SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for January 10, 2008
CHATTANOOGA 78, UNC GREENSBORO 73
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. ? Chattanooga hit 14 three-pointers, including six by Stephen McDowell, on its way to a 78-73 win over UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Thursday night.
The Mocs (11-5) won for the seventh time in their last eight games and remained unbeaten in the league at 6-0. UNCG had a six-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Mikko Koivisto led the way for UNCG with 20 points, 18 of them in the second half. Kendall Toney had 14 of his 17 points in the second half, as well.
UNCG’s Kyle Hines had his seventh double-double of the season and the 38th of his career. He finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Hines, who also had four blocked shots extended his nation’s longest double figure scoring streak to 64 straight games. For the 30th time in the 64 games, he extended it before halftime.
The Mocs shot 50 percent from the floor for the game, including 14-for-26 from behind the three-point arc. After going 1-for-12 from three-point range in the first half, UNCG was 11-for22 from behind the arc in the second half.
Trailing by 11 with 13:01 to play, the Spartans mounted a series of comebacks. Seven of UNCG’s 11 second-half treys came in the final 13:01 as the Spartans rallied. Down 64-57 with 6:31 to play, Hines converted a conventional three-point play to start a 12-3 run that tied the game, 67-67. Toney capped the run with consecutive three-pointers.
After a pair of Kevin Bridgewaters free throws, Koivisto knocked down a trey with 1:42 left to give UNCG the lead, 70-69. Bridgewaters answered with a three of his own, but Toney followed that up to give the Spartans the lead right back, 73-72, with 1:13 left.
But that was UNCG’s last points of the night. Kevin Goffney gave the Mocs the lead with 55 seconds left on a lay-up. After a Hines miss, the Spartans got the ball back. Toney’s three-pointer was two-thirds of the way down and rattled out with 35 seconds left and UNCG was forced to foul.
Goffney missed the front end of the one-and-one, but the rebound was long and went to Chattanooga. Watts was then fouled with 27.1 seconds to play, who made both free throws to make it 76-73.
Toney missed on the next possession from three, but the door was left open a crack again when Niccheaus Doaks missed the front end of a one-and-one.
However, Koivisto missed from NBA range and Doaks made a pair with 4.5 seconds left to put it away.
The Spartans opened up an early 11-7 lead behind seven quick points by Ben Stywall. But the Mocs responded with a 14-5 spurt to open up a 21-16 lead and force UNCG to take a timeout with 11:41 left in the half.
The Spartans’ perimeter game, which has been hot during their six-game winning streak, started slowly on Thursday night. UNCG missed 11 of 12 from beyond the three-point arc in the opening half. The offense suffered another setback when point guard Dwayne Johnson picked up his third foul with four minutes left in the opening half.
Chattanooga stretched its lead to seven late in the first half, 33-26. Hines hit a fadeaway jumper from the right side to cut it to five, then came to the other end of the floor and recorded his third block of the half. Daniel Oliver, in place of Johnson, hit a leaner in the lane just before the buzzer to cut the deficit to 33-30 at the break.
Through it all, however, the Spartans had to feel fortunate to only be down three at the break when you considered Chattanooga, a team that averages
8.2 three-pointers per game, made seven in the opening half. That, along with UNCG’s three-point shooting woes in the opening half and 11 first half turnovers by the Spartans, led to a halftime deficit but it could have been a lot worse. Thanks to a near double-double in the first half by Hines (12 points, nine rebounds), the Spartans were closer than they maybe deserved to be.
UNCG’s three-point shooting returned in the early part of the second half for the Spartans and the game became a series of runs. The Mocs ran off 10 straight to take a 55-44 lead with 13 minutes to play, but UNCG responded with an 11-3 run to cut it back to three. Chattanooga ran off six in a row to take it back to nine at 64-55, then the Spartans went on their 12-3 run to tie the game.
APPALACHIAN STATE 52, WOFFORD 49
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Wofford College men’s basketball team was defeated 52-49 by Appalachian State on Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers were down by one point with 25 seconds remaining, but two free throws by Donald Sims with eight seconds to go sealed the win for the Mountaineers.
The Terriers are 8-6 overall and 1-3 in SoCon play. Appalachian State is 8-6 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The Terriers were led by Shane Nichols with 15 points and Tim Johnson with ten points. The Mountaineers were led by Kellen Brand with twelve points and Donald Sims with nine points. Jeremy Clayton of Appalachian State led all rebounders with seven. Wofford had three players with six rebounds each.
