South Carolina 78, Wofford 61
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? The Wofford College men’s basketball team stayed close, but was defeated 78-61 by South Carolina on Monday night at Colonial Life Arena. Wofford’s Noah Dahlman led all scorers with 18 points in the game.
Wofford is 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while South Carolina is 11-2 overall and have not started SEC play. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 18 points and six rebounds, while Tim Johnson added 11 rebounds. The Gamecocks were led by Devan Downey with 17 points as four players had double-digit points.
The Terriers took an early 6-0 lead three minutes into the game, but South Carolina then took an 8-6 lead. The score was tied at eight and at ten before a three-pointer by Brandis Raley-Ross at 11:59 began an 8-0 run for the Gamecocks. Corey Godzinski was able to hit two three-pointer to cut the lead to 22-20 with 7:25 left in the first half.
South Carolina then went on a 12-0 run to take a 34-20 lead. Terry Martin ended the run with two free throws with 2:45 on the clock. The Gamecocks added a three-pointer by Zam Frederick as they took a 39-24 lead at the half.
To start the second half, Wofford was able to cut the lead to 41-33 after a three-pointer by Matt Estep at 17:20. The Gamecocks pushed the lead back to 13 points after a three by Evaldas Baniulis. Kevin Giltner responded with a three for Wofford, but at 11:58 the Gamecocks had a 53-38 lead.
The Gamecocks took a 60-44 lead at 8:12 in the second half with a three-pointer by Robert Wilder. A three by Jason Dawson at 6:17 cut the lead to 64-51. South Carolina was able to pull away in the final two minutes for the 78-61 win.
Wofford shot 43 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. The Terriers connected on 89 percent of their attempts from the line. The Gamecocks shot 50 percent from the floor and 46 percent from behind the arc.
Wofford was without guard Junior Salters, who missed the contest due to injury. The game was the final non-conference game of the season for the Terriers. Noah Dahlman has scored in double-figures in the last nine games. Tim Johnson has had 10+ rebounds in the last three games. Wofford has only been out-rebounded in one game this season (at Clemson).
The Terriers will get back to conference action on Thursday night at Chattanooga, followed by a trip to Samford on Saturday afternoon. Wofford returns home on January 15 against College of Charleston at 7:00 pm.
Navy 66, Elon 62
ELON, N.C. ? Chris Harris scored 14 points ? capped by a pair of free throws down the stretch ? as Navy staved off Elon for a 66-62 nonconference men’s basketball triumph Monday night at Alumni Gym. The win marked the 100th career victory for fifth-year Midshipmen coach Billy Lange, who is now 100-89 in his seventh season overall as a head college men’s basketball coach.
Navy (11-4) seized an early 12-6 lead on a layup by Clif Colbert with 14:12 to play in the opening period. The Phoenix (4-6) answered with an 11-4 spurt to pull ahead 17-16 on a dunk by Adam Constantine with 9:50 remaining in the first half. The Midshipmen proceeded to go on a 23-16 run to build a 39-33 edge on a bucket by Colbert with 16:39 to go in the second stanza.
Elon replied with a 25-15 surge to claim a 58-54 advantage on a basket by Devan Carter with 4:00 left. Back-to-back jumpers by Kaleo Kina evened the count at 58-58 at the 3:08 mark. A pair of free throws by Chris Long and a layup by Carter restored the Phoenix edge at 62-58 with 1:52 left to play, but Elon was unable to score the rest of the way.
Adam Teague drained a three-point bomb to pull the Midshipmen to within 62-61 with 1:33 remaining. Mark Veazey rebounded a missed jumper by Harris and knocked it in to give Navy the lead for good at 63-62 with 42 ticks to go. Harris canned a pair of charity shots with 23 seconds left and Teague added another freebie with 14 ticks remaining to decide the final margin.
Kina, who entered the contest ranked 30th in the country among NCAA Division I men’s basketball leaders in scoring with 19.6 points per game, was held to 13 points ? two in the first half. The Midshipmen also received 13 points and seven rebounds from Colbert and 11 markers from Teague.
Ola Atoyebi put up 14 points and pulled down 10 caroms for the Phoenix, marking his second double-double performance of the season and the fifth of his career. He has now hauled in 10 or more boards on eight occasions. Atoyebi also swiped a career-high four steals.
Long pumped in a season-high 14 points, Brett James chipped in 11 points ? 10 in the first half ? and Monty Sanders added a season-high nine points for Elon, which won the battle of the boards (34-33) and turnovers (17-18). Navy outscored the Phoenix 40-28 in the paint and 18-16 off turnovers.
The Midshipmen shot 47.2 percent (25 of 53) from the field ? 18.8 percent (3 of 16) from behind the arc ? and 72.2 percent (13 of 18) from the free throw line while the Phoenix fired 42.6 percent (23 of 54) from the floor ? 21.4 percent (3 of 14) from beyond the arch ? and 59.1 percent (13 of 22) from the charity stripe.
Elon will return to Southern Conference action at 7 p.m. Thursday against Appalachian State at the Holmes Center in Boone, N.C.