Wofford 69, UNC Greensboro 57
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Wofford got 18 points from Noah Dahlman and shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half to defeat UNC Greensboro, 69-57, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Monday night at Fleming Gym.
Junior Salters added 16 points as the Terriers moved to .500 on the season at 11-11, 7-6 in Southern Conference play. UNCG dropped to 4-19 and 3-11 in league play.
Trailing by 15 with 3:36 to play, the Spartans put together one last rush. They scored seven straight to get to within, 65-57, with 1:42 to play. Following a Wofford turnover, the Spartans had three cracks at it from three-point range, but lost the third rebound out of bounds and had to
foul.
UNCG got 20 points and nine rebounds from Ben Stywall and 15 points from Kendall Toney. The two combined to shoot 14-for-24 from the field, while the remainder of the squad struggled, shooting just 7-for-37.
Stywall has now scored in double-figures in 13 of his last 14 games. He is averaging 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds in his last seven games, shooting 58.6 percent from the floor. On Monday, Stywall was 8-for-11 from the field.
As hot as the Spartans opened the game on Saturday night at Georgia Southern when they began the game with a 9-0 lead, they were the polar opposite to begin on Monday night. UNCG went the first 5:15 without a field goal, digging itself into an early 8-2 hole. But Kendall Toney’s 14-footer from the left wing gave the Spartans their first bucket and sparked a 14-3 run for their first lead of the night.
The Spartans led by as many as six in the opening half, but Wofford trimmed that to two by the intermission, 31-29, as UNCG went the final 2:25 of the half without a bucket. Toney and Stywall were a combined 8-for-10 from the floor with 10 points each.
The Spartans came out cold again to open the second half, missing nine of their first 11 from the floor. Wofford took advantage by opening up a five-point advantage, 42-37, on Kevin Giltner’s trey with 13:25 to play, capping a 7-2 spurt.
The Spartans got back to with one before Wofford went on a 10-2 run to open up its largest lead to that point at 52-43 with 9:37 to play.
UNCG got back to six on a 26-footer by Toney before the shot clock ran out, but the Terriers continued to expand the lead from there, growing it to 15 on Salters’ four-point play with 3:36 to go.
Elon 74, Furman 66
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Elon connected on 7-of-8 three-point attempts and shot 58 percent from the field on its way to a 74-66 victory over Furman in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Monday evening at Alumni Gym in Elon, N.C.
The Phoenix improved to 8-14 overall and 5-9 in the Southern Conference while the Paladins dropped to 5-18 overall and 3-11 in the SoCon.
The Phoenix made 27-of-46 field goal attempts and 13-of-16 foul shots while holding a 34-27 advantage over the Paladins on the glass. Elon’s bench, led by Ola Atoyebi’s team-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 at the foul line, sparked the Phoenix with 33 points.
Elon used a 13-2 run to close the first half and take a 41-29 advantage into intermission before extending its spurt to a 24-7 run to open up a 52-34 lead with 16:41 left on a three-point play by Atoyebi.
After Furman fashioned a late 12-2 run to trim the Phoenix lead to 70-66 on a Connor Nolte trey with 23 seconds left, Josh Bonney and Atoyebi each converted a pair of free throws and Brett James blocked two Paladin three-pointers to help Elon hold on for its fourth straight victory over
Furman.
Bonney, James and T.J. Douglas each joined Atoyebi in double figures with 12 points apiece. James and Atoyebi led the way on the boards with eight rebounds each.
Sophomore Bryson Barnes connected on 6-of-7 attempts from the floor and all four trips to the charity stripe to net a career-high 16 points for Furman. Nolte matched a career-best with 15 points while Jordan Miller contributed 10 points. Nolte paced the Paladins with six rebounds.
Chattanooga 66, Samford 56
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford basketball team never trailed the Chattanooga Mocs until 3:05 remaining in the second half Monday as the Bulldogs’ Southern Conference foes rallied to score 15 of the game’s final 17 points. With a late 15-2 run in the Pete Hanna Center, Chattanooga earned a 66-56 come-from-behind victory.
With Monday’s setback, Samford (11-13, 6-9 SoCon) dropped its fourth-consecutive game and fell to 8-4 when playing in the Pete Hanna Center this season. The Bulldogs will remain at home this week and are scheduled to continue their three-game homestand Thursday at 7 p.m., against UNC Greensboro.
Chattanooga (12-13, 8-6 SoCon) rebounded from its loss at Furman on Saturday and improved to 5-8 on the road this season. The Mocs also extended their winning streak against the Bulldogs to eight-straight games.
The Mocs’ Nicchaeus Doaks recorded his ninth double-double of the season and finished with game-highs in both points (23) and rebounds (12). Chattanooga’s athletic 6-foot-7 forward shot 8-of-14 from the field and was 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Doaks also tallied four offensive rebounds, three blocks and a pair of steals.
Samford’s top player was sophomore guard Josh Davis. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Lubbock, Texas, scored a season-high 21 points and knocked down a career-high seven 3-pointers. All of his team-high 21 points came from beyond the arc.
After leading by as many as eight points in the first half and 33-27 at the intermission, Samford found itself tied with Chattanooga 54-54 with 4:56 remaining.
The Mocs fought back from a six-point second-half deficit and evened the score following a pair of free throws and a put-back from Doaks. Chattanooga’s big man then scored on another layup in the lane to give the Mocs their first lead at 3:05 in the second half, 56-54.
Samford then used an Andy King free throw to trim Chattanooga’s advantage to 56-55, but the Mocs then scored the next six points to take a commanding 62-55 lead with 45 seconds left.
The key play during Chattanooga’s 6-0 run was a second-chance 3-pointer from Kevin Goffney that was only made possible by a Doaks offensive rebound. With the Mocs up by four, 59-55, with 58 seconds to play, Doaks was blocked by King on a left-handed layup, but was able to corral the ball before going out of bounds.
On his way over the baseline, Doaks called a 30-second timeout to save the possession for Chattanooga. Goffney then hit the game-clinching three-point basket from the left flank on the ensuing possession.
Samford only shot 39.2 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished the game with 11 3-point field goals, seven of which were knocked down by Davis. King added three more deep baskets, while Bryan Friday tallied the 11th.
King completed the matchup with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Friday added nine points, two rebounds and a pair of assists.
Chattanooga entered Monday’s matchup as the top rebounding team in the conference at 40.5 boards per game. The Mocs finished the contest with 41 rebounds and limited the Bulldogs to 22.
Goffney pulled down 10 boards and tallied five points for Chattanooga, while Khalil Hartwell added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Stephen McDowell finished with 13 points and a trio of 3-point baskets.