Wofford 68, South Carolina 61
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team defeated South Carolina 68-61 on Saturday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Wofford erased a three-point halftime deficit and won over the Gamecocks for the first time since 1939.
Wofford is 6-6 overall, while South Carolina is 7-3. Noah Dahlman led the team with 19 points and eleven rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Jamar Diggs added 16 points and Junior Salters had 13. The Gamecocks were led by Devan Downey with 17 points. Brandis Ross-Raley added 14 points and Sam Muldrow scored ten, with both players pulling down six rebounds.
"We did it with two things that are most important to us on a nightly basis which is we have to take care of the ball and get a good shot every time and we have to rebound," said head coach Mike Young. "We out-rebounded the University of South Carolina by ten which is enormous. Coach Horn and I are friends and I think our team played harder than South Carolina. Through their first eight games, South Carolina had outplayed and outworked each opponent that they played. I feel as good as you would expect when we beat our state university, a team that we had not beaten since 1939. We are going to enjoy it for a couple hours then get ready for Asheville."
The game was tied at four when Wofford went on a quick 7-0 run that included five points by Junior Salters. The Gamecocks answered and the game was tied again at twelve at the 11:32 mark. The Terriers took a 21-17 lead at 8:58 after a three by Salters, and added two more with a basket by Noah Dahlman for a six point lead.
After Wofford had a 25-19 lead following a shot by Tim Johnson, the Gamecocks hit their next three straight three point shots for a 9-0 run and a 28-25 lead. Wofford was able to tie the game again at 31 before South Carolina hit a three by Evaldas Baniulis for a 34-31 lead at the half.
To open the second half, Wofford went on an 8-0 run that included four points by Jamar Diggs to take a 39-34 lead with 17:11 on the clock. The Gamecocks were able to tie the game again at 41 and take a 45-41 lead using a 7-0 run that ended at 14:10. Wofford tied the score at 45 and regained the lead at 48-47 after a three by Junior Salters at 11:52.
South Carolina countered with a basket by Austin Steed for a 49-48 lead, but it would prove to be their final lead of the night. Tim Johnson scored on a huge dunk with an assist by Brad Loesing for a 50-49 lead with ten minutes remaining in the game. A three by Cameron Rundles and a dunk by Terry Martin increased the lead to 55-49 two minutes later.
The Gamecocks cut the lead to two points on three occasions and were within one point at 59-58, but Devon Downey missed a free throw that could have tied it with two minutes left on the clock. Wofford ran off the next nine points to take a 68-58 lead with eight seconds to go as the Terriers made enough free throws down the stretch to keep the advantage. South Carolina hit a three in the final seconds, but it was not enough and Wofford came away with the 68-61 win.
Wofford shot 40.3 percent from the floor and 25.0 percent from behind the arc. The Gamecocks shot 42.3 percent overall and were 40.9 percent from three. Wofford had a 43-33 lead on rebounds, including a 22-11 edge on the offensive glass. With ten block by the Gamecocks, Wofford evened things out with eight steals as South Carolina had 16 turnovers.
Benjamin Johnson Arena was sold out (3500) for the second time in two years. It was the first win over the Gamecocks since a 33-31 win at Andrews Fieldhouse on February 17, 1939. South Carolina had won 21 straight in the series.
The Terriers will travel to UNC Asheville on Monday afternoon for a 12:30 pm game before taking a break for the holiday. Wofford will return to action on December 29 and 30 at the Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara, California.
Samford 61, Shorter College 39
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team turned in one of its best second-half performances of the 2009-10 season Saturday as the Bulldogs streaked to a 61-39 victory against the Shorter College Hawks at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford (4-7) shot 54.2 percent in the second half and outscored Shorter College 34-21.
"This was a good win for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Shorter is a very good team, especially for their level, and there's no question about it. They have some really talented players and they are very well-coached. It was a close game for a good portion of the first half, but then we just played very well in the second half."
Samford improved to 4-1 at home this season and finished with three players scoring in double figures. Junior Josh Davis paced the Bulldogs for a second straight game with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. All five of his field goals came from 3-point range as he also added a pair of free throws.
Along with Davis, sophomore John Peterson was the only other Samford player to connect on a 3-point field goal Saturday. Peterson proved to be 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and finished the game with career-highs in points (12), field goals (4), 3-point field goals (3), rebounds (3), steals (1) and minutes (22).
Samford's Trey Montgomery also turned in a solid all-around performance Saturday. The Bulldogs' senior point guard from Destrehan, La., finished with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists in only 27 minutes of play. Montgomery was 4-of-7 from the field and knocked down all three of his free-throw attempts.
Shorter College (10-1) entered the game as the No. 21 team in the national NAIA rankings. The Hawks' 39 points Saturday was their lowest scoring output of the 2009-10 season. Shorter College has averaged 81 points per game this year and its previous low was 68 against Georgia State in a hard-fought 72-68 loss on Nov. 3.
