College of Charleston 80, Elon 77
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Donavan Monroe scored a career-high 29 points, including 22 in the first half, as the College of Charleston men's basketball team downed Elon, 80-77, tonight at the Carolina First Arena.
Charleston improved to 17-9 overall and 12-3 in the Southern Conference. It marked the 17th time in 18 seasons the Cougars have posted at least 17 wins. Elon fell to 6-18 and 4-9 in the league.
After Monroe opened the second half with a jumper, Elon went on a 17-6 run that saw a 13-point lead dwindle to two, 57-55 with 12:44 to go. Charleston responded with a jumper by Tony White, Jr., who had 10 on the night, and a three-pointer by Andrew Lawrence to take the lead to seven with 11:52 remaining.
Elon sliced away at the Cougar lead and tied it up off a layup and free throw by Scott Grable, who had 12 points in the game. Tied 64-64 with 7:13 to go, Andrew Goudelock, posted back-to-back jumpers as the Cougars used an 11-4 run over the next five minutes to take the lead back to seven with just under two minutes to play. Charleston went five-for-six from the charity stripe down the stretch to help secure the 80-77 win. The Cougars gave up a three-pointer as time expired to cut the margin to three and make it appear closer.
Adam Constantine nailed a jumper, two of his 24 points on the night, at the 4:47 mark in the first half to cut the Cougar lead to two before Casaan Breeden hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to five. Charleston out-scored Elon 16-7 the remainder of the half and went into the locker room with the 11-point, 49-38, lead.
Despite shooting 53.1 percent from the field, the Cougars were just a season-low four-of-22 from beyond the three-point arc. Elon shot 41.4 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from the three-point arc. Elon out-rebounded the Cougars 42-37 and had one less turnover, 5-6.
Goudelock followed Monroe, who tied the season-high with his 29 points, in scoring with 12 on the night. Jeremy Simmons led the team in rebounds with nine. Constantine led Elon with his 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Grable followed with 12.
Appalachian State 66, Davidson 56
BOONE, N.C. - A pair of Donald Sims three-pointers with 11 minutes to play broke open a tight game and propelled Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 66-56 win against visiting Davidson on Thursday night.
Sims scored 19 of his game-high 25 points after the intermission as the Mountaineers out-shot the Wildcats 47.9 percent to 32.8. The reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week honoree sank 9-of-14 field goal attempts, including both shots from downtown and all five free throws. He also led the team with four assists and two steals.
ASU (15-10, 9-4 SoCon) benefitted from Davidson's early shooting woes to gain an early six-point advantage. The 'Cats then found their footing and responded with eight-straight points to end the half with a 30-28 advantage.
Coming out of the break, the teams traded baskets for the first eight minutes and kept the score within three points before the Apps took advantage of four-straight DC misses to build a 47-40 lead. Andre Williamson sank a jumper and Sims sank three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give ASU its largest cushion of the evening to that point.
Davidson (12-12, 7-5) cut the deficit to three points just a minute later, but three-point plays from Sims and Josh Hunter along with five late points from Marcus Wright secured the lead. DC never pulled any closer than five points down the stretch.
The Wildcats launched 32 shots from downtown in the contest, sinking nine, while the Apps shot 6-of-9 from deep.
The Mountaineers grabbed 41 rebounds in the contest, led by Hunter's 10 and another nine from Isaac Butts. Hunter nearly missed his second-straight double-double, with eight points while Butts added four on 2-of-3 shooting.
Williamson added six boards off the bench to accompany four points and a pair of blocks. Four Davidson players hauled in four rebounds each to lead the team.
Sims was joined in double figures by Kellen Brand and Wright, who each scored 10. Davidson also had three players score in double digits, led by Bryant Barr's 15. Jake Cohen and Will Archambault each reached 10 points as well.