SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for January 3, 2008

 

 

DAVIDSON 92, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 67

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Stephen Curry became the second-quickest player to score 1,000 points in Davidson history with a game-high 24 as the Wildcats flew past the Georgia Southern Eagles 92-67 in Southern Conference men's basketball action Thursday evening at John M. Belk Arena.

 

Curry, the sixth leading scorer in the nation, became the 38th player in school history to reach the plateau on a pair of free throws with 4:06 remaining, which also gave Davidson (5-6, 3-0 SoCon) its largest lead of the contest, 86-54. For the game, the Preseason SoCon Player of the Year was 8-for-19 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line while tallying 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

 

Senior Thomas Sander netted a season-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, and classmate Jason Richards recorded his seventh career double-double with 16 points and 11 assists. Junior Max Paulhus Gosselin and senior Boris Meno each scored seven points off the bench.

 

Julian Allen led Georgia Southern (9-4, 2-1 SoCon) with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Antoine Johnson and Anthony Marshall each finished with eight points.

 

The Wildcats were efficient on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Davidson had 22 assists on 32 made baskets and shot 47.1 percent from the field, including 50 percent in the second half. Defensively, the 'Cats held the Eagles to 41.3 percent from the floor and forced 19 turnovers. It was the 1,200th win for Davidson, which is celebrating its 100th season of basketball this season.

 

The Wildcats raced out to an 11-0 lead, capped off by a Paulhus Gosselin two-handed dunk, which forced the Eagles to burn their first 30 second timeout. Out of the break, the 'Cats stretched their advantage to 21-3 at the 11:16 mark, and it reached 23 (31-8) before Davidson headed to the half up, 45-31.

 

Richards led both clubs with 14 points in the opening period, while Sander matched his season high with 13. As a club, the Wildcats recorded eight steals, forced 11 turnovers and assisted on 12 of their 17 field goals.

 

The Wildcats will conclude their brief homestand with a 7 p.m. tip against SoCon foe Western Carolina Saturday at Belk Arena. Georgia Southern travels to Greensboro, N.C., Jan. 5, for a 3 p.m. contest with UNC Greensboro.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA 85, WOFFORD 78

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Chattanooga defeated Wofford, 85-78, on Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers led by ten at the half, but were outscored in the final ten minutes of the game. Wofford hit 17 three-pointers, with twelve in the first half.

 

The Terriers are 7-5 overall and 1-2 in SoCon play. Chattanooga is 9-5 overall and undefeated at 4-0 in the conference. Wofford was led by Shane Nichols with 23 points and Drew Gibson with 19 points, with each player hitting six three-pointers. Terry Martin led the Terriers with seven rebounds. Chattanooga’s Stephen McDowell had 19 points and Marcus Watts had eight rebounds.

 

“Chattanooga wore us out physically tonight,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “When it got tight towards the end, Chattanooga got us. We did not rebound well in the second half. The whole thing was disappointing. I hope that we have learned a lesson and I hope that it does not happen again. We have a good basketball team, but Chattanooga was more aggressive.”

 

After an early bucket by the Mocs to start the game, Wofford built a 13-7 lead at 14:43 after a dunk by Tyler Whatley on an assist on an inbound pass by Norm Nixon. A three-point barrage enabled the Terriers to extend the lead to 32-18 with 7:08 remaining in the first half.

 

Chattanooga went on a 6-0 run to cut the Terriers’ lead to 32-24 at 5:37, but three-pointers by Matt Estep and Shane Nichols increased the lead back to twelve at 40-28 with 3:26 left in the first half. Another quick run cut the lead to four points, another two three-pointers by Shane Nichols and a jumper by Matt Estep gave the Terriers a 48-38 lead at the half.

 

The Mocs started the second half by scoring the first seven points, but a 9-2 run keyed by three pointers by Drew Gibson, Shane Nichols and Junior Salters gave the Terriers a 57-47 lead at 15:38. Chattanooga chipped away at the lead and pulled within one point at 62-61 with 8:50 remaining in the second half.