The Hawks' were paced by Montagious Brown's 12 points Saturday. The 6-foot-4 junior was the only Shorter College player to score in double figures as he finished 6-of-12 from the field. Marqise Wright grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Hawks, but recorded a 1-for-10 performance from the field.
Senior guard Jerrenda Wheeler came into the game averaging a team-high 14.8 points per contest, but was limited to two points on 1-for-8 shooting.
As a team, Shorter College only shot 29.1 percent from the field and 14.3 percent (3-for-21) from beyond the arc. Samford tallied a 46.8 percent mark from the floor and was 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs' Davis made five 3-point baskets alone Saturday, while Shorter College finished with three as a team.
Junior Josh Bedwell, Samford's talented guard from Hartselle, Ala., returned to action for the first time in eight games Saturday after sustaining an injury against UAB in the Bulldogs' third contest of the season. Bedwell played six minutes against Shorter College and tallied an assist.
The Hawks hung tough against the Bulldogs in the first half and Samford only held a 19-16 lead at the 4:07 mark in the period. The Bulldogs then used a layup from Montgomery, a back-door basket from Matthew Friday and a jumper from Bryan Friday to take a 27-18 advantage into halftime.
In the second half, Samford quickly extended its lead to 36-23 and held a comfortable advantage until the 10:34 mark when Shorter College's Corey Edmondson drained a jumper to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 42-34. Samford then took a quick 30-second timeout and Montgomery responded on the next possession with a thunderous two-handed dunk from the baseline.
Montgomery's dunk immediately shifted the momentum to the Bulldogs as they went on to close out the contest with a 17-4 run. During the stretch, Davis knocked down back-to-back 3-point shots and Bryan Friday added a pair of key buckets in the paint.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Eastern Michigan Eagles in Ypsilanti, Mich. Samford's next home game will be at 7:00 p.m. (CST) on Dec. 28, against Chicago State.
Appalachian State 65, Robert Morris 52
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The Mountaineers scored their final 12 points from the free throw line over the last three minutes to ice a 65-52 win over defending Northeast Conference champion Robert Morris on Saturday night.
Donald Sims was 6-of-6 from the stripe, with all six attempts coming in the final stretch, and led the team with 17 points. The junior connected on 3-of-6 three-pointers as the Mountaineers made 10-of-23 on the night.
The Colonials (4-6) looked to extend their 13-game home winning streak early on, as the squad jumped out to an early 9-3 lead. The Mountaineers tied it up three times before taking the lead for good on a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 21-14 midway through the first half.
ASU then extended the advantage to as many as 12 points before the intermission and took a 33-24 lead into the locker room. Sims scored 11 points in the frame, including all three of his treys.
The Appalachian (7-4) lead remained steady through the first 10 minutes of the second half, before the Colonials made their move.
A Marcus Wright three-pointer gave the Apps a 48-35 lead with eight minutes to play and then RMU embarked on a 14-2 run to pull within 50-49 with five minutes to play.
Jeremi Booth snapped the streak with his third three-pointer of the night. It turned out to be ASU's final field goal of the night, however, as the Mountaineers went to the free throw line on seven consecutive possessions and drained 12-of-14 free throws to provide the final margin.
Over the same stretch, Robert Morris made just one of its last nine field goal attempts, en route to a dismal 26.1 percentage from the floor for the night.
The Mountaineers made 44.7 percent of their field goals and made 10-of-23 from downtown.
Josh Hunter and Isaac Butts combined for 21 of ASU's 44 rebounds while Booth scored 11 points and Kellen Brand added 10. Brand and Wright had four assists each as the Mountaineers dished out 17 on the evening.
Karon Abraham led the Colonials with 15 points while Russell Johnson came off the bench to secure 12 of RMU's 40 rebounds.
RMU's last home loss came on December 28, 2008 against Duquesne and stands at 16-2 in the Sewall Center dating back to the beginning of last season. The win was just the second on the road for ASU for the season in five attempts.
The Mountaineers continue the current three-game road swing at Dayton on Monday night at 8 p.m.
Murray State 73, Chattanooga 62
MURRAY, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team battled but fell short 73-62 at Ohio Valley Conference favorite Murray State (9-2) on Saturday afternoon. The win was the ninth in 10 games for the Racers.
Ty Patterson led Chattanooga (5-6) with 16 points including four three-pointers. Junior forward DeAntre Jefferson added a double-double with 10 points and game-high 11 rebounds for the Mocs.
Murray State was paced by Tony Easley and Isaiah Canaan with 16 points apiece. Ivan Aska added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Easley added four rebounds and five blocks.
Down 8-6 early, the Mocs defense held Murray State without a field goal for nearly seven minutes (6:47). Chattanooga went on a 12-0 run taking an 18-8 lead on Patterson's third straight three-pointer with 14:19 left in the half.
The Racers mounted a charge as the Mocs hit just five field goals in the final 10 minutes of the half allowing Murray State to take a 36-34 lead into the break. Patterson scored 16 of the Mocs' 34 first half points.
