College of Charleston 65, Wofford 63
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Dustin Scott scored 12 points and Jeremy Simmons pulled down nine rebounds and had a game-saving block, as the College of Charleston held off Wofford, 65-63, in Southern Conference men's basketball action before 1,712 at Benjamin Johnson Arena on Thursday.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the Southern Conference. Wofford fell to 6-7 and 2-2.
The Cougars raced out to a 34-28 lead at intermission after building a 30-19 lead with just over four minutes left. The Cougars got nine points from Andrew Goudelock.
In the second half, the Cougars extended their lead to 48-37 with 11:50 left. Wofford eventually tied the game at 61-all with 1:35 remaining on a layup by Tim Johnson. Johnson finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Charleston's Marcus Hammond gave the Cougars a 64-61 lead with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:05 left.
After Goudelock made one of two free throws to give Charleston a 65-63 lead with 16 seconds left, Simmons blocked a layup attempt by Brad Loesing with six seconds remaining and the Cougars held off a frantic exchange around the Wofford basket to secure its third straight win.
For the game, Goudelock and Simmons each scored 10, while the Cougar defense blocked seven shots and forced six steals.
Georgia Southern 72, UNC Greensboro 63
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Tyler Troupe had a career-high 23 points, 16 of them in the second half when Georgia Southern shot 59 percent from the floor, as the Eagles defeated UNC Greensboro, 72-63, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Thursday night at Fleming Gym.
Ben Drayton also had a career-high 21 for Eagles (5-8, 3-2), which overcame a seven-point first half deficit and then held off a late UNCG charge.
Junior forward Ben Stywall had his fiifth double-double of the season for the Spartans (2-12, 1-4) with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Four his double-doubles have come in league play this season. He also recorded his 500t h career rebound in the game, making the Charlotte, NC native the ninth Spartan to ever achieve the milestone. Mikko Koivsto and Landon Clement each added 11 points for UNCG.
UNCG had trailed by as many as 13 in the second half, but got back in it thanks to seven straight points by Clement. Trailing by five with 2:12 to play, Clement was fouled. He made the front end of the bonus to make it 66-62. But on the ensuing possession, Troupe knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner to take the margin back to seven with 1:42 to play.
The Eagles overcame a sluggish opening half to shoot 19-for-32 in the second half, although they finished the night just 8-of-30 from three-point range.
Neither team shot particularly well in the opening half. UNCG made just 9-of-25 from the floor, while the Eagles were just 10-of-35 from the field.
The Spartans opened up a seven-point lead midway through the first half, 17-10, but a 10-0 run by the Eagles erased that. Still, the Spartans managed to take a two-point advantage into the locker room, 29-27.
The teams came out of the locker room and went back and forth for the first 10 minutes of the second half with six ties and three lead changes in that time. The Eagles opened up their biggest lead to that point at 50-44 with 9:46 to play. Antoine Johnson scored on a put back and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Tyler Troupe took advantage of a missed block out and jammed it home for a six-point advantage.
That was the beginning of an 11-0 run for the Eagles that opened the lead up to 13 with 8:35 to play. The Spartans cut it to seven with five straight points by Koivisto heading into the eight-minute media timeout. The Eagles started to pull away again, but Clement scored seven straight for UNCG to help put them back to within five with 3:01 to play, 66-61.
The Citadel 74, Furman 69 (OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Cameron Wells scored a game-high 22 points and Zach Urbanus tallied nine of his 20 points in overtime to help The Citadel edge Furman 74-69 in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Thursday evening on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
The Bulldogs improved to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in the SoCon while Furman dipped to 2-12 overall and 0-5 in the league.
Urbanus buried a key three-pointer in the opening minute of the overtime period to give The Citadel a 67-63 advantage and converted on 4-of-4 free throw attempts in the final nine seconds to seal the Bulldogs’ first victory in Greenville, S.C., since 2000-01.
