Samford 76, UNC Greensboro 61
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- In its 1,000th game as a Division I program, the Samford University basketball team knocked down 13 three-point baskets and shot 50 percent from beyond the arc in a 76-61 road victory against the UNC Greensboro Spartans. With their second-straight road triumph, Samford extended its winning streak to four games.
Samford (10-8, 5-4 Southern Conference) turned in its second best 3-point shooting performance of the season and used a 17-5 run to open the second half. Junior Bryan Friday led all scorers with 20 points and 7-of-13 shooting from the field, while sophomore Josh Bedwell added 19 for the Bulldogs.
Bedwell helped lead Samford’s shooting barrage with four baskets from long range. Sophomores Andy King and Josh Davis both added three 3-pointers as well. King finished with 11 points and four rebounds, and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
Davis added 13 points and was 4-for-10 from the floor.
UNC Greensboro (3-14, 2-6 SoCon) fell to 1-6 when playing at home and only shot 14.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Spartans finished the game with two 3-point baskets.
UNC Greensboro’s top performer was Ben Stywall. The Spartans’ 6-foot-5 junior tallied a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end of the floor.
Samford made seven 3-point baskets in the first half and led UNC Greensboro 33-27 at the intermission. The teams played a clean first half and only eight turnovers were committed in the first 20 minutes of action, each team tallied four miscues.
The teams were tied at 17-17 with 7:32 remaining in the opening period when Samford used a quick 11-2 run to take a 28-19 advantage at the three-minute mark. During the Bulldogs’ streak, Trey Montgomery slashed to the goal and scored on a back-door layup, while Andy King, Davis and Bedwell made consecutive 3-pointers.
The Citadel 72, College of Charleston 63
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Demetrius Nelson scored 17 points while Cameron Wells added 15 leading The Citadel to a 72-63 Southern Conference victory over College of Charleston before 5,107 at McAlister Field House on Saturday. The win snapped the Bulldogs' 13-game losing streak to the Cougars.
The Bulldogs (10-10, 5-4 Southern Conference) shot 46.4 percent from the field (26-for-56), including 53.3 percent from 3-point range (8-for-15). Cosmo Morabbi chipped in with 10 for the Bulldogs.
The Citadel went on a 12-2 run to end the first half, and went into halftime with a 36-21 lead. The Bulldogs shot 51.7 percent in the first half (15-for-29), while the Cougars shot only 26.9 percent (7-for-26).
Tony White Jr. scored five straight points during a 9-3 run for the Cougars, cutting their deficit to 66-57 with less than four minutes left but the Cougars would not pull closer.
College of Charleston (15-4, 7-2) was led by Jermaine Johnson, who scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Andrew Goudelock added 14 points. Johnson enjoyed his sixth double-double of the season and the 25th of his career.
White, Jr. has hit his last 28 free throw attempts setting the College of Charleston's NCAA Division I record.
For the game, the Cougars held a 44-32 rebounding edge, including 20-12 on the offensive glass.
Appalachian State 76, Western Carolina 70
BOONE, N.C. ? Red-shirt freshman Harouna Mutombo pulled Western Carolina to within a point or arch-rival Appalachian State, 70-69, with a minute and a half remaining in regulation on a runner in the lane. However, it was as close as the Catamounts could pull as the Mountaineers converted on all six free throw attempts inside the final minute to secure a 76-70 win.
ASU senior Kellen Brand scored a career-high 31 points to lead three Mountaineers in double-figures in the win.
The Mountaineers snapped a five-game seasonal losing skid, while the Catamounts (9-9, 4-4 SoCon) were relegated to their fourth-straight road loss and fourth defeat in the past five outings overall. The game saw nine ties and seven lead changes, with the Apps holding the lead the final ten and a half minutes.
Mutombo led a pair of Catamounts in double figures with 16 points, including 14 in the second half. The Pickering, Ontario, native also added a career-high five assists and three boards. Junior Brandon Giles tallied 12 of his 14 points after intermission while leading WCU with eight rebounds, four on both ends of the court.
