SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for February 28, 2008
UNC GREENSBORO 87, CHATTANOOGA 64
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Kyle Hines, on the night he had his number No. 42 retired, finished with a game-high 26 points to lead UNC Greensboro to an 87-64 win over Chattanooga at Fleming Gym on Thursday night.
Hines, the All-America candidate from Sicklerville, NJ, played just 28 minutes after suffering a cut midway through the second half. However, he went 9-for-15 from the floor and an uncharacteristic 8-for-8 at the free throw line to lead UNCG to their third straight win and keep their Northern Division title hopes alive for a little bit longer. Hines scored in double figures for the 78th straight game, the longest current streak in the nation. He extended the streak before half for the 39t h time in the nearly three-season run.
A UNCG win on Monday night coupled with losses by Appalachian State and Chattanooga on Saturday would give the Spartans the SoCon North Division title. But for now, UNCG will be happy with its third straight win.
“We played a great game, obviously we were very inspired,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement, who picked up his 100th win at UNCG’s head coach. “We played hard and had a lot of passion.”
Appalachian State will host Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Elon hosts Chattanooga on Saturday. UNCG will host Western Carolina at 7 pm Monday in the absolute last game of the SoCon regular season.
“I felt a little bit of pressure (playing right after having his number retired). But it was fun to play in front of family and friends,” said Hines, who was joined in pre-game ceremonies by his mother, father and sister. “Then it was just a fun game. You had no choice but to have a good time out there.”
Mikko Koivisto added 22 points for the Spartans (17-11, 11-8), extended his streak to 21 straight game with a three-pointer by going 6-for-11 from three-point range. Kevin Oleksiak added 18 points for the Spartans.
Marcus Watts had a career-high 22 points for the Mocs (17-12, 12-7) in 25 minutes of action. Nicchaeus Doaks added 17 points for Chattanooga. The Mocs, who shoot 35 percent from three-point range for the season, were limited to just 5-of-19 shooting from three-point range.
For the fifth time in their last six home games, the Spartans hot off to a quick start. Picking up where they left off against College of Charleston on Monday, when UNCG went 16-for-19 from the floor in the second half for a school record 84 percent. Oleksiak’s trey gave UNCG a 21-7 lead and put the Spartans at 9-for-11 from the floor to open Thursday’s contest.
Koivisto knocked down a trey then stole the ball at mid-court and got fouled on his way to the basket. After sinking a pair of free throws, UNCG had a 28-9 lead and the game was barely eight minutes old.
The Spartans eventually cooled down, scoring just 12 points in the next 12 minutes, but still headed to the locker room with a 16-point cushion, 40-24.
The Mocs looked like they were starting to make a run with about 13 minutes to play, cutting UNCG’s 19-point lead to 13 and forcing UNCG into a timeout. But Kevin Oleksiak was fouled on a three-point shot and banked home the free throw to convert the four-point play and take away the momentum.
On the night that Hines had his number retired, he needed a little help from his friends midway through the second half. Hines got taken to the training room for stitches with 12 minutes left getting popped in the cheek on a foul call. Making matters worse, fellow front court mate Pete Brown was on the bench, leaving the game due to a stomach bug.
“We got to a point where we were just looking for bodies,” said Dement. “We have a few guys with a bug running through and they got dehydrated. Then Kyle gets popped and has to go get fixed up. But we got a big lift from Landon Clement and got through it just gobbling up a few minutes here and there.”
Hines was back about five minutes later, but the Spartans had actually increased the lead to 20, 72-52, when he returned. When he left, UNCG led 55-38 with 12:14 to play. But the freshman Clement came off the bench scored eight of UNCG’s next 10 points to boost that margin to 23, beginning with two free throws in place of Hines. Fleming Gym erupted, Hines was getting stitches, and the Mocs never got back within 20.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 91, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 86
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Freshman Andrew Goudelock scored 18 points while Dustin Scott added 17 points and came up with a crucial steal late in the game that helped the College of Charleston hold off Georgia Southern, 91-86, in Southern Conference men's basketball action before 2,248 at John Kresse Arena on Thursday.
With the win, Charleston improved to 13-16 overall and 8-11 in league play. Georgia Southern fell to 20-10 and 13-6. The Cougars host Furman on Saturday at 6:00 marking the final game in the F. Mitchell Johnson Center's John Kresse Arena. The Cougars are scheduled to move into their new Carolina First Center/John Kresse Arena next fall.
Goudelock scored 12 points and Jermaine Johnson had 10 as the Cougars raced to a 45-39 lead at halftime. The Cougars, which connected on a season-high tying 12 3-pointers, hit three consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half to take a 54-39 lead with 18:12 remaining.
Georgia Southern answered with an 18-7 run capped by Dwayne Foreman's jumper that closed the margin to 61-57 with 12:51 left. Charleston eventually built its lead to 83-70 with 4:08 left before the Eagles used a 16-5 run to close the gap to 88-86 with 21 seconds left.
After Tony White, Jr. hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to give Charleston a 90-86 advantage, Scott stole a pass a midcourt and Donavan Monroe hit one-of-two free throws with three seconds left to secure the win.
Johnson finished with 13 points while Scott had a team-high eight rebounds and four blocked shots. White, Jr. and Monroe added 11 and 10 points each, respectively.
