Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Saturday's Men's Basketball Roundup

Samford 69, Elon 47

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- On “Senior Day” for the Samford basketball team, a pair of sophomores stole the show Saturday in the Pete Hanna Center. Josh Bedwell scored a game-high 21 points and Josh Davis added 16 in a decisive 69-47 victory against the Elon Phoenix. The win came in the Bulldogs’ final home game of the season.

 

With the 22-point victory, Samford (13-13, 8-9 Southern Conference) closed out its final homestand of the 2008-09 campaign with a 2-1 record and its second-straight win.

 

Samford will close out its regular season with three-straight SoCon road games beginning next Saturday at Chattanooga, Western Carolina and Appalachian State.

 

Elon (8-16, 5-11 SoCon) lost its second-consecutive matchup and dropped its third game in four outings. The Phoenix finished the road trip with an 0-2 record; a much different outcome than when it defeated both College of Charleston and Georgia Southern in its previous road swing.

 

With Saturday’s victory, Samford swept the season series with Elon and improved to 2-0 all-time against the Phoenix.

  

Bedwell scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot sharpshooter from nearby Hartselle, Ala., knocked down 5-of-7 attempts from 3-point range and tallied his stellar scoring total in only 18 minutes of play.

  

Davis, Samford’s talented sophomore from Lubbock, Texas, scored his 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. He made 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc and added three free throws. In his last four games, Davis has proven to be one of the Bulldogs’ top scorers as he is averaging 17 points per contest.

 

Montgomery finished with 15 points for Samford and added four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 

Elon’s top scorer Saturday was Monty Sanders, who finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. The Phoenix’s Brett James added 12 points, six rebounds and an assist in 33 minutes of action.

 

Samford’s Jim Griffin came off the bench to pull down a team-high five rebounds. The Bulldogs’ junior from Chicago, Ill., also co-led the team with four assists. Sophomore center Andy King scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds.

 

 

The Citadel 72, College of Charleston 58

 

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Cameron Wells scored 18 points and John Brown added a career-best 14 points and 12 rebounds leading The Citadel to a 72-58 Southern Conference win over the College of Charleston before 5,168 at Carolina First Arena on Saturday.

 

The Citadel, which improved to 17-10 overall and 12-4 in league play and stretched its winning streak to nine games, won for the first time at College of Charleston since a 65-58 Bulldog victory at John Kresse Arena on Jan. 12, 1989.  The Citadel won the season series for the first time since 1936-37, and swept the regular season matchups for the first time since 1932-33. The Cougars fell to 18-7 and 10-5.

 

The Citadel, which trailed 29-28 at halftime, got 13 points from Demetrius Nelson and 12 from Wells after intermission to spark the comeback.  Zach Urbanus hit a pair of 3-pointers and Nelson scored five points in a decisive 14-2 run that gave The Citadel a 53-42 lead with 9:04 remaining.

 

Tony White, Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 2:30 left the cut The Citadel’s lead to 63-56.  The Bulldogs hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to earn the win.

 

For the game, The Citadel shot 51 percent from the floor connecting on 25-of-49 attempts, 60 percent in the first half when they hit 12-of-20 chances.  Charleston shot 40 percent from the floor for the game.

 

Nelson finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.  Urbanus had seven boards and nine points.  The Bulldogs outrebounded the Cougars 38-21.

 

Charleston got a team-high 15 points from Andrew Goudelock and 12 points from White.  Dustin Scott added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds. Jermaine Johnson had five points and eclipsed the 1,200-point plateau for his career (1,204).

 

Charleston plays at Appalachian State at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.  The Bulldogs travel to Davidson for a 7:00 start on Wednesday.  

 

 

Davidson 75, Furman 60

 

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Stephen Curry tallied 25 points and Steven Rossiter notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to help Davidson past Furman 75-60 in Southern Conference men’s basketball action before a sellout crowd of 2,595 Saturday afternoon on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.

The league-leading Wildcats, with their eighth straight win over the Paladins, improved to 22-4 overall and 15-1 in the SoCon.  Furman dropped to 6-19 overall and 4-12 inside the league.

