Western Carolina 69, UNC Greensboro 56
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Western Carolina had four players in double figures, led by freshman Harouna Mutombo’s 15 points, as the Catamounts defeated UNC Greensboro, 69-56, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman forward Damian Eargle led UNCG (4-23, 3-15 SoCon) with 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Catamounts (14-13, 9-8 SoCon) also got 13 points from Brandon Giles and 10 points each from Richie Gordon and Brigham Waginger. Waginger had six assists and six steals. Western Carolina led wire-to-wire in handing UNCG its fifth straight set-back.
A 21-4 run by Western Carolina got the Catamounts the first sizable advantage of the afternoon for either team. The first 12 minutes of action saw the Catamounts lead throughout, but by no more than six. But Western Carolina held the Spartans without a field goal for the final 10:15 of the first half, scoring 16 straight points at one point, to take a 39-20 lead into the intermission.
During the Spartans longest drought of the season, UNCG was 0-for-12 from the field, and committed six turnovers.
The Spartans went to a younger line-up in the second half ? going with three freshmen and two walk-ons ? for much of the second half and held their own. The Spartans outscored the Catamounts, 36-30, in the second half. UNCG also had a 20-18 advantage in rebounding. A fitting ending to the Spartans’ blue collar second half was when Mike Hardiman banked a 23-footer at the buzzer.
After trailing by 19 at the break, the Spartans never fell behind by more than 23 in the second half, despite several key starters not playing more than four minutes after halftime. The final margin of 13 was as close as UNCG got.
Wofford 85, Furman 82 (OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Noah Dahlman tallied a game-high 25 points, including four in the final 38 seconds, to lift Wofford to an 85-82 overtime victory over Furman in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
The win upped the Terriers’ record to 13-12 overall and 9-7 in the SoCon while Furman slipped to 6-20 overall and 4-13 inside the league.
Dahlman received a long pass from Junior Salters off of a defensive rebound, converted the layup and finished the three-point play at the foul line with 38 seconds remaining to turn a two-point deficit into an 83-82 Terrier lead. Wofford then forced Furman’s Justin Dehm into back-to-back turnovers and Salters and Dahlman each connected on 1-of-2 free throws to up the advantage to 85-82.
With seven seconds left, Dahlman missed the back end of a two shot foul and Bryson Barnes snagged the rebound. Dehm raced across half court to launch a three-pointer from the left wing with one second left, but his effort bounced off the front iron as time expired.
The win marked Wofford’s first at Timmons Arena since January 11, 2003, and snapped a five-game Terrier losing streak in the facility.
After trailing 39-31 at halftime and by as many as 10 points in the second half, Furman rallied to tie the game at 70-70 with 3:16 remaining on Jordan Miller’s three-pointer. A Miller free throw and Barnes jumper upped the lead to three before Dahlman trimmed the margin to 73-72 on a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left in regulation.
The two teams traded turnovers before Miller made 1-of-2 at the line with 23 ticks left give Furman a 74-72 lead. Jason Dawson penetrated down the right side of the lane and drew a foul from Miller, his fifth, to earn to trips to the foul line. Dawson buried both to even the game at 74-74 with 12 seconds left and Dehm’s trey with two seconds to go rattled off of the rim to send the game to overtime.
Dahlman made 9-of-13 shots from the field and 7-of-11 attempts at the line while grabbing six rebounds. Salters added 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and forward Tim Johnson poured in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Terriers shot 51.7 percent (31-60) from the field and 18-of-29 (.621) from the foul line. Wofford held a 36-33 edge on the glass and forced Furman into 18 turnovers while committing just 16.
Barnes netted a career-high 20 points and matched a career-best with 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Miller added 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 shooting from the line. Dehm and Noah States each reached double figures with 14 points apiece.
The Paladins connected on 28-60 (.467) field goal attempts and 20-of-27 (.741) free throws in the loss. Furman was outscored 40-20 in the paint and 22-11 on points off turnovers.
Furman travels to The Citadel on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. Wofford hosts Western Carolina on Monday at 7 p.m. at Johnson Arena.
Butler 75, Davidson 63
DAVIDSON, N.C. ?Gordon Hayward scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead No. 21/22 Butler to a 75-63 victory in an ESPNU BracketBusters matchup Saturday afternoon at a sold-out John M. Belk Arena.
Stephen Curry, who missed Davidson's last game because of a sprained left ankle, returned to action for the Wildcats (22-6) and posted 20 points, six assists and five rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Andrew Lovedale recorded 15 points and seven rebounds and shot 6-for-6 from the floor, and Will Archambault collected 11 points and five rebounds.
Hayward was 6-for-12 from the floor, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. Matt Howard recorded 12 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs (23-4), and Willie Veasley collected 10 points and seven rebounds.
Butler took a 9-7 lead on a Garrett Butcher layup 7:06 into the game and never trailed again, and every time the Wildcats tried to mount a run, the Bulldogs had an answer.
With Davidson trailing by five points at the break, Curry opened the second half by coming off a screen and nailing a 3-pointer, but Hayward answered with a trey on the other end, sparking an 18-7 Butler run. Shelvin Mack capped the stretch with a 3-pointer that banked off the glass and in as the shot clock horn sounded, making the lead 52-39.
Davidson got the margin down to 11 midway through the frame, but a Shawn Vanzant 3-pointer ignited a mini 7-2 spurt the stretched the advantage back to 16 points. Davidson was never able to make a run to get within single digits of the Bulldogs.
Both teams played tough defense, with each holding the other under 40 percent shooting from the floor. The Bulldogs won the turnover battle by three and shot 20-of-24 from the free-throw line compared to 13-19 for the 'Cats. Butler also held a 36-31 edge in rebounding.
The Wildcats return to action in a 7 p.m. contest against SoCon opponent UNC Greensboro Wednesday in Belk Arena. That contest starts a three-game league stretch which caps the regular season for the Wildcats.
Winthrop 65, Appalachian State 63
ROCK HILL, S.C. ? For the third-straight season, Appalachian State University men's basketball's BracketBuster contest went down to the wire, as Winthrop escaped with 65-63 win over the Mountaineers on Saturday.
The Apps scraped back from a nine-point second half deficit and took three late leads in the game before three Eagle treys and a pair of free throws gave Winthrop a late three point edge.
With the final possession of the game, Marcus Wright drew a foul for three shots at the line with just 0.7 seconds showing on the clock. The freshman missed the first shot and made the second, before intentionally missing the third. Josh Hunter grabbed the rebound and tipped it off the back iron before the shot rimmed out to end the game.
Andre Jones led the Eagles with 15 points while Charles Corbin chipped in with 11 off the bench. George Valentine pulled down 11 rebounds for the Eagles.
Appalachian (11-16) ended a four-minute scoring drought with a 10-0 run over the next three to take its first lead of the game with just over four minutes at 55-54.
Winthrop scored the first eight points of the game before Donald Sims found the bottom of the net from downtown to get the Apps on the board. Appalachian then began to close on the Eagles with the help of four first-half three pointers and a pair of blocks and six rebounds from Andre Williamson. The freshman forward finished the game with a career-best 11 rebounds and five points on 2-of-3 shooting.
The Eagles (9-18) kept a 28-22 lead at the intermission but it took just two minutes for Donterious Hughes and the Apps to tie the game at 30-30.
Sims led the Mountaineers with 18 points and four three-pointers with two rebounds and an assist. Hunter had 11 points and nine rebounds in the game to go along with two steals and two assists.
Wright scored all seven points at the charity stripe as the Apps were 20-of-34 from the line in the game, compared to 11-for-18 for the Eagles. The Mountaineers shot 36.7 percent from the field and sank 7-of-20 treys.
Each of Appalachian's last five games have been decided by five or fewer points, and all three BracketBuster games have been determined by a total of five points as ASU moves to 1-2 in the event.