Junior Brigham Waginger just missed double figures with nine points including a pair of 3-pointers and two steals, while true freshman Keaton Cole scored a SoCon career-best with eight points. Both junior Richie Gordon and sophomore Richie Gordon finished with six points and four rebounds apiece.
After the fifth tie of the opening six minutes (11-11), Western Carolina surged ahead for the first sizeable lead of the game for either side. Using a 7-0 spurt, the Catamounts built a seven-point lead, which they ballooned to nine at the 9:26 mark on a Cole jumper, 22-13.
Appalachian State (7-10, 4-5 SoCon) opened the second half on a 12-to-2 run to erase the halftime deficit and build a seven-point advantage on a Donterious Hughes lay-up, 43-36. Yet, the Catamounts counter-punched with eight unanswered points, capped by Cole’s second triple of the night, to reassume the lead, 44-43. WCU would lead one additional time, by two at 48-46, before the Mountaineers took the lead for good after the ninth tie of the game, 50-50.
The Mountaineers were only able to pull ahead by seven down the stretch. Western closed to within a point on three occasions, but ASU retained the lead and answered each time, closing the game with six-straight free throws.
In addition to Brand’s career night, Josh Hunter added 11 points and guard Donald Sims chipped in 10 for the Mountaineers.
Elon 86, Chattanooga 85 (2OT)
ELON, N.C. --- It took 50 minutes for a decision as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s men’s basketball team fell 86-85 at Elon (5-11, 2-6 SoCon) in two overtimes. Chattanooga (9-11, 5-4 SoCon) is now tied for first in the Southern Conference North Division with conference newcomer Samford.
Elon jumped out to an early lead, but the The Mocs closed to three, 29-26, at 3:34 on two Stephen McDowell free throws, but scored just one point the rest of the way as Elon out-scored them 9-1 over the final 3:34 to take a 38-27 lead into the break.
Down 42-29 at 16:45, the Mocs began to show some life. A 10-0 run over the next 1:45 closed the margin to three on a Nicchaeus Doaks trey at the top of the key to force a Phoenix timeout with the score 42-39.
The Phoenix answered keyed by Ola Atoyebi. He scored nine straight points leading a 12-6 push to extend Elon’s lead to 54-45 at 11:55.
The Mocs battled back closing the lead to one, 68-67 on a Doaks putback at 4:37. After a long possession for the Phoenix with several offensive rebounds, Doaks stepped to the line at 3:12 and made the second of two attempts to knot the score at 68. Two Keyron Sheard free throws at 2:55 gave the Mocs their first lead of the second half, 70-68.
With the Mocs up 74-71, T.J. Douglas hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score at 74.
Khalil Hartwell made two free throws at 17.4 seconds to put the Mocs back up 76-74. Following a timeout Chris Long found Adam Constantine who made a layup as time expired to send the game into overtime.
Doaks scored the first four points in OT before Goffney was called for a foul battling for a rebound at 3:45. James made one of the two free throws to cut the advantage to 80-77.
Neither team scored until Atoyebi scored two on a breakaway dunk at 1:27 of OT to close the gap to one, 80-79.
With 48.1 left, Doaks picked up his fifth foul on a James drive with James making both to give Elon its first lead of OT at 81-80. Atoyebi fouled Sheard on a driving play which brought the score to 81-81 at 30.2. The miss on the second was rebounded by the Mocs Chris Early. Sheard ran down the clock and got off a good look from 17 feet but the shot was just off to send the game into a second overtime.
The Mocs struck first again on a Sheard layup at 3:30 to go up 83-81. Atoyebi answered on a putback at 2:20 to once again tie the score at 83.