Curry, the nation’s leading scorer connected on 6-of-15 field goals, including 4-of-9 beyond the arc, and converted on 9-of-10 trips to the foul line before leaving the game with a sprained ankle with 9:20 remaining in the second half. 

Leading 60-55 at the time of Curry’s exit, the Wildcats turned to Rossiter and Will Archambault who scored back-to-back baskets to put Davidson ahead 64-55 with under 7:30 left to play.  Bryson Barnes answered with two of his career-high 17 points, but a Brendan McKillop free throw and three-pointer from Max Paulhus Gosselin extended the Davidson lead to 68-57 with 3:03 remaining.

Furman was forced to foul the rest of the way and McKillop stepped to the line to convert six consecutive free throw attempts to help the Wildcats pull away for the final 75-60 margin.

McKillop scored 10 points and forward Andrew Lovedale added 13 points and nine rebounds to join Curry and Rossiter in double figures.  The Wildcats shot just 39 percent (21-54) from the field, but made good on 26-of-40 trips to the charity stripe while holding a 37-32 edge on the glass.

Sophomore Jordan Miller paced the Paladins with 20 points while grabbing a career-high seven rebounds.  Miller connected on 5-of-15 field goal attempts and 6-of-8 foul shots to go with three steals.  Barnes tallied 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and six rebounds while Justin Dehm posted eight points and five assists.

The Paladins shot 42 percent (21-50) from the floor and 33 percent (5-15) from three-point range, but made only 1-of-6 treys in the second half.  Furman jumped to a 36-35 lead at intermission by hitting 4-of-9 long range jumpers and 14-of-30 field goal attempts.

After playing five games in the span of 10 days, Furman will take a short break before returning to action in its home finale on February 21, when it hosts Wofford.  Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.  Davidson hosts The Citadel on February 18, beginning at 7 p.m. at Belk Arena.

 

 

Western Carolina 89, Appalachian State 84

 

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Donald Sims scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, but Western Carolina supplemented its early lead with late free throws to hang on for an 89-84 win over Appalachian State University men's basketball on Saturday night. 

 

The Mountaineers (10-14, 7-9 SoCon) held a 43-28 rebound advantage and shot 51.8 percent from the field, but fell victim to turnovers. The Apps turned the ball over 28 times compared, to just 10 times for WCU in the first loss in the last 11 meetings between the teams. 

 

After trailing by eight points early on, five points from Josh Hunter cut the deficit to one point at 16-15. A Kellen Brand three-pointer then tied the game at 21-21. Brand finished the game with 18 points 6-of-10 shooting with three boards and a steal. 

 

From that point, WCU's Harouna Mutombo carried the home team to a 45-39 halftime advantage with 14 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Brand had 12 for the Apps. Mutombo finished the game with 28 points, one shy of his career high.  Keaton Cole added 15 points for the Catamounts, while Brigham Waginger poured in 12.

 

Western Carolina (13-12, 8-7) opened the second half on a 15-8 run and extended the lead to as many as 14 points at 62-48. The Apps then began a comeback behind seven points from Donald Sims. 

 

For the second-straight game, Sims scored a majority of his points after the intermission as he sank four three-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws in the game.

 

Six players pulled in at least four rebounds, led by Isaac Butts who had six - five on the offensive end - to go along with nine points and a pair of blocks.

 

Andre Williamson played 17 minutes off the bench and swatted half of the team's six blocks to go along with six points and four rebounds, while Marcus Wright again led the team with four assists. 

 

 

Chattanooga 84, UNC Greensboro 75

 

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Mikko Koivisto had a career-high 28 points, but it wasn’t enough as UNC Greensboro fell to Chattanooga, 84-75, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night at McKenzie Arena.

 

Niccheaus Doaks led the way for the Mocs with 21 points, including 13-of-18 at the free throw line. Stephen McDowell added 20 points and seven assists. Chattanooga raised its record to 14-13 overall, 10-6 in conference play.

 

Koivisto knocked down 8-of-15 from three-point range. The eight three-pointers was one shy of the school record, while the 15 attempts broke the UNCG mark of 14 held by Kevin Oleksiak and Scott Hartzell.

 

Kendall Toney added 15 points for UNCG (4-21, 3-13), including four three-pointers.

