College of Charleston 68, Georgia Southern 59
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Andrew Goudelock scored a game-high 19 points and Jeremy Simmons posted a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds leading College of Charleston to a 68-59 win over Georgia Southern in the Southern Conference opener for both schools before 2,764 at John Kresse Arena on Thursday.
The Cougars improved to 2-3 on the season, while the Eagles fell to 3-5. Both teams play league games on Saturday. Charleston plays host to Davidson at 4 p.m. Georgia Southern plays at The Citadel at 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern used a 10-0 run to close the first half, including the final five points from Ben Drayton, to take a 28-25 lead at intermission. The Eagles stretched their run to 14-0 earlier in the second half and took a 32-25 advantage with 18:29 left.
Goudelock's triple with 11:34 left capped a 16-8 Charleston run that gave the Cougars a 41-40 lead. The game, which was tied nine times and saw 11 lead changes, stayed tight throughout.
The Cougars took the lead for good at 55-54 on a pair of free throws by Goudelock with 5:02 left. Goudelock sparked a 9-0 Charleston run that gave the Cougars a 62-54 cushion with just 2:58 left.
For the game, the Cougars shot 50.0 percent from the floor, including 66.7 percent in the second half connecting on 14-of-21 attempts. Charleston shot 53.3 percent from 3-point territory after the break (8-15). The Eagles were limited to just 37.3 percent from the floor for the game but forced Charleston into a season-high 23 turnovers.
The Cougars, who held a 37-34 edge in rebounding, also had 11 blocks. The most by a Charleston team since recording 15 blocks against East Tennessee State on Jan. 3, 2000.
Donavan Monore added 16 points, while freshman Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.) chipped in 12 off the bench for Charleston. The Eagles got a team-high 15 points from Drayton and 13 off the bench from Willie Powers.
Davidson 74, The Citadel 63
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Will Archambault led the Wildcats with 21 points, and Jake Cohen added 20 points and seven rebounds as Davidson opened itsSouthern Conference schedule with a 74-63 victory over The Citadel at McAlister Field House Thursday night.
Archambault hit 7 of his 14 shots from the floor and made 6-of-9 from three-point range for the Wildcats (2-5, 1-0). Cohen was 8-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-8 from long distance.
JP Kuhlman posted 19 points and six rebounds, while Brendan McKillop added a game-high eight assists without committing a turnover.
Zach Urbanus and Cameron Wells each scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs (5-4, 0-1).
Davidson matched a season-high with 14 3-pointers while shooting a season-best 48.2 percent from the floor. The Wildcats held The Citadel to 39.3 percent shooting, including 34.3 percent in the first half.
Davidson pushed a six-point halftime lead into a 50-35 advantage with a 14-5 run over the first 4:28 of the second half. Archambault hit a pair of 3-pointers during the run.
An Urbanus triple brought the margin to within nine points with 8:47 to play, but Davidson scored 10 of the game¹s next 14 points to push the margin back to 15. The cushion grew to as many as 18 points on a Cohen 3-pointer with 2:31 remaining.
After Wells opened the game with a conventional 3-point play, Archambault connected on consecutive 3-pointers to give Davidson a lead it never relinquished. Every time the Bulldogs made a run, the Wildcats had an answer.
A 14-6 Wildcat run, capped by a Ben Allison 3-pointer, gave Davidson a 28-18 cushion with 6:26 to play. The Citadel trimmed the margin to three points, but Cohen netted five of Davidson¹s last eight points as the OCats led 36-30 at the break.
Davidson returns to action in a SoCon game at the College of Charleston Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast.
Furman 85, Appalachian State 82
BOONE, N.C. -- Jordan Miller equalled a career-high with 26 points and freshman Colin Reddick added a career-best 14 as Furman rallied past Appalachian State 85-82 in the Southern Conference opener for both teams on Thursday evening at the Holmes Convocation Center.
After trimming the Mountaineer lead to one point on a Darryl Evans free throw with 1:07 remaining, Miller pulled up and buried an 18-foot jumper from the right side with 37 seconds left to give Furman an 82-81 lead. Justin Dehm followed by converting four free throw attempts in the final 14 seconds as Furman claimed its second straight road victory to improve to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play.
