No. 8 Wofford 58, No. 9 Western Carolina 49
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Wofford College men’s basketball team defeated Western Carolina 58-49 in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum. The Terriers advance to play Davidson at 2:00 pm on Saturday.
Wofford is 16-15 overall and 8-12 in SoCon play. Western Carolina is 10-21 overall and 6-14 in conference play. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 16 points and Corey Godzinski with Corey Godzinski with 13 points. Tim Johnson had eleven rebounds for Wofford. Western Carolina was led by Jake Robinson with 14 points and Blake Gallagher with seven rebounds.
“Nothing is easy in our league and we knew going in that this would be a tough one,” said head coach Mike Young. “It was another grind it out affair and it was tough in the second half. Our senior guards were outstanding. Drew Gibson was superb and Nichols and Salters made some big shots to get us the win.”
The Terriers scored first on a basket by Tim Johnson and were up 9-5 at the first media timeout at 15:42. The Catamounts tied the game at 9-9 with a basket by Jake Robinson, but Wofford regained the lead with a jumper by Corey Godzinski at 11:24. A lay-up by Noah Dahlman gave the Terriers a five-point lead at 16-11 with 7:02 on the clock.
Western Carolina pulled within two, but Noah Dahlman gave the Terriers an 18-14 lead with 4:54 left in the first half. A three-pointer by Corey Godzinski pushed the lead to 23-14 just a minute later. Junior Salters added a bucket at 1:45 for a 25-17 advantage, however the Catamounts scored the final four points of the half to go into the break 26-21 Wofford.
To start the second half, the Catamounts scored on a basket by Arnold Gore to cut the lead to three. Wofford responded with a dunk by Corey Godzinski. After a basket by Terry Martin at 14:32, the Terriers had a 33-27 lead. The lead quickly evaporated and a three-pointer by Jake Robinson at 12:28 tied the game at 34-34. The game stayed tied at 36 each, then the Catamounts took a 38-36 lead after a basket by Negus McKenna at 10:30.
Wofford then went on a 7-0 run that began with a three-pointer by Junior Salters at 10:12 to go up 43-38. The run was answered by the Catamounts with their own 7-0 run, including five straight points by Jake Robinson, to go up 45-43 at 7:04. The run ended with back-to-back three pointers by Corey Godzinski to regain the lead at 49-45 with 4:02 on the clock.
After a basket by the Catamounts to cut the lead back to two points at 49-47 at 3:35, Wofford added a three by Shane Nichols and a lay-up by Noah Dahlman to take a 54-47 lead with just 1:22 left. Wofford hit 4-of-6 free throws in the final minute to secure the 58-49 victory.
Wofford shot 41.7% from the floor and 26.3% from three. The Terriers were 56.5% from the line. The Catamounts were 36.5% from the floor and 15.8% from behind the arc and 61.5% from the free throw line. Wofford had a 38-30 lead on the boards.
Drew Gibson entered the game five points shy of 1,000 for his career; he hit his 1,000th point on a lay-up at 16:14 in the first half. The win was the first for the Terriers in the conference tournament since an 85-82 win over UNC Greensboro in 2004. Eric Wilson fouled out for the Catamounts with 29 seconds left in the game.
The Terriers next game will be against #1 seed Davidson at 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats were 20-0 in conference play this season and won both games against the Terriers earlier this year.
No. 7 Elon 52, No. 10 Furman 37
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Brett James put up a game-high 16 points and Ola Atoyebi pulled down a contest-best 10 rebounds as seventh-seeded Elon overcame 10th-seeded Furman 52-37 in a first-round meeting of the 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Friday evening at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Paladins (7-23) built a 19-12 lead on a free throw by Connor Nolte with 4:44 left to play in the opening period. The Phoenix (12-18) answered by reeling off 14 consecutive points ? seven to close the first half and seven to open the second ? to fashion a 26-19 edge on a bucket by James with 18:09 remaining in the game.
Meanwhile, Furman went scoreless over a 7:04 period. Nolte canned a three-point field goal to end the drought, bringing the Paladins to within 26-22 with 17:20 on the clock. Elon responded with a 11-4 spurt to extend its edge to 37-26 on a fast-break lay-up by James at the 9:37 mark.
Making one last run, the Paladins scored the next seven markers to draw to within 37-33 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Darryl Evans with 5:50 left. The Phoenix closed the contest out with a 15-4 tear to stretch the difference to 52-37 on a charity shot by Ola Atoyebi with 1:04 to go.
Elon outscored Furman 18-8 in the paint and 10-7 off the bench. Each team hauled in 33 boards. The Phoenix committed 13 turnovers to 18 miscues by the Paladins.
The Phoenix fired 40.0 percent (18 of 45) from the field ? 50.0 percent (10 of 20) in the second half ? and 58.8 percent (10 of 17) from the free throw line. The Paladins shot 23.3 percent (10 of 43) from the floor ? 17.4 percent (4 of 23) in the second stanza ? and 81.3 percent (13 of 16) from the charity stripe.
For the fourth time in its five Southern Conference Tournament appearances, Elon now advances to the quarterfinal round to face second-seeded Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Saturday.
No. 6 College of Charleston 66, No. 11 The Citadel 48
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Four players scored in double-figures as College of Charleston (15-16) beat cross-town rival The Citadel (6-24), 66-48, before 4,943 fans in the opening round of the Southern Conference men’s basketball tournament in North Charleston, S.C.
The Cougars swept the season series between the two teams but the Bulldogs battled on even terms throughout the contest. The Cougars scored 11 of the games first 16 points and led 11-5 following an Andrew Goudelock basket with 15:03 TO GO IN THE FIRST HALF. The lead grew to as many as 11, 18-7, with 13:09 left following a Tony White, Jr. lay-up.
But coach Ed Conroy’s team battled back and sliced the deficit to three, 34-31, following Matt Clark’s three-pointer at the end of the first half.
The Citadel’s Daniel Eykyn scored a basket with 13:24 to go to tie the score, 36-36. But the College of Charleston reeled off six straight points to take a 43-36 lead with 11:14 left. Again The Citadel stormed back and cut the margin to just three, 45-42, when Austin Dahn converted a traditional three-point play with 7:52 remaining.
A 17-2 run by the College of Charleston over the next seven minutes gave the Cougars a commanding 62-44 lead.
Antwaine Wiggins led the College of Charleston with 13 points. Goudelock (12), White, Jr. (10) and Donavan Monroe (10) also tallied double digits. The Citadel’s Dahn led all scorers with 17 points and Cameron Wells pitched in 10 points for the Bulldogs.
The Cougars, No. 6-seed in the tournament, will face No. 3 seed Georgia Southern (20-11), which received an opening round bye in the tournament, on Saturday night.