The Citadel faced a 51-44 deficit with 8:04 left in regulation, but Wells finished a three-point play, Demetrius Nelson drained two free throws and Wells scored on another layup to tie the game at 51-51 with 5:19 to go in the second period. The Bulldogs grabbed the lead and extended it to seven on a Nelson bucket with 2:42 left.
Justin Dehm answered for Furman with a trey and followed two Alex Opacic free throws with a jumper at the top of the key to tie the game at 60-60 with under 1:30 left. Wells buried a 19-foot jumper to give The Citadel a brief lead before the Paladins’ Brandon Sebirumbi followed an offensive rebound with a basket in the paint with 13 seconds left to even the score at 62-62. Wells missed a jumper in the lane as time expired.
The Bulldogs, who shot a season-best 53 percent (27-51) from the field and 58 percent (18-31) after intermission, took a two-point overtime lead on Wells’ driving layup and made 5-of-6 free throws in the extra period to hold off the Paladins. The second half shooting spree marked the fourth straight game in which a Furman opponent has shot 57 percent or better from the field after the break.
The Citadel trailed 41-28 with 16:30 remaining in regulation before Nelson scored six points and Urbanus added five to spur a 14-1 Bulldog rally to knot the game at 42-42 with 10:13 left. Furman held a 32-24 lead at the break, but shot just 32 percent (10-31) in the second half and 17 percent (1-6) in overtime.
Nelson joined Wells and Urbanus in double figures with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds. The Bulldogs made 5-of-13 three-point attempts and 15-of-19 free throw attempts while holding a 38-26 edge in rebounding against the Paladins.
Furman, which shot 38 percent (23-61) from the floor, was led by Dehm and Jordan Miller with 17 points apiece. Sebirumbi matched a career-high with 12 points and Opacic added 10. The Paladins were 17-of-21 at the charity stripe and forced 18 Bulldogs turnovers while committing just nine miscues in 45 minutes.
Chattanooga 78, Appalachian State 74 (OT)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - For the second time in the last week and fourth time on the season, it took more than 40 minutes to decide a winner, as Appalachian State University men's basketball fell victim at Chattanooga, 78-74, in overtime on Thursday.
The Mountaineers (6-8, 3-3 SoCon) fell behind 10-4 early in the game before the three-pointers started falling as the team set out on a 22-9 run with the help of six longballs, including three from Donald Sims. The sophomore scored 13 points in the game on 5-of-12 shooting and added six assists before fouling out late in the overtime period.
Sims averages 21.3 points per game in three career meetings with Chattanooga.
The Mocs (7-10, 3-3 SoCon) closed the gap with the next seven points - five from free throws - to pull back within 29-26. Kellen Brand and Isaac Butts scored the final nine Mountaineer points of the half as the visitors took a 38-35 advantage to halftime.
Brand finished the first half with 10 points while Sims was 3-for-4 behind the arc for nine points of his own. The Apps hit 6-of-15 treys for 40 percent and shot 43.5 percent overall for the half. Brand again finished as the leading scorer for the Mountaineers, with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting to go along with three rebounds and a steal.
Brand has now scored in double figures each of his last five games and has posted 20 or more points in four games this season.
Coming out of the intermission, the Mocs scored the first six points of the half. ASU responded with five of its own to retake a 43-41 lead. The Apps missed their first 10 three-point attempts of the half and fell behind by as many as nine points before Brand and Jeremi Booth connected on treys to pull the team back within 67-63 with four minutes remaining.
Booth scored seven points off the bench and added three rebounds in 14 minutes.
Josh Hunter sank two free throws and UTC's Stephen McDowell hit a three to give the Mocs a five-point lead before Brand single-handedly tied the game at 70-70 with two minutes remaining.
The Mountaineers regained possession with 42 seconds left and a tie game, but as the shot clock ran down, Sims was called for a charge on a drive, turning the ball over to UTC with 9.8 ticks on the clock. The Mocs pushed the ball up the court and made a final pass to get the last shot, but it was stolen by Josh Hunter to force overtime.