 

With 4:30 remaining in the game, Chattanooga took a 70-69 lead, their first since a 2-0 lead at 19:12 in the first half. Two three-pointers by Stephen McDowell enabled the Mocs to take an eight points lead at 80-72. Wofford was able to cut the lead to four points after a three-pointer by Drew Gibson with 28 seconds remaining, but the Mocs hit three-of-four free throws down the stretch for the 85-78 final score.

 

The Terriers shot 47.2% from the floor and 48.6% from behind the arc while holding Chattanooga to 48.1% from the floor and 35.0% for three-point attempts. Wofford was called for 30 fouls to Chattanooga’s 18, resulting in 38 free throw attempts by the Mocs to only 18 for the Terriers.

 

The 17 three-pointers in the game by Wofford was one shy of the team record of 18. Wofford had 12 of the 17 three-pointers in the first half, going 12-of-20 in the first twenty minutes. Norm Nixon and Drew Gibson both fouled out for the Terriers. Wofford was out-rebounded 39-27 and the Terriers had 13 turnovers to the Mocs ten. The 85 points allowed by Wofford were the most this season.

 

 

APPALACHIAN STATE 70, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 66

CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Donte Minter scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Jeremi Booth added 10 points off the bench leading Appalachian State to a 70-66 win over the College of Charleston in Southern Conference men’s basketball action before 3,127 at John Kresse Arena on Thursday.

 

With the win, the Mountaineers improved to 6-6 overall and 1-2 in league play.  Charleston fell to 6-7 and 1-2.  The Cougars play host to Elon in a 6:00 tipoff on Saturday.  App. State plays at The Citadel at 2:05.

 

Charleston, which trailed 28-27 at halftime, used a 19-11 run to take a 46-39 lead with 12:22 remaining.

 

Four points by Mintor and a pair of layups by Booth ignited a 10-1 run that gave ASU a 49-47 lead with 7:36 left.  Jeremy Clayton added a pair of clutch free throws with 33 seconds left to give the Mountaineers a 68-63 advantage.

 

Donald Sims and Doug McLaughlin-Williams added nine points each for Appalachian State.  ASU, whose reserves outscored Charleston’s bench 27-21, had 12 steals and five blocked shots.

 

Charleston was paced by Jermaine Johnson who recorded his sixth double-double in the past eight games.  Johnson finished with 17 points and a career-high tying 15 rebounds.  Tony White, Jr. had 13 points while Andrew Goudelock added 12 points off the bench.

 

 

FURMAN 64, WESTERN CAROLINA 60

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Freshman Jordan Miller led a trio of Paladins in double figures with a career-high 14 points as Furman claimed its first Southern Conference victory of the season with a 64-60 win over Western Carolina Thursday evening before a crowd of 1,554 at Timmons Arena.

Trailing 57-54 with under three minutes remaining, Furman freshman Bobby Austin buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to force the sixth tie of the game. Miller drained a three on the next possession to put Furman up 60-57 with 1:43 left.

 

After an exchange of turnovers and three consecutive missed jumpers by Western Carolina, George Brozos stepped to the foul line and converted two shots to push the Paladin lead to 62-57 with 21 seconds remaining. The Catamounts answered with a Jake Robinson trey from the right wing, but Justin Dehm connected on 2-of-4 free throw attempts in the final 12 seconds to preserve the four-point victory for the Paladins.

 

Furman shot 44.4% (13-29) from the field in the first half to grab a 32-31 lead at intermission, but Brandon Giles netted a trey and Arnold Gore added two layups to help Western Carolina grab a 40-34 lead with a 9-0 run early in the second half.

 

Furman allowed just one Catamount basket over the next 5:55 and Austin drained a pair of three-pointers to tie the game at 42-42 with 10:27 left. The lead changed hands six times before Miller's three with less than two minutes to go put the Paladins in front for good.

