UNC Greensboro 74, Elon 66
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Ben Stywall was 9-of-11 from the field on his way to 23 points as UNC Greensboro defeated Elon, 74-66, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action at Fleming Gym on Saturday afternoon.
Kendall Toney added 15 points and Pete Brown chipped in a career-high 10 points as the Spartans snapped a six-game losing streak overall and a nine-game skid at Fleming Gym. Ironically, it may be UNCG’s last game at Fleming for some time as the Spartans move their home slate to the Greensboro Coliseum beginning next season.
Devan Carter had 16 points to lead Elon (10-18, 7-12 SoCon). The Phoenix had four players in double figures with Chris Long adding 14 points.
UNCG, which beat Elon for the sixth straight time, shot 55.3 percent from the field, going 26-for-47 for the afternoon. It was the second time UNCG shot better than 50 percent from the floor against Elon this season and just the fourth time all year. UNCG also committed just 10 turnovers on Saturday, after having committed 11 turnovers in the first meeting last month.
After UNCG jumped out to a 13-6 lead early on, Elon used an 11-1 run to get back into it and take a 17-16 lead. The game remained tight the rest of the half with neither team gaining more than a three-point advantage. UNCG led
25-22 on Ben Stywall’s jumper with 1:45 left before intermission, but Elon responded and a three-pointer by Long gave Elon a 26-25 lead at the break.
The Spartans came out of the locker room with a response of their own in the form of an 12-4 run in the first 4:14 of the second half. Stywall had eight of the 12 points in the run as UNCG took a 37-29 lead.
The Phoenix drew back to within four before back-to-back three-pointers by Toney sparked an 8-0 spurt that pushed the lead to 45-35 with 13 minutes to play.
Elon held the Spartans to just one field goal over a six-minute span as it slowly chipped away at the lead. Ola Atoybei’s two free throws with 5:22 to play cut the UNCG lead to just 55-52. But a pair of free throws by Toney preceded his third third trey of the second half and put the Spartans back up by eight with four minutes to go.
The Phoenix weren’t about to go away. Long’s fourth three-pointer of the afternoon cut the UNCG lead to 66-61 with 1:40 to play. After trading baskets, Brown knocked down a pair of foul shots to make it 70-63. But Elon’s Monty Sanders knocked down a trey from the top of the key to make it a four-point game with 57.2 seconds to go.
Setting up full court pressure out of the time out, UNCG broke lose down the floor. Pete Brown was fouled intentionally, but missed both free throws. UNCG got the ball back with 52.1 seconds to play. The Spartans were able to run 30 seconds off the clock as the Phoenix couldn’t catch up to foul who they wanted to put on the line and Stywall wound up with an open lay-up.
After an Elon miss, Brown put the exclamation point on the win ? a breakaway dunk with nine seconds left that could be the Spartans’ last basket at Fleming for a little while.
Davidson 99, Georgia Southern 56
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson guard Stephen Curry scored a game-high 34 points to break the school's career scoring record and lead the Wildcats to a 99-56 Southern Conference victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at John M. Belk Arena.
Curry entered the game needing 30 points to break the record, held by John Gerdy who tallied 2,483 points from 1975-79. The junior's 30th point came after scramble near the top of the key, and Curry came away with loose ball, drove to the free throw line and hit a pull-up jumper with 16:18 remaining in the contest.
It was also Senior Day, marking the last regular-season home game at Davidson, and seniors Can Civi, Andrew Lovedale and Max Paulhus Gosselin were honored prior to tipoff. Lovedale finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds, and Paulhus Gosselin posted four points, four assists, three rebounds and five steals. Civi, who made the first start of his career, had three points after knocking down a pull-up 3-pointer with 1:13 left.
Ben Drayton led Georgia Southern (8-20, 5-14) with 18 points, while Colby Wohlleb netted 11, and Tyler Troupe added 10. Steve Rossiter recorded 12 points and nine rebounds for Davidson, and Brendan McKillop netted eight points off the bench. Will Archambault finished with seven points, five rebounds and three steals.
Davidson, which led the entire game, shot 55 percent for the game while holding the Eagles to 36 percent. The'Cats scored 31 points off 25 turnovers and outrebounded the Eagles 44-26. The Wildcats scored the first 16 points of the game and never looked back in building a 31-10 margin midway through the first half. The lead grew to as many as 45 points on a Will Reigel putback with 2:27 to play in the contest.