The Mountaineers return home to close out the regular season next weekend. The team hosts Chattanooga on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Samford on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Chattanooga 67, Samford 62
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Samford University basketball team played its first game in a week Saturday and battled hard on the road against the Chattanooga Mocs in front of 4,273 fans at The McKenzie Arena. After the Bulldogs built a 37-29 halftime lead, Chattanooga rallied late in the second half to post a 67-62 Southern Conference win.
With 3:31 left to play in Saturday’s regionally-televised game, Samford (13-14, 8-10 SoCon) held a 62-61 advantage after Matthew Friday scored on a driving layup to the rim.
On the ensuing possession, Chattanooga’s Stephen McDowell was fed a pass from Kevin Gossney on the left flank. The Mocs’ all-conference performer collected the ball, hesitated for a quick second and then fired a 3-point attempt over a lunging Bulldog defender.
McDowell’s 11th 3-point attempt of the game swished through the cylinder and gave Chattanooga (15-13, 11-6 SoCon) its 64-62 advantage.
Samford then missed its next three attempts from the field and was forced to send Keyron Sheard to the free-throw line with 37 seconds remaining in the game. The Mocs’ Sheard missed his first attempt but connected on the second one to give his team a 65-62 advantage.
After a Bulldogs’ 30-second timeout, Samford ran through an inbounds play and tried to work Andy King open for a game-tying 3-pointer from the left wing. He rattled off a shot but it was blocked by Chattanooga’s Nicchaeus Doaks with 10 seconds left. Josh Davis grabbed the ball and fired up another 3-pointer, but it bounced off the front rim over to Trey Montgomery in the corner.
Samford’s Montgomery picked up the loose ball and seemingly called for a Bulldog timeout when the official on the far side of the court called him out of bounds for stepping on the line.
Chattanooga then used a pair of free throws from McDowell to earn its final 67-62 advantage.
McDowell finished with 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, while Doaks tallied a game-high 20 points on a near-perfect 7-for-9 outing from the floor. Doaks also compiled eight rebounds and two blocks, and knocked down a 3-point attempt in the first half.
Samford shot a game-high 50 percent from the field and turned in an 84.6-percent outing from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs were 9-of-26 from the 3-point line, but were out-rebounded 33-21, including a 15-5 disparity on the offensive boards.
Samford finished with three players scoring in double figures and were led by Bryan Friday’s 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-6 junior from Grapevine, Texas, also tallied two steals and a rebound.
Davis scored 14 points, 11 of which came in the first half of play, while King added 11 on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor.
With Chattanooga’s win, the Mocs earned the season sweep between the teams.
Despite trailing 25-15 with 6:45 remaining in the opening period, the Bulldogs caught fire from beyond the arc and knocked down four 3-point baskets to close out the half. Samford turned in a 7-of-12 performance from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Bulldogs’ Davis led all scorers with 11 points at the half and connected on 4-of-6 attempts from the floor. A sophomore from Lubbock, Texas, Davis also made 3-of-5 field goals from long range.
Samford’s Friday and Curtis West both added eight points in the opening period. West was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, while Friday turned in a 4-for-6 performance. Sophomore King added six points.
Chattanooga’s top scorer in the first half was Doaks with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor.
UNC Wilmington 75, Elon 72
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Chris Long's game-tying three-point attempt clanged off the front of the rim as time expired and the UNC Wilmington Seahawks picked up a 75-72 non-conference men's basketball victory over the Elon Phoenix from Trask Coliseum in ESPNU BracketBuster action on Saturday night. The loss moved Elon's overall record to 9-17 while UNCW improved to 7-22 on the year.
Elon quickly pulled ahead by a 12-4 margin after TJ Douglas drained a three less than six minutes into the contest. The Phoenix lead grew to 20-8 when Ola Atoyebi knocked down a jumper at the 11:23 mark of the first half. That was the largest lead of the night for Elon.
Montez Downey would score the next 12 UNCW points en route to netting a career-best 26 markers. In that same span, Elon scored just five points and saw its lead whittled down to just five points at 25-20.
