Chattanooga 67, Western Carolina 65
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- It was a defensive battle as the Chattanooga Mocs (4-5, 2-0 SoCon) out-lasted visiting Western Carolina (4-6, 0-2 SoCon) 67-65 Saturday afternoon in McKenzie Arena. Both teams limited their opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the field.
Keegan Bell keyed the Mocs' effort with 13 points and six assists. Chris Early and Ricky Taylor added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Chattanooga had a solid effort on the glass out-boarding the Catamounts 50-40 led by DeAntre Jefferson who tied his career high of 11. Jefferson and Jeremy Saffore combined for 18 rebounds at the five position, 14 on the defensive end, while Early added seven boards.
Mike Williams and Keaton Cole combined for 38 points for Western Carolina. Williams had a game-high 21, while Cole tossed in 17. The duo scored 30 of the 38 after intermission including six of their eight three-pointers. Williams and Cole shot 8-21 from three-point range, while the rest of the Catamounts made one of 11.
The Mocs managed to shoot a paltry 36.0 percent (18-50) from the floor and just 29.4 percent (5-17) from beyond the arc. But they followed head coach John Shulman's three keys to success by holding WCU to just 32.3 percent from the field, 36.4 percent (12-33) inside the arc, while also winning the battle of the boards and getting to the free throw line more make 26 of 37 (70.3%) compared to 14 of 26 (53.8%) for the Catamounts.
It was a slow start for both teams. Chattanooga led by as many as nine (21-12) in the opening half despite limiting WCU to just under 16 percent shooting (15.2%/5-33). The Mocs committed 13 first half turnovers to even the slate and took a 23-16 lead into the second half.
After an Early dunk put UTC up seven, 25-18, at 18:39, the Catamounts went on a 12-1 run capped by a Williams free throw to take a four-point lead, 30-26, at 16:04 as Cole (6) and Williams (4) scored 10 during that span.
Down 38-37, the Mocs scored nine unanswered points to surge to an eight-point lead, 46-38, with 8:30 remaining on an Early three. That trey came one possession after Troy Cage (Baton Rouge, La.) knocked down a three of his own from the right corner as momentum was heavily on UTC's side.
The Cole and Williams show responded with eight points in a 10-2 Catamounts push. Trey Sumler tied the game at 48-all with 5:50 to play with two free throws.
Taylor took over for the Mocs. He scored on a three-point play at 4:53 to give UTC the lead, 51-48. After a Williams free throw, Taylor added two free throws of his own to make it a four-point game, 53-49. The two teams continued to battle as Western closed to a two-point deficit four times in the final minutes only to see Chattanooga answer.
UTC made 14 of 16 free throws (87.5%) down the stretch including six-for-six from Taylor. The key play came at 1:23 as Jefferson made an outstanding pass to Bell for a layup and four-point cushion.
Early hit two free throws with 41 seconds left to make it a seven-point margin, 61-54. Cole and Sumler scored on three-point plays, while Preston Ross hit a three to keep it close, but the Mocs were clutch from the charity stripe.
Taylor hit four straight sandwiching Ross' three while Williams hit a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a two-point Chattanooga win.
Davidson 68, The Citadel 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Jake Cohen recorded 21 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and Davidson held The Citadel to 33 percent shooting from the field in a 68-53 Southern Conference men's basketball victory over the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at McAlister Field House.
Cohen was 5-for-8 from the floor, 9-of-10 from the free-throw line and also recorded three blocked shots. JP Kuhlman tallied 13 points and four assists for the 'Cats (4-4, 1-1 SoCon), and Tom Droney netted 10 points, his second straight game with double figures in the scoring column.
Mike Groselle led the Bulldogs (2-5, 1-1 SoCon) with 13 points, and Zach Urbanus had 12 points, seven boards and five assists. Austin Dahn scored 11.
The Wildcats held the Bulldogs to 19-of-58 from the floor in the game and 9-of-31 in the second half, and Davidson forced 18 turnovers, scoring 21 points off of the miscues. The Citadel stayed in the game by shooting 6-of-14 from 3-point range and grabbing 18 offensive rebounds.
Davidson turned a four-point halftime lead into a 12-point advantage early in the second stanza with an 11-3 run. After Clint Mann started the spurt with a layup, Kuhlman and Cohen netted triples during the stretch.
The Citadel kept cutting into the margin for the rest of the game, but Davidson was able to answer each run and hold off the Bulldogs.
Groselle trimmed the lead to seven on a 3-point play with 8:29 remaining, Mann and Cohen responded with five straight points. A Bryan Steeter jumper made the lead eight points with 7:01 to play, but Droney hit two free throws and Kuhlman hit a layup to push the margin back to 12.
The last run came when Austin Dahn's 3-pointer cut the cushion to nine points with 4:38 to go. This time, Davidson answered with a 7-1 run to finish the contest. Droney got fouled going to the basket and hit a free throw to start the spurt, and De¹Mon Brooks added a layup. Cohen sealed the win by going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
After falling behind 4-0 early in the game, Davidson scored 11 straight points, capped by a Brendan McKillop 3-pointer. The Bulldogs responded with a 16-5 run to open a 20-16 advantage midway through the first half. Trailing 22-19, the Wildcats capped the half with an 11-4 run to go into the break with a 30-26 lead. Kuhlman had five points, and Jordan Downing scored four during that stretch.