“They were just a little bit better than us tonight,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “We outrebounded them, which was a key to the game. Our post play was solid and is going to be very good for us. They are still young and are going to make some mistakes.”
Both teams started a little slow out of the gate, and Wofford had a 6-5 lead five minutes into the game after two three-pointers by Shane Nichols. The Mountaineers took a four point lead after a three-pointer by Doug McLaughlin-Williams at 13:14. The Terriers regained the lead with three straight baskets, one each by Tim Johnson, Corey Godzinski and Tyler Whatley, to lead 12-10.
Appalachian State came back and took the lead at 15-12, then increased it to 21-16 with five minutes to go in the half. After a jump shot by Matt Estep closed the Mountaineer’s lead to 23-20, Appalachian State went up 28-22 with 22 seconds left on a basket by Davis Bowne. Terry Martin hit a shot with two seconds left for a 28-24 Mountaineer lead at the half.
The Mountaineers scored the first five points in the second half to go up 33-24 at 16:53, their largest lead of the game. Shane Nichols hit a three-pointer and was fouled, giving Wofford a four-point play at 12:46 in the second half to cut the lead to 33-29. A huge dunk by Terry Martin at 10:40 cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 35-33. The dunk was followed by a three-pointer by Junior Salters to give the Terriers the lead at 36-35.
Another three-pointer by Junior Salters with 7:40 left in the game tied it at 39-39. A three-pointer by Donald Sims at 4:47 broke a tie and gave Appalachian State a 44-41 lead. Wofford pulled within one at 44-43 after a jumper by Shane Nichols, but a basket and free throw by Davis Bowne gave Appalachian State a 47-43 lead with 4:47 left in the game.
A reverse lay-up by Tim Johnson cut the Mountaineers’ lead to two at 47-45 at 4:17. After trading free throws, Appalachian State’s Eduardo Bermudez hit a jumper with 38 seconds left in the game for a 50-46 lead. Shane Nichols hit a three with 25 seconds left to make it a one point game.
On the next possession by the Mountaineers, Drew Gibson stole the ball from Davis Bowne. However, the Terriers turned the ball over and were forced to quickly foul. Donald Sims hit both shots for the Mountaineers with eight seconds to go in the game for a 52-49 lead. Drew Gibson attempted a three with a second left, but missed the mark.
Shane Nichols led the team in scoring for the seven of the nine games played this season. Wofford shot 40.4% from the floor and were 46.2% from three-point. The Mountaineers were 40.8% from the floor and 27.8% from behind the arc. Wofford outrebounded the Mountaineers 34-28 marking the tenth time in fourteen games the Terriers have outrebounded an opponent. Wofford was only 5-of-12 from the free throw line, while Appalachian State was 7-of-10.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 96, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 90 (OT)
STATESBORO, GA. --- The Georgia Southern men’s basketball team overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to edge the College of Charleston 96-90 in overtime Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
GSU snaps a season-long three-game losing streak to improve to 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Southern Conference. CofC drops to 7-8 and 2-3.
“You know I’m proud of our team,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “I feel like we didn’t play particularly well, especially in the first half. I think it was very obvious with our change in intensity and the way we approached the beginning of the second half with a lot more aggressiveness on the boards, with what we call “manning up”, and quit getting pushed around, I thought we were a lot better in the second half.”
Freshman Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) paced the Eagles’ offense with a team-high 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting. He led a group of four in double-figures, joined by senior Matthew Fields (Jacksonville, Fla.) with 18, junior Julian Allen (Waterbury, Conn.) with 15 and senior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) with 14.
Powers’ output was his highest since tallying a career-best 26 on Nov. 26 against Mercer. He ends a season-long three-game skid in single-digits.
“I always say we are as good as our seniors and I thought we had pretty good senior leadership down the stretch,” said Price. “Matt had some good plays, Louis had some good plays on the inside (and) it was good to see Willie Powers kind of get off his slump and come out and play well.”
The Cougars scored the last eight points of the first half to take a 37-30 lead in to the break. Antwaine Wiggins answered a Graham lay-up with a 3-pointer in the opening moments of the second half to give Charleston its largest lead of the game 40-32.