Samford 72, Appalachian State 63
BOONE, N.C. --- In its final game of the 2008-09 regular season, the Samford basketball team scored a critical 72-63 road victory against the Appalachian State Mountaineers Saturday in the Holmes Center. The Bulldogs used a 21-2 run midway through the second half to finish in third place in the Southern Conference’s North Division.
With the victory, Samford (14-15, 9-11 SoCon) swept its season series against Appalachian State (12-17, 9-11 SoCon) and closed out its inaugural campaign in the SoCon as the third-place team in the North Division.
Samford’s Andy King tied a career-high with 20 points Saturday as he finished 6-of-9 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-8 center from Omaha, Neb., also turned in a near-perfect 4-for-5 outing from the free-throw line.
Additionally, King grabbed three rebounds and a trio of steals in 32 minutes of play.
Junior Trey Montgomery, who scored a career-high 25 points in the Bulldogs’ first meeting against the Mountaineers, added 17 on Saturday. Samford’s 6-foot-4 point guard from Destrehan, La., also tallied five assists, four steals, three rebounds and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The Bulldogs’ bench outscored the Mountaineers’ reserves 21-17 on Saturday.
Samford’s Josh Bedwell came off the bench to score 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, while Matthew Friday added five.
Appalachian State’s leading scorer was guard Kellen Brand. He tallied a team-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, but only scored seven in the second half of play. The Mountaineers’ Josh Hunter and Donald Sims both finished with 10 points apiece.
With 13:01 left to play in Saturday’s SoCon North Division showdown, Appalachian State held a 44-36 lead.
The Bulldogs then used a barrage of 3-point baskets, back-door cuts and full-court steals to streak to a 57-46 advantage in the contest. During its game-changing 21-2 run, Samford received seven points from Montgomery, as well as deep 3-point baskets from King, Josh Davis and Bedwell.
Bedwell’s 3-point basket at the 5:42 mark in the second half capped the Bulldogs’ run.
With the shot clock running down in Samford’s possession, Bedwell curled around a screen on the left flank and fired a long-range 3-pointer. The ball swished through the cylinder and Appalachian State immediately called a 30-second timeout.
Following a layup from Hunter and a pair of free throws from Donald Sims, the Mountaineers trimmed the Bulldogs advantage to 59-52 with 3:36 to play.
Samford’s Montgomery then picked up two-straight steals that resulted in fast-break layups for the Bulldogs. On his first steal, he drove down for a thunderous two-handed dunk, while he fed the ball up to Bedwell for an easy layup on the second theft.
Appalachian State would never get any closer than nine points for the remainder of the game.
Aside from the Mountaineers’ 70-52 loss to the first-place Davidson Wildcats on Jan. 12, Samford has handed Appalachian State its second-and-third worst losses of the 2008-09 campaign. On Jan. 17, the Bulldogs handed the Mountaineers a 68-56 loss in Birmingham, Ala.
College of Charleston 69, Furman 58
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The College of Charleston’s Donavan Monroe led three players in double figures as the Cougars topped Furman 69-58 in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Carolina First Arena in Charleston, S.C.
With its 11th consecutive win over the Paladins at home, Charleston finished the regular season at 23-7 overall and 15-5 in the SoCon. Furman dropped its fourth straight to slip to 6-22 overall and 4-15 in league play.
The Cougars shot just 39 percent from the field, but connected on 8-of-17 three-pointers, including 3-of-3 from Tony White Jr. who joined Monroe in double figures with 12 points. Jermaine Johnson added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Charleston took a 32-24 lead into intermission and extended its advantage to 21 points at 63-42 with 6:01 remaining before Furman reeled off a 13-0 run to trim the margin to 63-55 with 1:27 to play. White and Monroe combined to convert on 6-of-8 trips to the charity stripe over the final
53 seconds to hold off the Paladins for the final 69-58 margin.
Sophomore Jordan Miller led Furman with 13 points and seven rebounds while freshman Brandon Sebirumbi added 10 points and six boards. Furman shot just 37.3% from the field, including 5-of-21 from three-point range, and made only 9-of-19 free throw attempts.
The Cougars held a 46-41 edge on the boards and notched 10 steals. Furman committed 16 turnovers while CofC was guilty of turning the ball over 17 times.
The Paladins close out the regular season on Monday night at Wofford.
Wofford 62, The Citadel 55
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Wofford College men's basketball team ended The Citadel’s eleven-game winning streak on Saturday night at McAlister Fieldhouse with a 62-55 win. With the game tied at 55 with 1:35 left, the Terriers scored the last seven points of the game.