With the score at 49-45 in favor of Murray State with just under 14 minutes to play, the Racers went on a 9-2 run to go up by 11, 58-47 on a Jeffrey McClain layup with 11:42 left.
The Mocs closed to six points twice at 7:36 (60-54) on a Jeremy Saffore slam dunk and again at 6:04 (62-56) on a Saffore follow.
Murray State threatened to put the game away going back up by 11, 67-56, on two Donte Poole free throws at 5:08. But the Mocs did not go away quietly closing to 67-62 on a Ridge McKeither basket with 2:20. But it was the last points of the game as the Racers closed with the final six points for the 73-62 margin.
The Mocs turned the ball over 18 times in the game with 11 steals credited to the Racers. MSU scored 22 points off those 18 miscues. Chattanooga did win the battle of the boards 37-32 including a 21-16 advantage in the second half.
Chattanooga sophomore Keegan Bell played just eight minutes due to being out through the week with a stomach virus. Ranked eighth in the nation in assists, Bell managed just one on the day.
Chattanooga completes its pre-Christmas portion of the schedule on Monday at 7 p.m., in the McKenzie Arena hosting Tennessee Temple. The Mocs return to host the Dr Pepper Classic Dec. 29-30 with Eastern Kentucky, Long Island and Morgan State coming to town. EKU will square off with Morgan State at 6 p.m., on the 29th, followed by the Mocs and LIU at 8 p.m.
No. 24 Clemson 94, College of Charleston 55
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Jerai Grant score 12 points while Donte Hill added 11 pacing No 24 Clemson to a 94-55 win over College of Charleston in men's college basketball action before 8,308 at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday.
The Cougars, who fell to 5-4, travel to Honolulu to participate in the Diamond Head Classic. Charleston takes on host Hawaii at 12:30 a.m. eastern time on Dec. 23rd in the opening round of the Classic. Clemson improved to 10-2.
Charleston was led by Andrew Goudelock who had a game-high 17 points. Jeremy Simmons added nine points and eight rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. Donavan Monroe had nine points and a team-high four assists.
Grant went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field to lead Clemson to its fourth straight victory, Grant, the son of former Oklahoma standout Harvey Grant and nephew of Clemson great Horace, jammed home the game's first basket and never let up for the Tigers.
The Tigers jumped out to an 18-5 lead just 6:10 into the contest. Charleston answered with an 8-3 run to close within 21-13 with 10:16 left in the first half. Clemson finished the opening half with a 22-12 surge to take a 43-25 lead at intermission.
Clemson shot 60.0 percent for the game hitting on 39-of-65 attempts from the field. Charleston shot just 33.8 percent (22-65).
Texas A&M 71, The Citadel 50
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas native Cameron Wells was the bright spot for The Citadel Basketball team, scoring a game-high 28 points, in a 71-50 loss at 23rd ranked Texas A&M. Along the way Wells moved into 16th place on the Bulldogs scoring list, currently with 1,164 points, passing Ray Graves mark of 1,153. Fellow Lone Star state native Zach Urbanus finished the contest with 10 points and six rebounds, including two 3-pointers, in a difficult shooting night for the Bulldogs.
"They came out with a very inspired defensive effort and had great concentration on that end of the court," said Head Coach Ed Conroy. "We scored early on the first couple of possessions, but then they settled down an really locked in. (Derrick) Rolan did a great job on Urbanus and other guys played their assignments really well."
The Bulldogs (6-6) were plagued by 13 turnovers and an 18-for-55 (32.7%) field goal mark in the contest. However, they did manage to outscore Texas A&M 39-38 in the second half, knocking down 13-of-33 attempts after the break.
The trio of Donald Sloan (17 points), Nathan Walkup (12 points) and Khris Middleton (11 points) paced Texas A&M. Guard Derrick Roland was also a major threat for the Aggies, scoring nine points in 25 minutes of play. Sloan and Walkup combined to finish 6-for-10 from beyond the arc for an Aggies unit that was 8-of-21 in the contest. With the victory, Texas A&M improves to 9-2 overall.
Wells, who has scored in double figures in each of the last 16 games dating back to last season, coincidentally eclipsed the 20-point mark for the 21st time in his career.
The Citadel forced a pair of turnovers in the opening minutes of the game, jumping out to a quick 6-3 lead, before Texas A&M retaliated with a 19-0 run over the next 7:01. The Aggies Donald Sloan accounted for eight points, including two 3-pointers, and a steal during the stretch.
Urbanus broke the drought with a long range shot, his only basket of the frame, cutting the A&M lead to 19-9 at the 12:22 mark. The Aggies advantage continued to mount in the final 7:27, outscoring The Citadel 12-2 during that span. Nathan Walkup's six points, coming on a pair of 3-pointers, highlighted the run. After a Wolfinger dunk, Texas A&M scored the next four points, to take a 33-11 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs close out their Texas swing on Monday, Dec. 21 against Houston. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST.