Wofford 44, The Citadel 42

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tim Johnson scored with one second left on the clock to give the Wofford men's basketball team a 44-42 win over The Citadel on Thursday night at McAlister Fieldhouse. The Terriers shot a season-low 29.8 percent from the floor, but were able to win their sixth-straight game.

Wofford is 13-7 on the season and 5-2 in the SoCon, while The Citadel is 9-10 overall and 3-4 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 15 points and Tim Johnson with 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs were led by Cameron Wells with 17 points and Harrison DuPont with ten rebounds.

The Citadel opened the game with a three by Zach Urbanus and the Bulldogs opened up a 9-6 lead five minutes into the game. After a three by Harrison DuPont, The Citadel increased the advantage to 12-6. Wofford then used a 6-0 run that included a three by Jason Dawson to tied the game at twelve with 8:15 remaining in the half. The game was tied at 14, 16 and then 17. Over the final five minutes, The Citadel went on a 9-0 run to take a 26-17 lead at the break.

Wofford opened the second half by scoring the first four points, but The Citadel answered with four points. At 15:15, the Bulldogs had increased the lead to 33-23. The Terriers scored the next four points on baskets by Brad Loesing and Jamar Diggs to cut the lead to 33-27 at 12:20.

The Terriers made it a five-point game at 37-32 with 7:54 after four points by Noah Dahlman. Zach Urbanus hit a three as the shot clock expired to take a 40-32 lead, but Tim Johnson hit a second-chance lay-up for a six-point deficit with six minuets to go. After a three by Junior Salters and a lay-up by Noah Dahlman, Wofford cut the lead to 40-39 with 3:42 remaining.

A lay-up by Noah Dalhman at 2:15 gave the Terriers their first lead of the night at 41-40. A free throw gave Wofford a two-point lead, but the Bulldogs tied it at 42 with a bucket by Cameron Wells. Holding for the last shot, Jamar Diggs took a shot with two seconds left, but Tim Johnson was able to but back the rebound with 0.9 on the clock for the lead. On the long in-bounds, Johnson tipped the ball away to end the game.

Noah Dahlman scored in double-figures for the 20th time this season and has led the team in scoring in 15 games. Wofford has now won eight straight games at The Citadel.


College of Charleston 92, Furman 80

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Junior Andrew Goudelock poured in 28 points to lift the College of Charleston to 92-80 victory over Furman in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Thursday evening at the Carolina First Arena.

The Cougars improved to 12-6 on the season and remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play improving to 7-0.  Furman dropped to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the SoCon.

The Cougars used an 8-0 run, while holding Furman scoreless for a three minute stretch midway through the second half, to erase a 55-54 deficit and claim a 62-55 lead that they would not relinquish.  Furman would trim the margin back to four points at 68-64, but Charleston, who shot 56.4 percent from the field on the night, pushed its advantage to as many as 13 points before claiming the 12-point victory.

Goudelock connected on 11-of-16 shots, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, to pace four Cougars in double figures with 28 points.  Tony White Jr. and Willis Hall added 12 apiece while Donavan Monroe and Andrew Lawrence each tallied 11 points.
The College of Charleston made 31-of-55 field goal attempts, including 9-of-17 from beyond the arc, and converted on 21-of-26 trips to the charity stripe.  The Cougars committed just six turnovers and swatted a season-high 13 Furman shots.

Sophomore Bryson Barnes led the way for Furman with 17 points and nine rebounds while Amu Saaka added 15 points, seven boards and three assists.  Justin Dehm scored 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range and freshman Colin Reddick added 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Paladins dominated the boards with a 41-25 rebounding edge that included 21 offensive rebounds, but Furman shot just 37.7 percent (29-77) from the floor.  Furman made 8-of-17 treys and 14-of-15 free throw attempts in the loss.

After leading by four in the early going, Furman trailed just 40-37 with seconds to go in the first half before Matt Sundberg drained two free throws with nine seconds left in the period and Goudelock stole the ball from Darryl Evans and buried a last second trey to give the Cougars a 45-37 lead at intermission.

The Paladins were forced to play without junior Jordan Miller, the team's second leading scorer, who suffered an injury in practice this week.


Samford 50, Elon 49

ELON, N.C. --- Samford's Kaylin Johnson drained a deep three-point basket from the left wing with 15.1 seconds remaining Thursday to carry the Bulldogs' basketball team to a hard-fought 50-49 Southern Conference victory against the Elon Phoenix. Johnson, Samford's sophomore guard from Baton Rouge, La., came off the bench to tally a career-high nine points, including the game-winning bucket.