Appalachian State built a nine-point advantage at 63-54 on a Donald Sims' three-pointer with 9:12 left in the game, but Furman managed to shoot 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field in the second period and convert on 17-of-22 free throw attempts over the final 20 minutes to rally past Appalachian State and end a four-game skid versus the Mountaineers. The Paladins' 85 points were the most by a Furman team against a SoCon opponent since tallying 85 in a home victory over Appalachian State on January 31, 2004. It marked the most points by the Paladins in a conference road game since netting 85 in an 87-85 overtime loss at Georgia Southern on February 19, 2001.
Miller connected on 11-of-14 shots from the field, including a 4-of-5 effort beyond the arc, to match his career-high of 26 points which he established last December against North Florida and lead five Paladins in double figures. Reddick, a 6-foot-9 forward, made 4-of-6 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 free throw attempts to tally 14 points to go with seven rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots. Amu Saaka netted 13 points, Dehm added 12 and Evans scored 10 to round out Furman's double figure scorers.
The Paladins committed a season low nine turnovers while shooting a season-best 51.8 percent (29-56) from the floor and 64.3 percent (9-14) from three-point range. Furman also made 18-of-24 attempts at the charity stripe and scored 20 points off of 15 Mountaineer turnovers.
Jeremi Booth and Sims led Appalachian State with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Kellen Brand scored 14 points and Ryann Abraham added 12 to give the Mountaineers four players in double figures. Furman held ASU's starting front court of Andre Williamson and Isaac Butts to a total of just four points on 2-of-7 shooting before both players fouled out.
Appalachian State (4-4, 0-1 SoCon), who lost at home for the first time in five outings this season, shot 48.3% from the floor and 7-of-17 from three-point range.
Furman returns home on Saturday to host SoCon North Division preseason favorite Western Carolina in a 4 p.m. contest on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
Samford 55, Elon 31
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- With its best defensive performance of the young 2009-10 season, the Samford University basketball team opened Southern Conference play with a 55-31 victory against the Elon Phoenix at home in the Pete Hanna Center. Elon's 31 points marked its lowest scoring total since a 25-23 loss to North Carolina A&T during the 1970-71 season.
Samford (2-5, 1-0 SoCon) recorded its best defensive performance since a 73-30 win against Brewton-Parker on Nov. 24, 2007. The Bulldogs are well on pace to lead the SoCon in scoring defense for a second-straight season. Last year, Samford was ranked first in the conference by only allowing an average of 62.2 points per game.
Junior sharpshooter Josh Davis paced the Bulldogs with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Samford's native of Lubbock, Texas, was coming off a career-high 26-point performance against Texas Tech on Saturday and continued his hot hand Thursday. Davis knocked down his first four shots of the game from beyond the arc.
Senior forward Bryan Friday followed with 11 points, five rebounds and a steal, while sophomore guard John Peterson added eight points on 3-of-4 shooting. Peterson also grabbed a pair of rebounds and blocked a shot.
Elon (2-6, 0-1 SoCon) lost its fourth-straight game Thursday and didn't finish with a player scoring in double figures. The Phoenix was led by sophomore guard Josh Bonney with eight points, but he was 4-of-18 from the field and 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
As a team, Elon shot 26 percent from the floor and 12 percent from beyond the arc. In the second half of play, the Phoenix turned in a 1-for-16 performance from 3-point range.
Samford out-rebounded Elon 32-30 and finished with nine players grabbing at least two rebounds. Friday, Jeffrey Merritt and Trey Montgomery all led the way with five boards.
The Bulldogs quickly streaked out to an early 13-4 lead in the game behind the scoring of Friday, Montgomery and Merritt. Merritt scored five of Samford's first 13 points, while Friday tallied the Bulldogs' opening two buckets of the game.
Samford, despite a mini-drought of three minutes to end the first half, cruised to a 28-14 lead at the intermission. Friday led all scorers with nine points in the opening period.
Right out of the gate in the second half, Davis knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 39-16 advantage with 14:50 left to play. Samford continued to knock down shots midway through the final period and led 50-19 with 6:25 remaining.
The Bulldogs' bench outscored Elon's bench by a total of 17-11. Peterson registered his career-high of eight, while Kaylin Johnson added four, Gregg Wooten tallied three and Matthew Friday finished with two points, three rebounds and a trio of assists.