Wofford 60, Samford 51
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The Wofford College men’s basketball team picked up another road conference win with a 60-51 victory over Samford on Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center. Noah Dahlman scored 23 points for the Terriers in the win.
Wofford is 6-6 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while Samford is 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 23 points, while Jason Dawson added eleven points. Tim Johnson recorded a game-high 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs were led by Bryan Friday with 13 points.
The Bulldogs scored first, but at the first media timeout the Terriers held a 6-4 lead, with all six points coming in the paint. Wofford was able to add to the lead with three’s from Kevin Giltner and Jason Dawson, taking a 16-10 lead at the 10:33 mark.
A three by Corey Godzinski extended the lead, but back-to-back threes by Josh Bedwell cut the score to 19-16 at 7:35 in the first half. The Terries then went on a 9-0 run to push the lead back to 28-16 at 4:37. A three by Matt Estep and three free throws by Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers a 36-22 lead at the half.
Noah Dahlman scored the first four points of the second half before Samford added a three by Josh Davis. Another basket by Dahlman pushed the Terriers lead to 44-31 at 15:42 in the second half. Three straight turnovers by the Terriers enabled the Bulldogs to pull to 44-35 at 14:30.
Wofford added another basket from Noah Dahlman at the thirteen minute mark and took a 47-36 lead. Jason Dawson then hit a jumper and a three to give the Terriers a 52-39 lead with 10:12 on the clock. Wofford went five minutes without scoring a basket, but at 3:49 the Terriers held a 55-44 lead.
The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just four points with 55 seconds on the clock. Wofford struggled from the free throw line in the final minute, but were able to hold on for a 60-51 win.
Noah Dahlman has scored in double-figures in the last eleven games and has scored twenty or more in three of the last four games. The meeting against Samford was the first since January 11, 1982 ? a period of 27 years. The loss was the first of the season for the Bulldogs at home.
College of Charleston 100, Georgia Southern 87
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The College of Charleston had six players in double figures ? including all five starters ? as the Cougars cruised to a 100-87 victory Saturday afternoon at Carolina First Arena.
The Cougars up their record to 11-3 overall and 3-1 in the Southern Conference. The Eagles drop their second straight to fall to 4-8, 2-2.
Charleston is the first Georgia Southern opponent to reach the 100-mark since Davidson scored 101 on Jan. 23, 2007.
CofC opened the second half with six straight points to turn a 52-41 halftime advantage into a commanding 17-point lead. The Eagles missed their first five shots of the final period.
The two teams matched points in a frenetic first half. Charleston ended the half on a 10-2 run, started and finished by Andrew Goudelock on a 3-pointer and a jumper, respectively.
Goudelock posted a team-high 18 points, all in the first half.
The Cougars hit 56 percent of their shots and went 11-for-23 from long range for the game.
GSU junior Antonio Hanson led all players with a career-high 25 points. He scored 21 of those in the second half and shot 5-for-13 from 3-point land. Freshman Ben Drayton III also set a new personal best with 13 points, all in the first half.
Senior Julian Allen and junior Tyler Troupe had 12 points each.
Tony White, Jr. and Donavan Monroe tallied 16 points each for Charleston.
UNC Greensboro 85, Appalachian State 83 (OT)
BOONE, N.C. ? Freshman forward Damian Eargle scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as UNC Greensboro topped Appalachian State in overtime, 85-83, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans (2-11, 1-3) snapped a 10-game losing skid with the win. Eargle’s 25 points were the most by a freshman in 16 seasons ? since Scott Hartzell scored 25 in an overtime win at Chicago State on February 1, 1993. A native of Harding, Ohio, Eargle went 10-for-16 from the floor and 5-of-5 at the line.
Mikko Koivisto added 16 points, 12 of them coming after halftime, and a career-high seven assists. Ben Stywall also had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. UNCG shot 59 percent from the floor after the intermission (19-for-32) and a season-best 51 percent for the game ? the first time this season the Spartans have been over 50 percent in a game.
The Spartans committed just 10 turnovers, resulting in a season-low nine points. The 10 turnovers were nearly eight below their average.
Ryann Abraham had 21 points to lead Appalachian State (6-6, 3-1), who had four players in double figures. Donald Sims added 15 points, including an off-balance, controversial three-pointer to tie the game at the buzzer of regulation.
It was a case of D?j? vu for the Spartans, who last won in Boone the last time they started SoCon play 0-3 ? January 8, 2005. Unlike the previous four meetings between the teams, which were all blow outs, the game was a see-saw affair with 26 lead changes and 13 ties. Neither team had a lead of more than five points until the 7:17 mark of the second half.
A put back by Eargle gave UNCG an 82-81 lead with a minute left in overtime. Eduardo Bermudez missed a three-pointer on the other end and Eargle was fouled with 26.5 seconds to play. He knocked down both to give UNCG a three-point lead.
Abraham drove the land and was fouled with 14.3 seconds left, which was Eargle’s fifth foul. Abraham knocked down both free throws to cut it to 84-83. Stywall was then fouled with nine seconds left and made one out of two.
Abraham drove the lane again and missed with three seconds left. A last ditch three-point attempt by Sims was well after the buzzer this time and UNCG had snapped its losing skid.
Late in the second half, after Appalachian State opened up a seven-point lead and looked like it was maybe gaining momentum, UNCG came storming back, capped off by Mikko Koivisto’s first three-pointer of the afternoon to tie it, 65-65, with 2:43 to play.
Abraham and Daniel Oliver traded three-pointers to make it 68-all. After and Abraham miss from three-point range, Oliver was fouled with 1:23 to play. He made the front end of the bonus to give UNCG a one-point lead. The Mountaineers went down low to Isaac Butts to regain the lead, but Ben Stywall answered on the other end for a 71-70 lead with 54.4 seconds left.
The Mountaineers turned it over with 34 seconds left and fouled Koivisto with 23.1 to play. He knocked down both to give UNCG a three-point lead that looked safe after a miss by Sims. But the loose ball made its way out to Sims for an off-balance three-pointer that was ruled to have beaten the buzzer and force overtime.
Each team had early spurts to open the game. Behind 10 early points by Eargle, the Spartans held a one-point with eight minutes left in the first half, 21-20.
Keeping their turnovers to just four in the opening 20 minutes, UNCG was able to take a lead into the intermission. Despite UNCG leading scorer’s Koivisto scoring just four points on 2-of-7 shooting from the floor in the opening half, the Spartans managed to take a 31-30 halftime lead into the locker room.
Both teams’ frontcourts got into foul trouble early in the second half. For UNCG, DeAngelo Jackson picked up his fourth foul just 3:16 into the second half, while Pete Brown got his with 14:33 to go. The Mountaineers Isaac Butts was whistled for his fourth a minute after Brown. Brown came back after Eargle got his third, but picked up his fifth with 9:26 left trying to take a charge.
The Mountaineers ran off seven straight to erase a four-point Spartan lead and gain a 55-52 lead with eight minutes to play ? the 17th lead change of the afternoon.
Chattanooga 73, Furman 46
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Seniors Stephen McDowell and Nicchaeus Doaks combined for 43 points as Chattanooga (5-10/1-3) shut down Furman (2-11/0-4) 73-46 at the McKenzie Arena Saturday night. Defense was the story of the night as the Paladins’ 46 points is a season low by a UTC opponent.
The Mocs, who had dropped its first three Southern Conference games by a combined 12 points, were able to hold the Paladin offense to 28.6 percent shooting (16-of-56) from the floor, also the lowest for a UTC opponent all season. Meanwhile, Chattanooga went 25-of-48 from the floor (52.1 percent) in the Mocs’ largest conference victory since an 85-55 win over Western Carolina last season.
McDowell scored his game-high 22 points off 8-of-17 shooting (47.1 percent) scoring a majority of his points from behind the three-point line, pouring in six from beyond the arc. Doaks had a big night as well for UTC with a season-high tying 21 points.
At the break, the Mocs led the Paladins 33-26 as UTC dominated Furman in the paint 18-4. Chattanooga’s defense forced 10 Paladin turnovers and was able to convert those into 16 points, while Furman was only able to score two points off eight Mocs miscues.
In the second half, the Mocs took control of the contest as UTC outscored Furman 40-20 in the period. In the half the Paladins shot a paltry 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from the field, compared to 57.1 percent (12-of-21) for Chattanooga.
A big blow to the Paladins stemmed from a scoring drought that lasted 4:50, in which the Mocs rattled off 16 straight points to increase a slim 37-35 lead to a sizable 53-37 advantage.
Furman was led by Justin Dehm with 17 points, four assists and two steals. Noah States chipped in 16 points as the duo combined to shoot nine-of-18 from three-point range.