Chattanooga scored the first two points of the extra frame on a pair of free throws before Butts sank a layup to tie the game at 72. The teams tied again at 73-73 before UTC converted 3-of-4 free throws and made one field goal to hold off the Apps. ASU had an opportunity to tie the game with a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining, but after the shot rimmed out, the Mocs grabbed the rebound and iced the game at the line.
ASU shot 25 percent from the floor in overtime and 40.9 percent for the game, but made just 11-of-18 free throws compared to 27-of-39 for Chattanooga.
Hunter led the Mountaineers with 12 rebounds to go along with eight points and a pair of steals. Butts added seven rebounds to go along with eight points in the game.
ASU is now 1-3 in overtime contests this season and 0-2 in SoCon overtime games.
Samford 76, Western Carolina 64
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team finished with five players scoring in double figures for the first time this season Thursday as the Bulldogs rallied for a 76-64 Southern Conference victory against the Western Carolina Catamounts at the Pete Hanna Center.
In the win, Samford (7-8, 2-4 SoCon) shot a stellar 56.3 percent from the field and had Bryan Friday, Andy King, Josh Davis, Trey Montgomery and Josh Bedwell all score in double figures.
King, the Bulldogs’ sophomore center, led the way with 16 points on a 6-of-11 performance from the field. Samford’s native of Omaha, Neb., also finished with four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists.
Junior Trey Montgomery followed with 15 points and a game-high seven assists. The Bulldogs’ point guard from Destrehan, La., was 5-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Montgomery also added four rebounds and a steal in 28 minutes of play.
Samford’s Josh Bedwell came off the bench Thursday to spark the team’s offense in the second half. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot shooting guard from nearby Hartselle, Ala., scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period and was 4-of-7 from the field.
Bedwell also knocked down a pair of key 3-point baskets and finished 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. He currently leads Samford with a near-perfect 91.2 shooting percentage from the line, but had his streak of 16-consecutive free throws snapped Thursday. After missing his second attempt of the night, he then knocked down his last three.
Samford’s Bryan Friday and Josh Davis both tallied 10 points in the victory. Friday was 4-for-9 from the floor and added four rebounds, while Davis finished 4-of-6 from the field and pulled down a team-high six boards.
Thursday’s defeat marked Western Carolina’s (8-6, 3-1 SoCon) only conference loss of the 2008-09 campaign. Heading into the game, the Catamounts were one of two undefeated teams in the conference. Currently, Davidson is the only undefeated team in the SoCon with a 5-0 league record.
Following a deep 3-point basket from Davis with 5:09 remaining in the first half, Samford led by as many as 10 points, 25-15. Western Carolina then finished the first period on a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 29-27 at the intermission. During the Catamounts’ streak, Harouna Mutombo scored five of the team’s 10 points.
Mutombo, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, finished Thursday’s game with a team-high 16 points, but was only 6-of-17 from the field. The Catamounts’ redshirt freshman from Pickering, Ontario, was 0-for-2 from 3-point range and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Western Carolina’s Brandon Giles followed with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Early in the second half, Samford’s King knocked down a 3-point basket to give the Bulldogs a 39-31 lead with 18:11 remaining. The Catamounts then used four straight points from Giles and a running one-hander from Mutombo to tie the score at 39-39.
With 12:54 left in the game, Samford’s Montgomery buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Bulldogs a 42-39 advantage, and they never trailed again. Samford went on an 11-0 run midway through the second half which was capped off by Bedwell’s dribble-drive and spinning up-and-under layup with 4:45 remaining.
Bedwell was fouled on the acrobatic drive and finished off the 3-point play to give Samford a decisive 13-point lead.
Samford’s Curtis West started the game and finished with seven points, two assists and a steal in 27 minutes of play. The Bulldogs’ senior guard was 2-for-2 from the field and knocked down a critical 3-point basket in the second half.