Georgia Southern responded with six straight but was unable to grab the lead until Graham finally put the Eagles on top 67-66 with 7:36 to play in regulation.
The Eagles led by as many as six late in the contest but the Cougars erased that with six straight to tie the game for the 10th time at 75-75 with 2:29 to go.
Junior Kenith Ward’s (Warner Robins, Ga.) sixth point of the evening gave GSU an 80-78 lead with 29 seconds left, but CofC’s Dustin Scott answered with a runner in the lane to even it up with 13 seconds on the clock. On the Eagles’ final possession, a Graham dunk came after the buzzer, sending the game into the extra session.
Georgia Southern only trailed at the outset of overtime but after a Powers lay-up with 3:30 to play, the Eagles never relinquished the lead.
For Charleston, Tony White, Jr. led all scorers with 26 points. Scott added 20 and Andrew Goudelock and Konimba Diarra added 14 and 12, respectively, off the bench.
WESTERN CAROLINA 73, FURMAN 65
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Behind a near double-double performance off the bench for senior Negus McKenna - and on a night when sophomore Jake Robinson was the featured player - Western Carolina erased a 13-point halftime deficit to rally for a 73-65 victory over Furman Thursday night in Southern Conference action at the Ramsey Center.
Sophomore Brandon Giles led the three Catamounts in double figures with a game-high 21 as WCU garnered its first league win of the season, snapping a three-game slide. Giles connected on a career-high five 3-pointers - four in the second half - to help spark Western offensively.
McKenna also sparked the Catamounts, namely on the boards. The Montreal, Quebec, native tied his career-high with nine rebounds - the most he has ever recorded in a conference game - while scoring a season-high 16 points. And with WCU celebrating "Canton/Clyde Day," the area's native son, Robinson, chipped in 15 points including three 3-pointers and tied his career-high with three assists.
In addition, McKenna and sophomore Jake Robinson each eclipsed former Catamount standout Joe Stafford for 10th-place on Western's all-time 3-pointers made chart. McKenna made two treys to stand at 100 for his career while Robinson drained three to reach the century mark, both one ahead of Stafford (99, 1996-97).
Western (5-10, 1-4 SoCon) only mustered 28 points on 30-percent shooting - including a 2-for-18, 11-percent showing from behind the 3-point arc in the opening 20 minutes. Defensively in the first half, the Catamounts allowed Furman to shoot a sizzling 56-percent, including nailing 47-percent - or 9-of-19 - from long range.
After intermission, the Catamounts put the clamps down defensively, limiting the Paladins to six made field goals (6-of-23) for just 26-percent in the second half. At the other end, WCU shot 50-percent with nine 3-pointers to erase the halftime deficit and come away with the victory.
"We are a very young team. I thought both halves tonight were complete 180 degree opposites," said third-year head coach Larry Hunter. "The first half, for the first time in a long time, I thought we did not play with great energy and did not play very smart. The second half was just about the exact opposite. I thought we really got ourselves going defensively and offensively we shot a lot better. Brandon Giles and Jake Robinson both got it going for us. It was almost two different halves."
Furman (2-13, 1-5 SoCon) was led by freshman Justin Dehm with 18 points as the only Paladin to reach double digits. His classmate, Connor Nolte, added nine points off of three 3-pointers, while sophomore Tony Anderson added eight off the bench.
WCU freshman forward Blake Gallagher, who finished with seven points on the night, gave the Catamounts an early 2-0 lead before Furman took control. Tied at seven, the Paladins outscored Western 17-to-6 to take its first double-digit lead, 24-13, midway through the opening half. The lead would balloon to a game-high 14 points with six minutes to play before intermission and was 13, 41-28, at the break.
Out of the halftime locker room, Western Carolina was able to slice the lead to just four, 44-40, at the 16:06 mark with a 12-3 run. Furman broke the run with a triple by Anderson before the Catamount barrage from beyond the arc began. On the strength of four-straight, 3-pointers, Western erased the seven-point deficit to tie the game. Giles gave the Catamounts their first lead at 8:46 with a jumper in the lane.
All told, Western embarked on a 22-to-5 run - including five 3-pointers - over a seven minute span to surge ahead for good. The Catamounts would lead by as many as 12, 68-56, on McKenna's second trey and held on for the eight-point win with the lead never falling below five.