College of Charleston 90, Georgia Southern 72
STATESBORO, Ga. - Andrew Goudelock scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, while Willis Hall and Andrew Lawrence posted career-highs with 18 and 14 respectively, to lead the College of Charleston men's basketball team to the 90-72 win over Georgia Southern in front of 2,022 fans at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Charleston snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 14-8 overall and 9-2 in teh Southern Conference. Georgia Southern dropped to 6-17 and 3-7.
Goudelock opened the second half with four unanswered points to turn the three-point halftime deficit into a one-point lead with 19:13 remaining and began a 24-11 run that saw the Cougars take a 10-point, 64-54 lead with 10:52 to go.
The Eagles cut the margin to eight at the 9:43 mark but that would be as close as GSU would get as a quick jumper by Goudelock gave Charleston the double-digit lead again with 9:25 on the clock. The Cougars, led by six from Goudelock and Donavan Monroe, outscored the Eagles 24-14 the rest of the half to come away with the 18-point win.
Georgia Southern took a six-point, 17-11 lead with 14:06 to go before the first half, capping off a 10-4 run, six of those coming from Antonio Hanson, by the Eagles to break away from a 7-7 deadlock. Led by five points from Lawrence, the Cougars fought back to tie the game at 23 with 8:45 remaining before intermission.
After both teams traded baskets the game was tied again at 28 with just over six to play. Georgia Southern went on a 10-3 run, led by seven from Rory Spencer, to take its largest lead of the game, 38-31, with 4:19 left. Charleston outscored the Eagles 9-5 the remainder of the half and went into the locker room only down three, 43-40.
Following Goudelock, Hall and Lawrence in double-figures was Monroe with 12 on the afternoon. Hall led the Cougars with six rebounds.
Leading Georgia Southern was Spencer with 26 points and Willie Powers with 14.
Charleston shot a season-high 57.9 percent from the field after a 65.4 percent second half performance. Georgia Southern shot 42.9. The Cougars were out-rebounded 39-27 but had four less turnovers, 15-19. CofC went 17-for-24 from the charity stripe compared to a 20-for-34 effort by Georgia Southern.
Wofford 57, Furman 46
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Wofford held Furman to a season-low 46 points and 13.3 percent shooting from three-point range as the Terriers topped the Paladins 57-46 in Southern Conference men's basketball action on an icy Saturday afternoon at Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Terriers, who outscored Furman 36-21 after intermission, used a 14-4 second half run to break a 31-31 tie to claim their third straight victory over the Paladins and fifth win the last seven meetings in the series. Wofford improved to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in the SoCon while Furman dropped to 10-11 overall and 4-6 in league play.
After Furman's Brandon Sebirumbi knotted the game at 31-31 with 12:11 remaining, Terry Martin answered with a layup and Kevin Giltner buried back-to-back three-pointers to ignite Wofford's rally that gave the Terriers a 45-35 lead on Tim Johnson's layup with 8:48 left in the game. Wofford limited Furman to just three baskets from the 12:11 mark until Amu Saaka converted from the floor with 51 seconds to play as the Terriers built their advantage to as many as 13 points.
Noah Dahlman scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for Wofford. Forward Tim Johnson totaled 10 points to go with nine rebounds. The Terriers shot just 35.9 percent (23-64) from the field, including 3-for-16 beyond the arc, but made 14-of-31 second half shots and outscored Furman 34-20 in the paint to muscle past the Paladins. Wofford also managed a 12-2 edge in points off turnovers.
The Paladins, who fashioned a 25-21 halftime lead behind eight first half points from Chris Toler, shot just 30.8 percent from the field in the second half and were 0-for-8 from three-point range in the period. Furman committed 20 turnovers on the afternoon while recording just four assists.
Junior Jordan Miller led Furman with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Saaka netted eight points and recorded 10 boards. Toler finished with eight points, four rebounds and a career-best four blocked shots.
Furman shot just 36.0 percent (18-50) and made only 2-of-15 three-point attempts, but the Paladins did hold a 46-35 rebounding edge and swatted seven Wofford shots.
Western Carolina 62, Samford 50
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Led by a game-high 13 points from junior Mike Williams, all 10 Catamounts that played scored points as Western Carolina built a lead and then held on to score the road victory over the Samford Bulldogs, 62-50, in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford rallied to tie the game twice in the second half, but timely free throw shooting and rebounding helped the Catamounts hold the Bulldogs off for the road victory.
In addition to his 13 points, Williams added four assists and four steals in the winning effort. Both senior Brigham Waginger and sophomore Keaton Cole added three 3-pointers apiece, with Cole coming off the bench and his trio of triples accounting for all nine of his points in the opening 20 minutes. Waginger also dished out a couple of assists with a pair of steals.
Richie Gordon finished with eight points and a team-high tying four rebounds and three blocked shots, while Kendall Russell recorded three offensive rebounds in his four boards off the bench. The Chicago, Ill., native also connected on a pair of free throws during WCU's decisive game-ending run.
Samford (9-13, 3-7 SoCon) outscored WCU 22-to-9 over the opening 12 minutes of the second half to chip away at the Catamounts' halftime advantage, tying the game at 41 on a pair of Jeffrey Merritt free throws with just under eight minutes to play in regulation. But a pair of free throws by Gordon and consecutive buckets by Williams gave WCU a six-point cushion.
