Game 1: #4N Appalachian State 86, #5S Georgia Southern 75
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Box Score
Chattanooga, Tenn. ? Jeremi Booth netted a game-high 21 points to lead No. 4 North seed Appalachian State past No. 5 South seed Georgia Southern, 86-75, in the opening round of the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Friday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena.
The Mountaineers, now 13-17 on the season, advance to the quarterfinal round to face top-seeded Davidson on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
Appalachian State shot 54 percent from the field, including 69 percent over the opening 20 minutes, while connecting on 10-of-23 three-point attempts to claim its second victory of the season against the Eagles. The Mountaineers, who held a 47-44 lead at intermission, made 20-of-29 field goal attempts in the first half.
After Georgia Southern scored the first basket of the second half, the Mountaineers used a 15-5 run to extend their lead to 62-49 with 12:54 remaining before Georgia Southern answered with an 11-4 spurt keyed by five points from Antonio Hanson to slice the margin to 66-60 with 8:39 left.
Appalachian State then held the Eagles to just one basket over the next 5:45 while increasing its lead to 75-62 at the 3:10 mark. The Mountaineers converted on 11-of-16 trips to the charity stripe over the final two minutes to hold off the Eagles for the final 11-point margin.
ASU’s Josh Hunter and Kellen Brand tallied 16 points apiece and Sims added 12 to join Booth in double figures. Hunter grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to help the Mountaineers to a 36-34 edge on the glass while center Isaac Butts added seven boards and five blocked shots.
Tyler Troupe totaled 20 points and eight rebounds to pace the Eagles who concluded their season at 8-22. Freshman Ben Drayton poured in 15 points, Hanson scored 14 and Cody Wohlleb added 11 for Georgia Southern.
The Eagles shot 43 percent from the floor, but made only 9-of-30 shots from long range. Both teams scored 32 points in the paint, but Appalachian State displayed its depth as the Mountaineer bench outscored Georgia Southern’s reserves 34-17.
Game 2: #3S College of Charleston 69, #6N UNC Greensboro 56
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Box Score
Chattanooga, Tenn. ? The College of Charleston built an 18-point first half advantage and led wire-to-wire to down UNC Greensboro 69-56 in the opening round of the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Friday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena.
The third-seeded Cougars improve to 24-7 on the season and advance to face the SoCon North Division second seed Western Carolina Catamounts in a quarterfinal round contest at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Saturday.
CofC sophomore Jeremy Simmons connected on all eight of his field goal attempts to score a career-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds while Dustin Scott notched a double-double with 10 points and career-best 16 boards. Tony White Jr. and Andrew Goudelock also reached double figures for the Cougars with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Charleston held the Spartans to 32 percent shooting from the floor and a 3-of-13 effort from three-point range while the Cougars shot 41 percent and held a 49-41 edge in rebounding. CofC registered eight blocked shots and committed just 11 turnovers.
Leading 14-9 at the 15-minute mark of the first half, the Cougars began a 19-6 run and held UNC Greensboro (5-25) to just six points over the next 12:46 to fashion a 33-15 advantage before carrying a 37-23 lead into the half.
Ben Stywall posted a double-double for UNCG with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but the Spartans were unable to trim the Cougar lead to single digits in the second half. Pete Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds in the loss.