All nine of Johnson's points were scored in the second half and came from beyond the arc. His previous career-high of six points was achieved at Alabama on Dec. 16.

Samford (8-10, 2-4 SoCon) scored the final six points Thursday to the come-from-behind victory. With only 1:48 left to play, Elon's Terrance Birdette knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Phoenix its biggest lead of the game 49-44.

Then, following a 30-second timeout from the Bulldogs, senior Trey Montgomery connected on a critical 3-point bucket from the top of the key to trim Elon's lead to 49-47 with 1:25 remaining. Montgomery finished with nine points, all of which were scored in the second half of play.

Following Montgomery's triple, both Elon (3-15, 1-6 SoCon) and Samford traded turnovers which led to the Phoenix's possession with 34 seconds to play. The score of the game was 49-47 when Elon's Chris Long drove through the lane from left to right and tried to pick up his dribble for a pass to the right corner. Instead, Long bobbled the ball and dragged his pivot foot for his third turnover of the game.

Samford then called its final timeout with 30 seconds remaining and the ball.

On their game-winning possession, the Bulldogs worked through their offensive sets a few times before Johnson came off a double screen on the left flank. On the play, he grabbed a hand-off pass from Andy King and calmly knocked down the 3-pointer from 21 feet away. Johnson finished 3-for-5 from the field with all of his attempts coming from beyond the arc.

King led Samford in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' junior center knocked down four key 3-point baskets and also pulled down a trio of rebounds. Sophomore John Peterson also turned in a solid game as he came off the bench to score seven points in 15 minutes of action.

The Phoenix was also held without a field goal for an 11:37 period in the first half. After Elon's TJ Douglas knocked down a 3-pointer from the left flank at the 17:10 mark, Elon did not convert another field goal until Devan Carter's 3-point play at 5:33. During the stretch, the Bulldogs outscored the Phoenix 15-3 to take an 18-6 advantage. Elon's three points during the span all came on free throws from Long. 

UNC Greensboro 62, Chattanooga 49

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Mikko Koivisto scored a team-high 15 points and Ben Stywall recorded his ninth double-double of the season as UNC Greensboro rallied from a 16-point first half deficit to defeat Chattanooga, 62-49, on Thursday evening at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Stywall's 13 points and 15 rebounds was his sixth double-double in eight Southern Conference games this year and the 21st of his career. His 15 rebounds tied a career-high he achieved twice before.

Ricky Taylor had a game-high 21 points to lead the Mocs, while DeAntre Jefferson added eight points in the losing effort. The Mocs hurt themselves with 23 turnovers against UNCG's half-court trap that gave Chattanooga fits. UNCG converted that into a season-high 22 points.

Trailing by seven at the break, the Spartans opened the half on a 6-0 run to pull within one at 29-28. The Mocs responded with a 9-2 run to pull back out to a 38-30 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining in the game.

That would be the last points the Mocs would score over the next 8:45 as the Spartans went on a 16-0 run to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead, 46-38. UNCG continued to pour it on over the final minutes as they led by as many as 16 with just over a minute remaining in the game.

The game was a carbon-copy of one played between the teams just 11 days earlier - with the roles reversed. UNCG held an early lead in Chattanooga on January 11, before the Mocs stormed back in the second half with 60 percent shooting to claim the victory. Chattanooga's 20 points in the second half tied a season-low for points in a half, equaling the 20 it scored in the first half of the first meeting between the two teams.

The Spartans started off slow as Chattanooga built a 13-2 lead over the first six minutes. UNCG began the game 0-for-8 from the field before Stywall put back a missed 3-pointer with 16:44 left in the half.

The Mocs led by as many as 16 at 24-8 with just over nine minutes remaining before the Spartans went on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to pull within 24-17. Chattanooga maintained its lead the rest of the half as it took a 29-22 lead into the break.

Chattanooga outrebounded the Spartans 25-16 in the opening stanza and shot 46.2 percent in the half. The Spartans shot just 22.9 percent in the first half as they trailed by seven at halftime.

But the 6-0 run got UNCG quickly back to within a point. After Chattanooga's 9-2 spurt gave the Mocs an eight-point lead, UNCG scored 16 straight and 27 of the next 31. Kendall Toney's first three-pointer - which gave him one in 10-straight games - tied the score at 38-38 with 12:35 to play. He knocked down another 70 seconds later to give UNCG its first lead of the night, 41-38.

Eight minutes later, Stywall knocked down a three-pointer - his first in two years - to extend the lead to 15 at 57-42 and the Spartans had all but wrapped things up.