Josh Bonney hit a jumper in the left corner to give Elon an 85-83 lead with 1:35 left. Ty Patterson came back with a basket of his own at 1:23 to knot it up again. Atoyebi hit one of two at 42.6 to get the lead at 86-85. After Patterson missed three free throws, Early got another big offensive board. In the final seconds, the Mocs could not find the basket they needed as Elon escaped with the 86-85 upset win.
Chattanooga was led by Goffney’s 23. He scored 16 of those points in the second half leading the Mocs back into the game. With 10 rebounds, he was one of two Mocs to notch a double-double on the evening as Khalil Hartwell had 10 points and 13 boards.
Five Mocs in all scored in double figures as the double-double duo was joined by McDowell with 19, while Doaks and Sheard each scored 13 as Sheard added three assists and a career high-tying five steals. McDowell played the entire 50 minutes.
Brett James led the Phoenix with 25 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five blocks. Atoyebi came off the bench add 22 points and 11 rebounds, as Constantine chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds of his own.
Davidson 79, Wofford 56
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? The Wofford College men’s basketball team was unable to stop a sharp-shooting Davidson team and were defeated 79-56 on Saturday night at Belk Arena. Stephen Curry led all scorers with 33 points, while Junior Salters led Wofford with 16 points.
Wofford is 7-9 overall and 3-4 in the conference, while Davidson is 16-3 overall and 9-0 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Junior Salters with 16 points and seven rebounds. Brad Loesing added 12 points and Tim Johnson had seven. Davidson had 33 points from Stephen Curry and twelve each from Will Archambault and Andrew Lovedale. Curry also led the Wildcats with seven rebounds.
The Wildcats opened a 12-4 lead at the five minute mark and were able to push the lead to 20-6 after a three from Stephen Curry at 12:41. A three pointer from Brad Loesing for the Terriers cut the lead to 22-13 with ten minutes remaining in the first half.
Another three from Curry gave the Wildcats a 25-15 lead, but then Junior Salters added back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 27-23. In the final six minutes, the Wildcats used a 20-6 run that included four three-pointers to take a 46-29 lead at the half. Stephen Curry had 23 points at the break.
Davidson used a 9-2 run to extend the lead to 55-31 at 15:26 in the second half. As the half progressed, the Wildcats were able to keep the Terriers at a distance and had a 68-45 lead at the 7:32 mark. In the end, Davidson was able to come away with the 79-56 win to remain undefeated in the conference.
Wofford shot 38 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three. The Terriers were 65 percent from the line. The Wildcats shot 44 percent from the floor and 42 percent from behind the arc. Davidson had a 40-34 advantage on the boards and forced 14 turnovers on the night.
Georgia Southern 69, Furman 53
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Antonio Hanson netted a game-high 17 points to lead three players in double figures as Georgia Southern defeated Furman 69-53 in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga.
The win, Georgia Southern’s sixth consecutive victory over Furman, improved the Eagles to 7-10 overall and 5-4 in the SoCon. Furman fell to 2-15 overall and 0-8 in the SoCon.
Georgia Southern buried 8-of-19 attempts from three-point range, led by Hanson’s 5-of-10 effort from long range, while holding the Paladins to 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. It marked the first game this decade in which Furman failed to make a three-point basket.
The Eagles, who shot 46 percent from the field for the game and 58 percent in the second half, carried a 31-21 lead into intermission. After extending the advantage to 52-38 with under nine minutes left, Furman went on a 12-3 run to cut the margin to 55-50 with 4:10 remaining before Georgia Southern held the Paladins to just one field goal the rest of the way and finished on a 14-3 run of its own.
Julian Allen scored 13 points and Ben Drayton added 12 to join Hanson in double figures. The pair connected on 14-of-18 free throw attempts as the Eagles made good on 23-of-36 trips to the charity stripe.
Sophomore Bryson Barnes led Furman with 13 points and six rebounds while Jordan Miller added 12 points and five boards. The Paladins, who registered just four assists and shot 41 percent (18-43) from the field, managed a 30-27 edge in rebounding. Furman connected on just 17-of-29 trips to the foul line.