Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Thursday's Men's Basketball Roundup

Chattanooga 81, Appalachian State 69

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A four-point halftime lead slipped away in the second period as Appalachian State University men's basketball dropped an 81-69 decision at Chattanooga in the Southern Conference opener. Donald Sims posted 28 points in the effort, but was unable to save the Mountaineers from their third-straight road road loss.

Omar Carter tallied the team's first double-double of the season with 14 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. The junior was 5-of-14 from the floor as Appalachian shot just 39.1 percent from the field in the game compared to 48.3 percent for the Mocs (3-5, 1-0).

Appalachian (2-3, 0-1 SoCon) struggled to find its range early in the game and connected on just 3-of-17 treys in the first 20 minutes and sank a season-low 22.6 percent from downtown in the game. To their credit, the Mountaineers held onto the ball with just three first-half turnovers and a season-low eight in the game.

Sims shot 9-for-20 from the field including four three-pointers and 6-of-8 free throws to accompany five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals on the night. Carter tallied 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half, while Sims added 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the opening period to account for 22 of ASU's 36 points.

ASU trailed 17-9 early in the contest before rallying to an 18-18 tie. The Apps were unable to build much of a lead until shortly before halftime, though a pair of Sims fast-break layups gave the visitors a 36-32 cushion heading into the break.

The Mocs then used a 16-point swing to open the second half and gain a 62-50 lead with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The Apps cut the deficit to four points with an 8-0 run but did not capitalize on the momentum as UTC bumped its cushion back to double figures late in the game.

Leading the Chattanooga offense was Omar Wattad, with 21 points on 5-of-10 three-point shooting. Three other players reached double figures while Keegan Bell dished out 13 assists in 38 minutes. Chris Early led the Mocs with seven rebounds and 13 points in the game. Overall, UTC owned a 42-33 advantage on the boards.

Andre WIlliamson scored 10 points with four rebounds and a block for the Apps, while fellow post Petey Hausley added six points in 20 minutes. Mitch Woods matched Sims for the team assist lead with three in the game to along with two points and three boards.

The ASU bench scored just nine points in the game compared to 24 for the home team, led by 11 from DeAntre Jefferson. The Apps converted 11 Moc turnovers into 12 points but were limited to just nine second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds.

The Mountaineers play their second and final December SoCon game on Saturday at Samford. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. EST.


Wofford 92, UNCG 70

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford College men's basketball team opened the Southern Conference slate with a 92-70 win over UNC Greensboro on Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Four Terriers scored in double figures as the team hit a season high in scoring.

Wofford is 3-5 on the season and UNC Greensboro is 0-6. It was the conference opener for both teams. Wofford was led by Cameron Rundles with 24 points, 18 of which were in the first half. Noah Dahlman added 16 points, Kevin Giltner had 18 points and Jamar Diggs scored ten. Tim Johnson led all rebounders with 14 in the game. The Spartans were led by Aloysius Henry with 18 points.

The Terriers scored first and built an early 10-3 lead after a three by Cameron Rundles at the 16:27 mark. The Spartans went on a quick 9-0 run to take a 12-10 lead at 13:39 in the first half, but Rundles answered with another three to regain the lead. UNC Greensboro added a three by Brandon Evans for a 16-15 advantage, but once again a three by Rundles made it an 18-16 lead for the Terriers with 12:15 left in the half.

Wofford was able to slowly build on the lead and a three pointer by Kevin Giltner with 4:27 on the clock made it a 37-25 game. At the break, the Terriers had a 46-34 lead as the team shot 53.1% from the floor.

In the second half, the Terriers were able to increase the lead to 57-38 just four minutes into play. The Spartans answered with a 6-0 run to cut the advantage to 57-44. It was as close as UNC Greensboro would come in the second half as Wofford had a 75-49 lead with 9:24 left in the game. The lead would grow to 29 points and the Terriers pulled the starters with under four minutes to play in the game. The Spartans outscored Wofford in the final two minutes for the 92-70 final score.

 
College of Charleston 82, Davidson 73

CHARLESTON, S.C. -­ Andrew Goudelock netted a game-high 33 points and added five assists, and the College of Charleston outscored Davidson 11-4 in the last four minutes to earn an 82-73 Southern Conference men¹s basketball victory in the league opener for both schools.

