finished with 10 points.
Ricky Taylor led the Mocs (14-15, 6-10 SoCon) with 22 points, and senior Ty Patterson, playing in his final home game, posted 20 points and eight boards. Keegan Bell added 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.
The score was tied 52-52 coming out of the under eight-minute media timeout, but Chattanooga netted nine straight points to open a 61-52 lead. Davidson cut the margin to six once and five once, on 3-pointers by Cohen and JP Kuhlman, over the next two minutes, but each time the Mocs had an answer on the offensive end.
After a pair of Cohen free throws made the lead seven with 3:47 to go, Taylor and Patterson combined for the next six points of the game to make the cushion 12. Davidson could not get the margin into single digits until Archambault hit a triple that made the score 78-70 with 18 seconds left. Cochran added a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining for the final margin.
Chattanooga jumped out to a 19-6 lead on a Ridge McKeither dunk early in the game. The Wildcats used a 22-4 spurt, sparked by six 3-pointers, to open a 28-23 cushion. McKillop had three triples during the run, capping it with two in a row, and Barr knocked down to three-pointers. Cochran added seven points during the stretch.
Davidson went on to take a 35-32 cushion into halftime as seven of the 'Cats 14 field goals in the frame were from long distance.
The Wildcats return to action Wednesday, Feb. 24, for the home finale against UNC Greensboro. Davidson will honor its four seniors, Archambault, Bryant Barr, Dan Nelms and Rossiter, before the game.
Appalachian State 58, Elon 54
ELON, N.C. -- On a night where neither team shot the ball well, Appalachian State University men's basketball sank three free throws when it counted to ice a 58-54 win at Elon on Monday. The win clinched the Southern Conference North's top seed for next month's tournament as well as no less than a share of the division title.
The Mountaineers' (18-11, 11-5 SoCon) string of 16-straight games with a 40 percent field goal percentage came to an end, but a gritty effort and a 27-11 second-half rebound margin proved to be the difference as ASU won its sixth game in the last seven outings.
The sixth and final tie of the contest came with four minutes to play at 49-49. Isaac Butts then made a pair of free throws and was followed by a Donald Sims free throw with 3:05 on the clock to bolster the lead to four points.
The Phoenix (9-20, 5-11) responded with a free throw before Josh Hunter put back an offensive rebound to put the Apps up 55-50 with just 1:40 remaining in regulation. Elon's Adam Constantine responded with a layup at the other end and a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 55-54 with just 41 ticks left.
Appalachian advanced the ball into the front court where Jeremi Booth was fouled and sank 1-of-2 foul shots with 32 seconds remaining. Down by two points and with the shot clock turned off, Chris Long brought up the ball for Elon and attempted a runner from the right baseline to tie the game with 19 seconds on the clock. Booth grabbed the rebound off the glass and made an outlet to Sims for two more free throws two seconds later.
Sims knocked down both shots to improve to 6-of-8 from the line on the night before Elon received the ball for one final possession. Booth deflected a pass out of bounds and Hunter grabbed the game's final rebound to secure the 58-54 win.
Sims bounced back from a rough first half to finish the game with a game-high 25 points. He was just 3-of-8 from the field, 0-for-3 from downtown and missed two free throws in the first 20 minutes. After the intermission, he drained 5-of-10 shots and three treys for 15 points. The guard six rebounds and an assist in the contest.
Butts recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 11 boards. Hunter battled early foul trouble to score eight of his 10 points and grab six of his seven rebounds in the second half.
Constantine led the Phoenix with 13 points and seven rebounds while Long dished out seven assists and swiped two steals. TJ Douglas added 12 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting to go along with six boards, an assist and a steal.
ASU finished the game with a 46-27 advantage on the glass and converted 15 offensive boards into 17 second-chance points, while Elon was held to just six points on four offensive rebounds. The Apps hit just 3-of-15 three-point attempts on the evening compared to 6-of-21 for EU.
Both squads struggled from the charity stripe, shooting a combined 31-of-51 from the line. .
Georgia Southern 83, Samford 77
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- On a night in which the Samford basketball team honored its 2009-10 senior class, the Bulldogs fell behind early to the up-and-coming Georgia Southern Eagles, then rallied back to within three points late in the game before the Eagles were able to hold on for an 83-77 Southern Conference victory Monday at the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford's Peter Carroll, Bryan Friday, Trey Montgomery and Jim Griffin were all honored prior to the game with an emotional Senior Night tribute.
With the loss in its home finale, Samford (11-17, 5-11 SoCon) closed out its 2009-10 campaign with a 7-7 record at the Pete Hanna Center. Additionally, the Bulldogs were only 2-7 at home in conference play.
Georgia Southern (8-21, 5-11 SoCon) picked up its first road victory of the season Monday. Heading into the matchup, the Eagles were 0-15 when playing away from the Hanner Fieldhouse. Georgia Southern also increased its all-time lead against Samford to 32-15.
The Eagles shot 52.7 percent from the field and turned in a blazing 53.6-percent outing from beyond the arc. Georgia Southern knocked down 15-of-28 of its attempts from 3-point range and was paced by Antonio Hanson's 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. Hanson, the Eagles' senior guard from Fort Worth, Texas, finished 7-of-14 from 3-point range.
Both teams ended the game with five players scoring in double figures. Georgia Southern's Hanson led all scorers with his 27-point outburst, while the Eagles' Colby Wohlleb followed with 15 and Ben Drayton added 14. Georgia Southern's Rory Spencer and Willie Powers both chipped in with 12 points apiece, but Powers also proved to be dangerous with 11 assists and only two turnovers.
Samford was led in scoring by sophomore guard Jeffrey Merritt, who tallied a career-high 18 points for a second straight game. On Saturday, he finished with 18 points and nine rebounds against Chattanooga and followed up that performance Monday with an 18-point, eight-rebound outing versus Georgia Southern.
Merritt finished the game shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. He was also 3-for-4 from the charity stripe and added three assists and a pair of steals.
Following Merritt's 18-point performance, Samford received 15 points from Bryan Friday and 14 points from both Kaylin Johnson and Montgomery. Junior guard Josh Davis added 10 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs and was 2-for-5 from 3-point range.
Montgomery and Friday both turned in solid outings in their final game at the Pete Hanna Center. Friday scored 15 points in only 19 minutes of play and went 6-of-11 from the field. Montgomery, who needed 18 points to reach the historic 1,000-point plateau, scored 14 points and increased his career total to 996. He was only 3-of-8 from the floor, but knocked down 8-of-9 attempts from the charity stripe.
Despite facing Georgia Southern's constant full-court pressure, Samford only turned the ball over 10 times. The Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 36-14 in the paint and dominated Georgia Southern in bench scoring 24-3. The difference in Monday's game was that Samford only received 18 points from beyond the arc, while the Eagles scored 45 of their 83 points on 3-point baskets.
Georgia Southern led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a 46-36 lead into the locker room. Samford, following a fast-break layup from Andy King, quickly trimmed the Eagles' advantage to 52-49 with 14:37 to play in the game.
The teams then traded baskets for a few possessions midway through the half until Georgia Southern connected on a pair of 3-pointers from Hanson, including a shot that caromed off the backboard as the 35-second clock was expiring. Following another jumper from Hanson and a layup from Powers, the Eagles held a 69-58 advantage with 7:22 left to play.
Down the stretch, Samford's Davis hit a 3-pointer, Montgomery scored on a driving layup and Merritt knocked down a 3-point basket to cut Georgia Southern's lead to 79-74 with 41 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs later trimmed the advantage to 79-76 with a free throw from Davis before Powers and Hanson combined to make four free throws in the final seconds to hold on for the 83-77 win.