The Eagles got a team-high 18 points from Willie Powers and Anthony Marshall, and 14 points from Louis Graham. Matthew Fields led the Eagles with eight rebounds.
FURMAN 73, THE CITADEL 63
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Austin Dahn and Cameron Wells combined for 31 points tonight, but Furman posted an on-the-road victory with a 73-63 decision at The Citadel on Feb. 27 at McAlister Field House. With the victory, the Paladins improve to 7-21 (6-13 SoCon) while the Bulldogs slip to 6-22 (1-18 SoCon).
The Paladins built a 12 point lead going into the half, and the Bulldogs would be playing catch-up the rest of the night. The Paladins’ George Brozos opened the second-half with a 3-pointer giving Furman their largest lead of the night at, 43-28. However, the Bulldogs would work themselves back into the game and a layup by Wells at 4:53 would cut the deficit to seven at 63-56. Furman would respond with a 3-point basket by Brozos.
The Bulldogs were paced offensively by Dahn’s 16 points followed by Wells’ 15 points and tied his career-high seven assists. The Paladins were led by Justin Dehm’s 17 points and eight rebounds, followed by Jordan Miller’s, Alex Opacic’s and Brozos’ double-digit scoring performances.
The Bulldogs were out-rebounded by the Paladins 39-23, while Furman shot 51 percent from the field to The Citadel’s 42.6 percent shooting effort.
“We consider Brick and our starting five our best defenders,” said Citadel coach Ed Conroy, “but tonight it was very difficult for us on the defensive end. Brozos really made us pay, especially when we doubled in the post. We have got to grow up and get mentally tough for close games like this one.”
WESTERN CAROLINA 62, WOFFORD 57
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Trailing by one with two and a half minutes to play, the Western Carolina Catamounts held Wofford scoreless the remainder of the half, scoring six unanswered points to claim its second-consecutive win, 62-57, Thursday on Senior Night in Southern Conference action at the Ramsey Center.
Three Catamounts scored in double figures in the win led by a team-high 17 points from sophomore Jake Robinson. The Canton, N.C., native drained three, 3-pointers to move within four treys of ninth-place on WCU's all-time career list. Freshman post Richie Gordon finished with a career-high 11 points, nearly surpassing his previous career-best of nine in the first half.
Senior Negus McKenna finished 5-of-7 from the field for 11 points, while classmate Arnold Gore added nine points in the win. McKenna and sophomore Brigham Waginger each tallied a team-high seven rebounds with the latter finishing with a pair of steals. WCU's third senior, Eric Wilson, finished with a team-best four assists with four boards and a steal before fouling out.
The Catamounts played with just seven scholarship players as leading scorer, sophomore Brandon Giles, was inactive for the game as he continues to nurse injuries sustained in an automobile accident over the weekend.
Western Carolina (10-18, 6-12 SoCon) seized control in the first half utilizing a 12-to-1 run - including eight-straight points from Robinson - to erase a three-point deficit to take an early eight-point lead, 14-6. The Catamounts stretched their lead to a game-high 11 points on a trey from Waginger to lead 28-17 with four minutes to play before intermission.
McKenna capped the opening 20 minutes with a lay-up in the paint to give WCU a nine-point, 32-23, lead at the break.
Out of the halftime locker room, the Terriers sliced Western's advantage to a pair with an 11-to-4 spurt capitalizing on three Catamount turnovers and three missed shots. Yet, consecutive buckets by Gore helped maintain the WCU advantage which hovered in the low single digits until the seven minute mark. Six-straight points by the Terriers handed Wofford its first lead since the opening moments of the game, 49-47.
Gore again went to work, tallying a three-point play to again put the Catamounts on top, 50-49. But Wofford rallied back, answering Western shot-for-shot before reclaiming a one-point lead, 57-56, on a jumper by Drew Gibson with 2:30 showing on the game clock. On the ensuing possession, Wofford created a WCU turnover, but gave it back on the opposite end on takeaway by Waginger, who leads the SoCon in steals per game. Gore turned the possession into points with a lay-up in the paint and a one-point, 58-57 lead with 1:15 to play.
Leading by one with the game still very much in the balance, WCU forced a missed lay-up by Gibson with Robinson grabbing the defensive board and starting the rush the other way. Waginger pulled the string on a 3-point attempt, but managed to sneak through the defense to corral his own rebound where he found the sharp-shooting Robinson alone beyond the 3-point arc. Robinson misfired from long range, but McKenna beat the defense to tip the rebound into the cylinder for a 3-point advantage with 17 seconds to play. After two missed charity tosses, Robinson was fouled following a defensive board, stepping to the line to bury two free throws to seal the win.
All told, Wofford was held scoreless over the final two and a half minutes as the Catamount defense forced three missed shots and three turnovers, while converting two Robinson free throws to seal the victory.
Shane Nichols led the Terriers (14-15, 7-12 SoCon) with a game-high 23 points, while Noah Dahlman and Corey Godzinski added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Tim Johnson posted a game-high eight rebounds.
WCU won back-to-back games for the first time this season, ending a drought without consecutive victories that dated back over one full calendar year. The Catamounts commanded the boards, out rebounding Wofford, 38-to-24, in the win.