Monty Sanders hit a jumper and Brett James sank two from the line to build the Elon lead back to nine with 6:26 to go in the half, but the Seahawks closed the half with a 17-8 run to even the score at 37 at the break.
UNCW continued its hot streak to begin the second stanza, scoring the first seven points of the half before a Long jumper ended the run at the 16:09 mark.
Wilmington's largest lead of the contest came at the 11:54 mark when Kevon Moore's trey ballooned the advantage to 14 points at 59-45.
The Phoenix fought back and went on a 14-0 run to knot the score at 59 with 9:10 to go. In that span, Atoyebi netted six of his team-high 18 markers.
UNCW responded with a 7-0 spurt before Long drained a three. Three Chad Tomko free throws pushed the Seahawk lead back to seven at 69-62 with a little more than five and a half minutes remaining.
Elon found itself down 73-68 with 3:56 left before Devan Carter got free for a lay-up with 1:32 to play. Neither team scored again until Atoyebi's put-back with 14 seconds left trimmed the Phoenix deficit to just a point at 73-72.
The Phoenix fouled Tomko who hit both ends of a 1-and-1 and the Seahawks promptly called a timeout with 10.3 seconds on the clock. Elon brought the ball down the floor and Long got off a good look which hit the front of the iron and fell to the left of the basket, sealing the UNCW victory.
Sanders led all players with a career-best 10 rebounds while Carter finished with 14 points for Elon which shot 73.9 percent from the line and 44.4 percent from the field. Drew Spradlin added nine points and had six rebounds off the bench.
UNCW's Tomko finished with 20 points and he and Downey combined for 46 of the 75 Seahawk markers.
The Phoenix is now 0-3 all-time in BracketBuster games while the Seahawks picked up their first BracketBuster victory in four tries.
Elon will return to SoCon play on Thursday night as the Phoenix plays host to Georgia Southern in a 7 p.m. contest.
Georgia Southern 66, Jacksonville State 63
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Tyler Troupe and Ben Drayton III sank five free throws down the stretch but a missed three pointer by Nick Murphy at the buzzer sealed Georgia Southern’s 66-63 win over Jacksonville State Saturday night (Feb. 21) at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles (8-18 overall), playing this non-conference game as part of the ESPN BracketBuster event, snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Georgia Southern was the only Southern Conference team to win its BracketBuster game of the four SoCon teams playing today.
Troupe hit five free throws, Drayton added two and Anthony Marshall hit one in the final 80 seconds to help seal the win.
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-2 lead thanks to a basket by Sandy Perry and an old-fashioned three-point play from Troupe.
JSU staged a 16-4 run, as its first four field goal makes were all from three-point range. Drayton nailed a 3-pointer then followed with two free throws. Colby Wohlleb also hit two free throws and a 3-pointer helping the Eagles start a 25-5 run to close out the half.
Antonio Hanson hit a triple right at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 34-23 lead heading into the locker room.
Drayton hit a pair of threes and Troupe had a highlight reel dunk off a missed field goal for an 8-0 run to start the second half and gain a 42-23 lead.
From the 15:03 mark of the first half when JSU took an 18-9 lead it made 1 field goal until the 14 minute mark of the second half ? a span of 21 minutes. The Gamecocks made their free throw attempts to help spur a 10-2 run, cutting the Eagles lead to 10. Hanson drained another triple with 12:39 remaining, but Jeremy Bynum hit a 3-pointer then added two free throws with nine minutes remaining to make it a three-point game, 49-46.
Hanson missed from the right corner but Kenith Ward got the offensive rebound and kicked it back to Hanson in the same spot, this time the junior guard drained the ?3’.
But JSU staged a 13-2 run of its own, nine from Bynam and a putback by Amadou Mbodji to tie the score with just under six minutes remaining.
Hanson finished with 19 points, leading the Eagles. Drayton added 17 and five rebounds while Troupe added 11 points.
Bynum led all scorers with 28 points for JSU (11-16).
Georgia Southern travels to Elon on Thursday night (Feb. 26). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.