols converted on all three of his free throw attempts to cut the lead back to three, 58-55, with 34 seconds to go.
Wofford couldn’t convert down the stretch and Chattanooga went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to go on to the 64-55 victory.
After trailing 10-3 to open the game, Wofford pulled within three points at 13-10 on a dunk by Whatley with 12:21 to go in the half. Solid defense and a well-balanced offensive attack led to a 19-5 run by the Mocs, propelling UTC to a 32-15 lead with 3:21 left in the half.
Wofford snapped a six and a half minute scoring drought as Whatley hit one of two from the charity stripe with 1:17 to go. Salters added a field goal for the Terriers in the final 40 seconds to go into halftime trailing 32-18.
Game 2: Western Carolina 69, Elon 65
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? A 10-0 run by Western Carolina in the second half proved to be the difference as it defeated Elon, 69-65, Wednesday in the opening round of the men’s Southern Conference Basketball Tournament at North Charleston Coliseum.
The Catamounts improved to 11-19 on the season with the win and will take on No. 2 Appalachian State on Thursday at 7 p.m. Elon’s season ended at 7-23 overall.
Nick Aldridge led his team with 20 points for the seventh seeded Catamounts, while Negus McKenna chipped in 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field.
Brett James led all-scorers with 21 points for the 10th seeded Phoenix. Brian Waters and LeVonn Jordan added 17 and 11 points, respectively.
After Western Carolina led 36-34 at the half, the lead teetered back and forth between the two teams in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Trailing 46-44, the Catamounts used a 10-0 run to take their largest lead of the half, eight points, at 54-46 with just over nine minutes to go.
James snapped Elon’s 4:45 scoring drought and Chalko followed with a layup on the fast break to cut the lead back to four, 54-50, with eight minutes to play. After another Phoenix bucket, the Catamounts extended their lead to eight points, 60-52, with 4:23 remaining on the clock to force an Elon timeout.
Following the timeout, the Phoenix used an 8-2 advantage in the next three minutes to pull within two points at 62-60 with 1:37 remaining in the game. Brandon Giles was fouled on the next possession and hit both free throws for a 64-60 WCU advantage with 1:19 on the clock.
The Catamounts continued to hit free throws down the stretch, extending their lead to 67-60 with 40 seconds to go, before a Waters three-pointer pulled Elon within two points with 23 seconds to go. Elon fouled Aldridge on the next WCU possession and he converted on both attempts, to give his team a 69-63 lead with 19 to play. A jumper by Elon’s Chalko gave the Catamounts just a four-point, 69-65 win.
Elon clawed back from an early first-half deficit to take its first lead of the game at 21-19 off an old-fashioned three-point play by James with just under six minutes to play. Chalko capped off the Phoenix’s 10-0 run with a three-pointer at the five and a half minute mark.
Western Carolina regained the lead at 31-30, on a three by Negus McKenna with 1:42 to go in the half. The Phoenix regained the lead once more in the period before the Catamounts took a 36-34 lead into halftime.
Game 3: Georgia Southern 62, The Citadel 46
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Georgia Southern took advantage of an early lead as it went on to defeat The Citadel, 62-46, Wednesday, in the opening round of the men’s Southern Conference Basketball Tournament at North Charleston Coliseum.
With the win the Eagles improved to15-15 overall and will face No. 8 College of Charleston on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. The Bulldogs ended their season at 7-22 on the season.
Four players scored in double-digits for sixth-seeded Georgia Southern, led by Louis Graham’s 15. Donte Gennie, Jimmy Tobias and Matt Fields added 14, 12 and 12 points, respectively.
The 11th-seeded Bulldogs were led by J’Mel Everhart with 13 points and Donny McLendon with 10.
The Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the Eagles’ lead in the second half as they pulled within seven points at 49-42 with just over seven minutes remaining. Georgia Southern pulled away from that point as it went on for a 62-46 victory.
Georgia Southern shot out to a 19-7 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Eagles extended their lead to 16 points at 25-9 with just under eight minutes to go in the opening half. GSU shot nearly 50 percent and held The Citadel to 36 percent in the opening period to enter halftime with a 32-20 lead.