Jake Cohen led the Wildcats (3-4, 0-1 SoCon) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. The sophomore was 8-of-14 from the field, 2-for-4 from 3-point range and made all five of his free-throw attempts.

JP Kuhlman added 16 points, and Tom Droney netted 10. Clint Mann recorded eight points and six rebounds.

Goudelock was 13-for-19 from the field, 3-for-5 from long distance and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe for the Cougars (5-3, 1-0 SoCon). Trent  Wiedeman posted 10 points and eight rebounds, and Antwaine Wiggins tallied nine points and seven boards.

The game was tied 67-67 under the six-minute mark, but Davidson hit a scoring rut and connected on just one field goal for the remainder of the contest.

After Simmons made two free throws and Lawrence scored a layup, Droney got fouled going to the basket. The freshman made two free throws to trim the margin to 71-69.

Wiedeman tallied a conventional 3-point play, but a Kuhlman jumper just inside the arc made the score 74-71. Wiggins responded with a jumper, and Cohen¹s two free throws drew Davidson within three points again with 3:04 to play.

Goudelock sparked CofC's finishing kick with a triple, and Davidson turned it over. Monroe then converted a jumper after rebounding his own blocked shot, and the 'Cats missed a 3-pointer, leaving the score at 81-73 with 2:02 to go.

The teams traded missed shots, and Wiedeman converted 1-of-2 from the free-throw line with 55 seconds left for the final margin as the Wildcats missed two desparation 3-point attempts.

The teams played a back-and-forth, offensive first half that featured nine lead changes and five ties. Davidson shot 48 percent from the floor and hit 11-of-15 free throws, while CofC shot 59 percent from the field.

The Cats opened a 37-28 cushion on a Droney jumper with 7:09 left in the frame, but the Cougars finished the stanza on a 9-4 run, and Goudelock's runner from the baseline beat the buzzer and made the halftime score 44-44.


The Citadel 65, Georgia Southern 52

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Bryan Streeter notched his second career double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds, to finish as one of four players to reach the double figure plateau as The Citadel emerged with a 65-52 victory over Georgia Southern in the Southern Conference opener for both squads. Streeter shared the team-high in points with Zach Urbanus and Austin Dahn, who scored 13 points apiece, while Cameron Wells chipped in 10 points and eight assists. The win improves the Bulldogs to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in SoCon action.

The Citadel converted a season-high in field goals, hitting 28-of-58 (48.3%), behind six baskets from Streeter and Dahn. Dahn finished with a solid effort by taking advantage of two full court passes by Streeter, which broke the Eagles defense, and grabbing six rebounds. Teammate Urbanus found his shooting touch with three 3-points to go along with a pair of assists. The Bulldogs led two key statistical categories including rebounds (43-30) and points off turnovers (13-8). Streeter was the integral post presence with six of his 10 total rebounds coming on the offensive glass. He was joined in rebounds by Wells (nine) and Groselle (seven).

Georgia Southern was led offensively by Ben Drayton, who scored seven of a game-high 14 points from the free throw line, along with the efforts of teammates Eric Ferguson (13 points) and Tre Bussey (10 points). Drayton and Bussey, who were the only Eagles to convert a 3-point attempt, combined to finish 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. GSU was led up front by Sam Mike (seven rebounds) and Marvin Baynham (six rebounds) in the contest. The loss moves Georgia Southern to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Holding a 39-20 lead at the intermission, The Citadel scored 10 points over the first 6:19 of the second half. Five different Bulldogs scored during the span which was highlighted by an Urbanus trey from the corner on an assist from Wells.

Leading 49-34, the Bulldogs surrendered six points to the combination of Ferguson, Drayton and Bussey over a 1:29 run, before Urbanus answered with a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 56-40 at the 8:13 mark. Dahn followed with back-to-back layups and provided The Citadel with a 60-40 cushion with just under seven minutes remaining.

The trio of Drayton, Bussey and Zuri James scored 10 of Georgia Southern's final 12 points as the Bulldogs first-year head coach Chuck Driesell became the first coach to win his SoCon opener since Dick Campbell in 1967-68.