Six Bulldog free throws sandwiched around Anthony Phillip's second field goal of the day trimmed the Catamount lead to two, 51-49. Gordon threw down a one-handed slam to give the Catamounts a four-point advantage, with Williams making a steal on the Bulldogs' ensuing possession and dishing to Waginger who drained a 3-pointer as WCU outscored Samford 11-to-1 over the closing 3:42 to pick up the victory.
Samford put three in double figures led by Josh Davis, who missed most of the first half with early foul trouble. Davis finished with 11 points including three, 3-pointers. Bryan Friday and John Peterson each added 10 points for the Bulldogs in the loss, their fifth-straight conference defeat at home.
WCU put the clamps on Samford defensively in the first half, limiting the Bulldogs to 19 first half points on just six made field goals. Tied at 18, the Catamounts closed the opening 20 minutes of play with a 14-to-1 run including four 3-pointers - three by Cole - to take a 13-point, 32-19, edge into the halftime locker room.
Eight of WCU's 11 first half field goals came from beyond the arc as the Catamounts shot 61-percent from the floor and 67-percent from long range in the opening 20 minutes.
Davidson 67, The Citadel 63 (OT)
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Brendan McKillop scored both the game-tying and game-winning points as Davidson claimed a 67-63 overtime win over The Citadel in Southern Conference men's basketball action Saturday night in Belk Arena.
The game went to overtime knotted at 57. The Citadel (10-12, 4-6 SoCon) took a four-point lead early in the extra frame, but a three-ball from McKillop brought Davidson (11-11, 6-4 SoCon) back within one. Cameron Wells answered for the Bulldogs with his second jumper in the period, but Will Archambault found Jake Cohen underneath for a lay-in with 1:44 remaining, leaving the Bulldogs with a 63-62 advantage.
Wells got called for travelling on the ensuing possession to return the ball to Davidson. With the shot clock near expiration, McKillop drained a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key with 55 seconds remaining to put the 'Cats on top 65-63.
The Citadel had two possessions in the final minute but the 'Cats got defensive stops on both. Following a defensive rebound, Jake Cohen sank both free throw attempts with two seconds remaining to ice the win.
Cohen led three Davidson scorers in double-figures with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, and also added eight rebounds, two assists and a block. McKillop finished with 17 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-9 from behind the arc to go along with a team-leading six assists. Rossiter tallied 10 points and hauled in seven rebounds. Archambault finished just shy of a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds to go along with three assists.
Wells led the Bulldogs with 22 points and five assists. Urbanus netted 11 points and five rebounds and Bryan Streeter had 10 points and seven boards.
The score was tied in the second half five times and the lead changed hands six times.
McKillop tied the game at 57 with a drive to the bucket, laying the ball in off the glass with 58 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. Wells missed a jumper with 22 seconds remaining on the ensuing possession and Rossiter hauled in the rebound, but Rossiter was unable to get his contested shot to fall through at the other end.
The rebound went out-of-bounds with four-tenths of a second remaining, allowing The Citadel a chance at a full-court play. The Bulldogs sent a full-court pass into the lane where Paul Wolfinger hauled it in and got off a turnaround jumper just inside the free throw line, but it glanced off the back of the iron.
The first half finished tied at 33. The Citadel built a 27-12 lead with 8:05 remaining in the first behind 10-of-19 shooting from the field, but Davidson outscored the Bulldogs 21-6 over the remainder of the half to tie the game at halftime.
A jumper by Bryant Barr started the Wildcats' run, then 3-pointers on consecutive possessions from Kuhlman and Cohen and a three-ball from Ben Allison cut the 15-point deficit to four. Following an Urbanus bucket, the 'Cats moved within one on a layup from Cohen and a three-point play by McKillop. Both teams traded buckets before Urbanus gave The Citadel a three-point cushion, but McKillop sank a contested, long-range three-ball in the closing seconds of the half for the equalizer.
Chattanooga 85, Appalachian State 80
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Nine first-half three-pointers helped Chattanooga to an early 18-point lead before Appalachian State University rallied in the second half before falling, 85-80, on Saturday evening against the Mocs.
The Mountaineers (12-9, 6-4) pulled within one point on three occasions, including as late as 2:20 remaining in the game, but were unable to get over the hump and take a lead against the division rival. Seven of UTC's last 10 points came at the foul line to ice the game in the final minute.
Donald Sims scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the first half as the Apps found themselves trailing 51-41 at the intermission. Appalachian shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but made just 3-of-15 deep shots. UTC also owned an early advantage on the glass, and finished the night with 20 second-chance points to ASU's two.
Sims shot 6-of-22 from the floor but made 10-of-11 free throws in the contest. He led the team with three assists and two steals and hauled in two boards as well.
Jeremi Booth matched a career high with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-8 three-pointers. The junior co-led the team with six rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
Andre Williamson nabbed six boards of his own but the Mountaineers were out-rebounded by the Mocs, 46-37. It was just the third time this season an opponent has out-rebounded the Apps. Williamson also swatted three of the team's five blocks.
Chattanooga's Ridge McKeither and Ty Patterson scored 18 points apiece to lead the team to a 5-5 mark in league play. McKeither added 12 rebounds for a double-double as well.
For Appalachian, Ryann Abraham reached double-figures for the second-straight game with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting in 21 minutes off the bench. He added three assists and a block.
A bright spot for ASU was free throw shooting, where ASU made 17-of-20 shots, compared to just 17-of-36 for the home team.