Western Carolina 74, Elon 67
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Josh Bonney scored a career-best 13 points and Monty Sanders grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, but it was not enough as the Western Carolina Catamounts earned a 74-67 Southern Conference men's basketball victory over the visiting Elon Phoenix from the Ramsey Center on Saturday night. With its fourth consecutive defeat, Elon dropped to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in SoCon play. Western Carolina improved to 8-5, 3-0, moving into first place in the North Division.
The first 20 minutes of play featured seven ties and eight lead changes, but had Western Carolina on top 38-35 at the break.
The Cats got back-to-back buckets from Brandon Giles and Harouna Mutombo to grab an early 4-0 lead before Elon came back with a jumper from Chris Long and a conventional threee-point play by Drew Spradlin to put the Phoenix on top 5-4.
Western grabbed a three-point cushion on a Mutombo lay-up with 15:58 to play in the half only to see Devan Carter knock down a three to knot the game at 8-8 with 15:42 to go.
Both teams hit a scoring drought until Greg Avery put in a lay-up for Western with 12:45 left on the clock. Two Bonney free throws again evened the score at 10-10.
Following that, Jake Robinson drained one from long range before the Cats turned an Elon turnover into a Giles lay-up with 11:01 left. The Phoenix answered right back again as Atoyebi put in a lay-up and hit a jumper before a Brett James jumper pt Elon up 16-15 at the 9:25 mark.
With Western back on top 19-18, Spradlin hit a jumper in the lane to give Elon an edge that greww to two points on a James free throw with 6:57 remaining.
With the score knotted at 23-23, the fifth tie of the half, Elon grabbed a five-point lead thanks to a Long three and a Sanders jumper with 4:24 left in the first stanza. Western roared back with the next five points before another Sanders jumper gave Elon a 30-28 lead with 2:00 left.
From there, Robinson hit a trey and Brigham Waginger made a bucket to give Western a three-point lead. Carter put in two from the line to trim the deficit to a point before Mutombo made a lay-up with 50 ticks left. Another Long three-point bucket knotted the score with 29 seconds to play, but the Cats grabbed the momentum heading into the break thanks to a Waginger three with just three seconds to play in the half.
Western opened the second half with a 9-3 run capped by a Giles three at the 16:29 mark to build a nine-point lead at 47-38. Elon closed the gap to five points at 49-44 with a 6-2 run which included a dunk from Daniel Watts, a jumper from Bonney and a lay-up from James.
Western Carolina maintained a lead of 7-9 points until Mutombo knocked down a jumper and a free throw with 7:42 to play to put the Cats up 62-50. The WCU lead grew to as many as 13 points, the latest with just 1:11 to play following two Waginger free throws.
Elon tried to close the game with a run, but could come no closer than the seven-point final margin thanks to two James free throws with under a second to play.
James led the team with 15 points. He also collected seven rebounds and blocked one shot. With the block, he moved into fifth place on Elon's career blocks list with 78, surpassing Shamar Johnson's total of 77 set from 1999-2003.
Atoyebi chipped in 11 points while Long finished with 10 markers for the Phoenix.
Having struggled from the free throw line of late, Elon posted one of its best nights at the line this season, knocking down 17-of-24 attempts (70.8 percent).
Mutombo finished with a game-high 17 points. Giles netted 14 points and Robinson scored 11 markers for the Catamounts. Waginger led the team with eight rebounds and five assists.
Davidson 84, The Citadel 69
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Stephen Curry collected 32 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead Davidson to an 84-69 SoCon victory over The Citadel before a crowd of 5,336 Saturday night at McAlister Field House. It was Davidson’s 34th straight conference victory.
Andrew Lovedale added 10 points and five rebounds, and the Wildcat bench outscored The Citadel’s bench 21-5. Will Archambault led the way with 11 points and five rebounds.
Max Paulhus Gosselin contributed eight points and five rebounds for Davidson (11-3, 4-0 SoCon), and Steve Rossiter scored seven points.
Cameron Wells led The Citadel (7-8, 2-2 SoCon) with 25 points, while Demetrius Nelson scored 18. Zach Urbanus added 10.
Davidson started the second half with a 16-4 run to turn an eight-point lead into a 59-39 advantage. Curry had eight points during the run, and Lovedale added six. The Bulldogs whittled the margin down to 14 on two occasions but could get no closer.
The Citadel led the game 8-7 early, but Davidson scored 12 straight points to open a 20-8 cushion midway through the half. The teams played even from there, and Davidson held a 43-35 advantage at the break.