The energized Streeter led the Cadets with 12 points and five rebounds at the break. Streeter converted 6-of-8 field goals and was instrumental in giving the Bulldogs a 16-8 edge in the paint. Along with solid performances by Wells (8 points) and Dahn (5 points), the trio guided The Citadel to its best offensive half of the season (17-of-30, 56.7%) from the field.

Georgia Southern was limited to 7-of-21 (33.3%) shooting, including a 1-for-6 performance from beyond the arc. Drayton's five points was a team-high, while Eric Ferguson, Marvin Baynham and Sam Mike scored four points apiece. Mike grabbed three rebounds to lead to team on the glass.

Trailing 10-7 in the early stages of the first half The Citadel went on an 11-2 run that spanned 5:10, keyed by four points from Daniel Eykyn and an Urbanus 3-pointer that gave the Bulldogs an 18-12 lead.  After a scoreless streak by each team, a long distance shot by Dahn combined with jumpers by Streeter and Groselle pushed the Dogs lead to 25-13.

Streeter completed a solid first half of action with six of the team's final 11 points, sparking a 13-5 run by The Citadel who led 38-20 at the intermission.

 
Samford 63, Western Carolina 58 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team opened its home Southern Conference schedule with a victory for the third straight season Thursday as the Bulldogs fought for a physical 63-58 win against the Western Carolina Catamounts at the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford (5-3, 1-0 SoCon) finished with four players scoring in double figures for the first time this season. Sophomore Gregg Wooten tallied a career-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and knocked down 4-of-6 attempts from the free-throw line. He also tied his career high with five rebounds and added two assists.

Wooten, the Bulldogs' talented guard from Memphis, Tenn., has registered a career-high scoring mark in back-to-back games. Against Georgia State on Saturday, he came off the bench to notch 13 points and was 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Samford opened the season with some struggles from the charity stripe, but has since knocked down 41-of-54 shots from the free-throw line in its previous two games for a solid 75.9-percent mark.

The Bulldogs' Josh Davis and Jeffrey Merritt both added 12 points apiece Thursday. Davis proved to be clutch down the stretch as he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Merritt nearly tallied his third double-double of the season by adding a team-high eight rebounds to go along with his 12 points.

Merritt, Samford's junior guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., shot 4-of-7 from the field, knocked down a key 3-point basket and tallied three steals, two assists and a block.

Senior center Andy King came off the bench to score 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor, with all of his field goals coming from beyond the arc. A native of Omaha, Neb., King pulled down four rebounds, handed out two assists and finished 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.

With Thursday's loss, Western Carolina (4-5, 0-1 SoCon) had its two-game winning streak snapped. The Catamounts will continue their SoCon road trip Saturday with a televised matchup at Chattanooga.

Senior guard Mike Williams proved to be the only Western Carolina player in double figures as he recorded a double-double with game highs in both points (20) and rebounds (10). He only shot 6-of-16 from the field, but played 37 minutes and finished with four steals, three assists and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Samford led by as many as 12 points in the first half, 25-13, with 5:15 left to play until halftime, but didn't score another basket until Wooten's layup at 12:42 in the second half to trim Western Carolina's lead to 29-27.

During the Bulldogs' 12:33 drought, the Catamounts used a 16-0 run to turn a 12-point deficit into a four-point lead, 29-25, at the 13:58 mark in the final period.

With 7:26 to play in the game, Western Carolina held a similar four-point advantage, 41-37, before Samford received a driving dunk from Merritt, a 3-point basket from Davis and a hanging layup from Kaylin Johnson to regain momentum and a 44-43 lead.

Once the Bulldogs moved into the double-bonus with 3:27 remaining in the contest, Samford closed out the game by making 13 of its final 16 free throws to hang on for the victory.

The Bulldogs snapped a three-game losing streak against Western Carolina and Tillette improved to 94-43 against conference opponents at home. Since joining the SoCon in 2008, Samford has registered conference home-opening victories against Furman 71-60, Elon 55-31 and now Western Carolina 63-58.

As a team, the Catamounts only shot 35.2 percent from the field, including a 6-of-27 outing in the first half.