 

The Spartans were in foul trouble just about all night. Pete Brown fouled out with 11 minutes to play, having played just 11 minutes of action. Elhanan Bone fouled out four minutes later, playing just 10 minutes.

 

Both teams struggled in the early portion of the game. Chattanooga missed 10 of its first 12 shots from the field, while the Spartans missed seven of 11 and already had seven team fouls just eight minutes into the contest. But Mikko Koivisto got it going for UNCG, knocking down back-to-back treys to help UNCG to a 19-13 lead midway through the first half.

 

Stephen McDowell’s first three-pointer of the year against the Spartans ? the team that broke his 39-game streak earlier this season ? sparked a 7-0 run that knotted the score at 22-22 with six minutes to play. UNCG stretched the lead back out to six before a 9-0 Chattanooga run gave the Mocs their first lead of the night, 32-29, with a little over two minutes left in the half.

 

The Spartans turned the tables and held the Mocs without a field goal for the rest of the half. Kendall Toney’s trey with four seconds left in the half gave UNCG a 35-33 lead heading to the locker room.

  

The Spartans tied the game at 55-55 with a 7-2 spurt midway through the second half. Chattanooga answered, however, with a 12-3 run as Bone and Damian Eargle fouled out of the game. The Spartans couldn’t get closer than six the rest of the way.

 

 

Wofford 82, Georgia Southern 75

 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Georgia Southern blistered the nets from long range in the second half, making a run at erasing Wofford's 20-point lead, but the Terriers made 12-of-16 free throws in the final two minutes to hold on for an 82-75 win Saturday night (Feb. 14). With the loss Georgia Southern falls to 7-17 overall, 5-11 in the Southern Conference.

 

Down 12 at the half, the Eagles came out firing as their first five made field goals were all from long range. Antonio Hanson \drained three triples and Tyler Troupe nailed two. However, Wofford kept on answering and took its largest lead of the game at 45-25 with 16:29 remaining.

 

The Eagles hit 11-of-18 from long distance over the final 20 minutes. Colby Wohlleb hit four three pointers, Hanson had three, Troupe and Ben Drayton III made two each. The 13 three pointers were the second-highest total this year (13-of-24, 54.2 percent).

 

Noah Dahlman and Kevin Giltner scored 17 points each for the Terriers.  Corey Godzinski came off the bench and tallied 11 points for Wofford, while Tim Johnson scored nine points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

 

Down 17 with 4:25 left, Drayton nailed a three and Wohlleb hit back-to-back treys to key a 9-0 run and make it 70-62 with 2:10 remaining. That's when Wofford started connecting from the line.

 

With 67 seconds left, Drayton made the first of a 1-and-1 but missed the second. Troupe got the rebound and was immediately fouled. He sank the first to make it an eight-point game with just over a minute. That would be the closest the Eagles would get until Jeb Brannen scored his first collegiate points on a putback off a missed shot for the final margin.

 

Wofford (12-12, 8-7) scored the opening basket but the Eagles responded with a three pointer from Hanson and basket from Kenith Ward.

 

Krzysztof Janiszewski hit a jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to 17-15 with 10 minutes left in the half. From there the Eagles went cold, getting a triple from Troupe with just under six minutes remaining and jumper from Sandy Perry coming out of the four-minute media timeout. Wofford staged a 12-3 run to take control.

 

Perry finished with eight points in the first half as the Eagles shot 36 percent in the first half. Drayton  hit the team's only free throw attempts in the half.

 

Wofford hit five 3-pointers and shot 43.3 percent for the half. The Terriers also held a 21-16 edge on the glass, 10-6 on the offensive end.

 

Troupe scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, the second time this year he scored 20-plus. Drayton finished with 17 points and season-high eight assists.

 

Wohlleb and Hanson added 12 points each, all from long range. Overall the Eagles shot 47.5 percent from the game and 6-of-8 at the free throw line.

 

The Terriers also had the hot hand in the second half, shooting 70.6 percent (12-of-17 field goals) good for a 53.2 percentage for the game. Wofford hit 22-of-33 free throws and held a 36-30 edge on the glass. The Eagles committed one more turnover (14-13), but only turned the ball over five times in the second half.