Wofford is 15-13 overall and 11-8 in the conference, while The Citadel is 19-11 overall and 14-5 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 17 points and seven rebounds. Corey Godzinksi added twelve points, while Tim Johnson had eight rebounds to lead the squad. The Bulldogs were led by Demetrius Nelson with 14 points and eight rebounds and Cameron Wells added 13 points.
The game was tied early, but the Bulldogs took an 11-8 lead with a three from Zach Urbanus at 15:03. The Citadel continued the run and pushed the lead to 16-8 at the 11:26 mark. Noah Dahlman then put together a personal 9-0 run to give the Terriers the lead at 17-16 with 7:30 left in the first half.
Both teams traded the lead until Wofford took a 22-21 lead on a bucket and free throw by Terry Martin with 2:35 on the clock. The Terriers maintained a two-point lead after a three from Junior Salters made it a 25-23 game. The Citadel added a two from Zach Urbanus with 28 seconds left to tie the game and the score remained tied at 25-25 at the half.
To open the second half, the Bulldogs took an early 31-29 lead at the first media time out. A three by Corey Godzinski and a three from Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers the 37-35 lead at the 11:10 mark. The game was then tied several times before Jason Dawson hit a three at 8:34 to give the Terriers a 43-41 lead. Cameron Wells hit two free throws to tie the game at 53-53. Corey Godzinski hit a two, which was matched by Cameron Wells for a 55-55 score with 1:34 on the clock.
Wofford got a three from Brad Loesing, his first in the last six games, to take a 58-55 lead with just thirty seconds on the clock. After two free throws from Kevin Giltner, Noah Dahlman got the rebound from a missed three by the Bulldogs. The Citadel had another chance at a three with under ten seconds, but the rebound came to Junior Salters. Salters then hit two free throws with four seconds left in the game to seal the 62-55 victory.
A hoop and free throw from Terry Martin at 7:55 gave the Terriers a 46-42 lead. Wofford kept the lead with at three from Corey Godzinski at 6:23 to make it a 51-47 score. After a basket by Noah Dahlman, Demetrius Nelson answered for the Bulldogs for a 53-51 Terrier lead at 2:49.
Wofford shot 47 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs shot 46 percent from the floor and 20 percent from behind the arc. The Terriers had a 30-24 advantage on the boards and had seven steals.
With the win, the Terriers are 11-8 in the conference and have secured the first winning conference record since joining the SoCon in 1997-98. It was the seventh-straight win for Wofford at The Citadel. The Citadel, which had an eleven-game winning streak that was the second longest in the nation, lost for the first time since January 17 at Wofford. The Terriers swept the season series for the second-straight year.
The regular season wraps up on Monday, March 2 when the Terriers host Furman at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Western Carolina 86, Chattanooga 77
CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- Chattanooga (15-15, 11-9 SoCon) dug itself a hole to open the game and despite a furious rally, the Mocs lost 86-77 at Western Carolina (16-14, 11-9 SoCon). With the loss, UTC shares the Southern Conference North Division title with WCU.
It was a quick start for the Catamounts scoring the games first 15 points all on three pointers, four by Brigham Waginger. Western took a 22-2 at 15:36 on a three-point play by Brandon Giles.
Chattanooga chipped away cutting the lead to 30-15 on a Keyron Sheard layup at 11:56. The Catamounts then went on an 8-2 run to push the lead to 38-17 on a Greg Avery layup at 7:05 before taking a 51-33 advantage into the break.
The second half was more of the same as the first three baskets the Catamounts scored were three-pointers extending its lead to 66-44. It would get interesting from there.
Chattanooga went on a 9-0 run to close to within 13, 66-53, capped by a thunderous Nicchaeus Doaks dunk at 9:07. During the run, UTC held the Catamounts without a field goal for 5:32.
The Mocs cut the lead to eight 71-63 on consecutive three-pointers by Kevin Goffney. After a Giles jumper made it 74-64 WCU, UTC scored seven unanswered points to cut the lead to three, 74-71 on a Khalil Hartwell layup at 3:07.
But the Catamounts were not to be denied. WCU hit its free throws down the stretch to close with the nine-point win.
Doaks led four Mocs in double-digits with 19 points on the night. Goffney added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Hartwell chipped in 15 and Sheard 11. Doaks, Goffney and Hartwell combined for 39 of the Mocs 44 second-half points.
Giles and Waginger combined for 45 points with Giles tossing in 23 including his 1,000th career point. Waginger hit a career high seven three-pointers en route to his 22 points, a career high as well.