Appalachian State 78, Samford 69
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In a matchup between the Southern Conference's top offense and top defense, Appalachian State University men's basketball scored 45 second-half points to defeat Samford, 78-69, on Saturday at the Hanna Center. Jeremi Booth scored a career-high 22 points and Andre Williamson also tallied a career best with 16 as the Mountaineers recorded their first SoCon win of the season.
After a close first period, the Apps (3-3, 1-1 SoCon) broke open a double-figure lead in the second half as Booth scored the squad's first nine points out of the break on three treys. It was the senior's first start of the season as he sank 7-of-14 shots with four three-pointers and a pair of rebounds with two steals.
Donald Sims scored 14 of ASU's first 21 points of the game spanning the contest's first 12 minutes. ASU shot 52 percent in the first half and sank 4-of-10 treys. The Bulldogs also shot well, at 51.9 percent in the opening 20 minutes. Sims finished the game with 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting to lead Appalachian, and added seven rebounds and four steals.
Once the Bulldogs (5-4, 1-1) fell behind by a sizable margin in the second half, the Mountaineers kept up the quicker pace and three-quarter court defensive pressure to keep the game out of reach. ASU iced the contest with nine of the final 13 points at the free-throw line spanning the game's final three minute.
Williamson led the Apps with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks in addition to his career-high scoring output in 32 minutes in the post.
For the game, the Mountaineers shot 51 percent with 7-of-19 from downtown, compared to 34.6 percent on three-pointers for the Bulldogs. ASU also held an 86 percent to 67 percent advantage in free throws as well.
Jeffrey Merritt led the home team with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and a game-high nine boards. He was the only SU player in double figures.
The Apps owned a 30-26 rebound advantage and forced Samford in 18 turnovers, while committing 15 in the game. Mitch Woods dished out six of ASU's 11 assists while Nathan Healy sank both shots for four points in addition to three rebounds off the bench.
ASU has won three-straight against Samford and is 3-2 in the all-time series. Both teams wrap up December with 1-1 conference records.
College of Charleston 92, Georgia Southern 84
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior Donavan Monroe scored a career-high 30 points and recorded his 1,000th career point to lead College of Charleston to a 92-84 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday night at Carolina First Arena.
The Cougars (6-3, 2-0) are off to a perfect 2-0 start to Southern Conference play and have now shot 50 percent or better from the floor in back-to-back games against South Division foes in Davidson and Georgia Southern (2-7, 0-2).
CofC jumped out to an early 18-2 run courtesy of a barrage of three-pointers by preseason SoCon Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock and sophomore Andrew Lawrence, who made his first career start versus the Eagles. Freshman James Carlton also had an open look down low during the opening stretch to slam down his first career dunk.
Eric Ferguson ended GSU's scoring drought with layup at the 15:37 minute mark, but the Cougars were running on all cylinders as 27 of the team's 44 first-half points were from the two Andrews and only made three turnovers prior the going into halftime with a 44-31 advantage.
The youth-laden Eagles never gave up in the second half as they cut the lead down to as few as seven points on three occasions in the final four and half minutes of regulation, but could never get closer. The Cougars converted 21-of-26 attempts from the charity stripe including Monroe's 11-of-12 performance at the line. He became the 27th all-time player to earn entrance into the 1,000-Point Club.
Goudelock extended his scoring streak to nine-straight games scoring 11 of his 20 points prior to the first media timeout. Lawrence turned in a career-high 16 points, while freshman Trent Wiedeman recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Wofford 75, Elon 69
ELON, N.C. - The Wofford College men's basketball team came back from ten points down in the second half for a 75-69 win over Elon at Alumni Gym on Saturday night. A career-high 37 points by Noah Dahlman was the difference in the game.
Wofford is 4-5 on the season and 2-0 in the SoCon. Elon is 2-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Wofford was led by Noah Dahlman with 37 points and eight rebounds. Cameron Rundles added eleven points. The Phoenix were led by Chris Long with 21 points and Drew Spradlin with 18 points. Roger Dugas had seven rebounds for Elon.
The Terriers took an early 8-0 lead and had a ten point advantage at 17-7 with 14:22 on the clock. Elon chipped away at the lead with three pointers and Wofford held a 23-18 lead at the midpoint of the half. With four minutes to go, the Terriers had pushed the lead back to ten points at 36-26. Elon however went on an 8-0 run to close the half and the Wofford lead was two points at 36-34.
Elon tied the game at 36 on the first shot of the second half and slowly built a 49-39 lead after a three with 13:54 on the clock. The lead was still at ten with 8:34 left in the half after another three by the Phoenix. Wofford then used an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to make it a 56-54 game. At 5:16, the Terriers tied the game at 58 with two free throws by Jamar Diggs. The game was tied at 60, 62, 63 and 65.
With 2:44 left in the game, a free throw by Terry Martin tied it at 66 points. Noah Dahlman added a lay-up and free throw for a 69-66 lead with 2:02 remaining. A bucket by Dahlman made it a five-point lead with 33 seconds. The Phoenix pulled back to within three twice in the final seconds, but two final free throws by Cameron Rundles with four seconds left put the game away at 75-69.