 

Miller shot 4-of-12 from the field, 2-of-7 beyond the arc and converted 4-of-4 free throw attempts to pace Furman with 14 points. The Paladin point guard added four rebounds and four assists while committing just one turnover in 31 minutes. Dehm connected on 3-of-5 treys to total 13 points and Alex Opacic added 10 points and seven rebounds. Austin and Noah States each contributed nine points for Furman.

 

The Paladins shot just 37.9% (22-58) from the floor, but connected on 10-of-31 three-pointers and outscored the Catamounts 10-3 at the foul line. Furman committed only 11 turnovers while Western Carolina was guilty of 15 miscues. The Catamounts held a 42-37 edge in rebounding.

Gore led the Catamounts with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Robinson totaled 12 points and six rebounds and Giles added 10 points and eight boards. Freshman Michael Porrini chipped in 11 points and four assists for Western Carolina.

 

The win marked Furman's second straight after the Paladins began the season on an 11-game losing streak. Western Carolina dropped its fourth game in its last five outings.

 

The Paladins (1-11, 1-3 SoCon) play host to Chattanooga on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Timmons Arena. Western Carolina (4-9, 0-3 SoCon) travels to Davidson on Saturday.

 

 

ELON 72, THE CITADEL 63 CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Southern Conference foe Elon snapped The Citadel’s two-game winning streak by posting a 72-63 road victory over the Bulldogs Thursday night in McAlister Field House. Freshmen Zach Urbanus, 18 points with six assists, and Matt Clark, career-highs with 17 points and nine rebounds, led The Citadel.   Freshman Cameron Wells led off the game scoring the first basket and an aggressive Matt Clark did a nice job setting the tempo of the game. The Bulldogs were able to get an early 7-2 lead which would be held for only a short while as the Phoenix knocked down key shots to tie the game at 10. The scoring was kept very close and the lead would exchange eight more times before the Bulldogs opened up the game with a 10-0 run to put the score at 29-20 with 3:18 left in the half. Elon worked an 8-3 exchange over the Bulldogs, but the Dogs would keep the lead going into the half. The Citadel was led offensively by freshman guard Zach Urbanus in the first-half scoring 14 points and four assists followed closely by Clark who had eight points and five rebounds. Elon was lead by junior forwards Ola Atoyebi who had 10 points and Monty Sanders who had seven points while collecting four boards.   “We focused on being aggressive in practice since Demetrius (Nelson) is out,” said Bulldog Head Coach Ed Conroy. “We need all five guys to be aggressive to put pressure on the ball. We were able to get some mismatches early and did a good job capitalizing on them.”   Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs struggled to knock down shots and the Phoenix would take full advantage as they manufactured an 18-3 run to regain the lead and the momentum with the score at 35-46. The Bulldogs fought hard to keep the score close, but the Phoenix jumped out to their largest lead of the night at 42-59 with 4:54 left in the game. The Bulldogs refused to give up down the stretch and the Dogs came fighting back to close within seven points of the Phoenix with 28 seconds left in the game.  Unfortunately, it would not be the Bulldogs’ night as the Phoenix pulled out the come from behind win, 72-63.   “Give a lot of credit to Elon; they came out after the half and picked up the pressure on defense,” Conroy said. “We just weren’t able to get into a rhythm in the second-half and fell behind. Our philosophy in our locker room is “Next Play” and we will come back with a great practice tomorrow and be ready for Appalachian State on Saturday.”   The Citadel was led offensively by Urbanus who had 18 points and a personal best six assists. Clark also had an incredible night posting personal highs in scoring with 17 points and rebounding with nine. Elon’s Montell Watson led the Phoenix with 18 points and six rebounds followed closely by Monty Sanders’ career-high 17 points along with six rebounds. This was Elon’s first road win since Feb. 15, 2007 when the Phoenix defeated Georgia Southern in Statesboro, 70-67.