Appalachian State 82, Samford 68
BOONE, N.C. --- The Samford basketball team fought back to within three points, 61-58, midway through the second half of Saturday's regular-season finale against the Appalachian State Mountaineers, but on Senior Day at the Holmes Center, the Mountaineers rallied to score 21 of the game's final 31 points for an 82-68 Southern Conference victory.
With the loss, Samford (11-19, 5-13 SoCon) concluded its 2010 regular season with a three-game losing streak. The Bulldogs will next be in action Friday as they begin play in the SoCon Tournament at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C.
Samford's seeding in next week's 2010 SoCon Tournament will not be decided until Monday night. Depending on Elon's game versus Davidson and UNC Greensboro's home contest against Georgia Southern, the Bulldogs could be listed anywhere from the No. 4 seed in the North Division to the No. 6 seed.
Appalachian State (20-11, 13-5 SoCon) extended its winning streak to four games Saturday. The Mountaineers claimed the SoCon's North Division this year and ended the regular season as winners of eight of their last nine games.
With 7:29 remaining in the second half, Samford's Andy King drained a deep 3-point basket from the right wing to trim Appalachian State's lead to 61-58. King's basket capped off a 7-0 run for the Bulldogs in which Bryan Friday banked home a six-foot jumper and Josh Davis scored on a turnaround layup.
Davis, Samford's junior sharpshooter from Lubbock, Texas, led the Bulldogs in scoring with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. He was also able to connect on 3-of-6 of his attempts from 3-point range.
After King's 3-pointer trimmed the Mountaineers' lead to 61-58 with 7:29 to play, Appalachian State retaliated with a quick 8-0 run of its own to extend its advantage back to 69-58. The Mountaineers used a put-back layup from Josh Hunter and back-to-back 3-point baskets from Jeremi Booth and Donald Sims to regain its 11-point lead in a minute and 35 seconds.
Appalachian State was able to capitalize off of some late Samford miscues and outscored the Bulldogs 21-10 in the final 7:29 of the game.
Sims, the Mountaineers' point guard who is leading the SoCon in scoring this season, paced Appalachian State with 25 points on an 8-of-14 performance from the field. He also knocked down 6-of-9 attempts from 3-point range.
Kellen Brand added 18 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Mountaineers, while Booth chipped in with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Booth, Appalachian State's junior from Altavista, Va., turned in a 4-of-6 performance from 3-point range as the Mountaineers shot a sizzling 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from beyond the arc.
Samford shot 55.8 percent from the field Saturday, but was out-rebounded 29-17. Appalachian State also dominated the offensive boards and tallied nine offensive rebounds compared to two for the Bulldogs.
Kaylin Johson, Samford's speedy guard from Baton Rouge, La., played well for the Bulldogs and finished with 11 points, three assists and a steal. He turned in a 4-for-5 shooting performance from the field and a 3-for-4 outing from beyond the arc. Jeffrey Merritt added 10 points and connected on 4-of-7 attempts from the floor.
Despite trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Samford rallied late in the period and fought back within 41-38 at the intermission. Following a 3-point basket from Booth at the 3:59 mark, Appalachian State held a 38-24 advantage in the game.
College of Charleston 69, Furman 66
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Andrew Goudelock scored 15 points to lead four Cougars in double figures as the College of Charleston slipped past Furman 69-66 in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
College of Charleston finished the regular season at 20-10 overall and 14-4 in Southern Conference play while Furman finished at 13-16 overall and 7-11 in league play.
Trailing just 65-63 after Bryson Barnes connected on a jumper with 2:25 left, Furman stopped Charleston on the other end of the floor and Amu Saaka drew a two-shot foul. Furman, however, missed both free throws and three consecutive shots on it following possession before Goudelock drained a jumper and Tony White made two free throws to help the Cougars pull away in the final minute.
Goudelock paced the Cougars with 15 points despite making just 5-of-21 field goal attempts. Donavan Monroe netted 14 points while Jeremy Simmons and Willis Hall scored 10 apiece. CofC shot 45.2% (28-62) from the field, including 6-of-16 from three-point range, and made good on 7-of-9 trips to the foul line. The Cougars outscored Furman 38-24 in the paint and totaled 20 points off of 14 Paladin turnovers.
Miller buried 4-of-9 treys to score a game-high 20 points for the Paladins. Bryson Barnes posted a double-double with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Saaka added nine points and nine rebounds.
The Paladins shot 36.4 percent from the field and made only 10-of-19 free throw attempts. Furman connected on 8-of-21 three-point attempts and out-rebounded the Cougars 45-37.
The Paladins rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to knot the game at 61-61 on Jordan Miller's trey with 3:41 left, but managed to score on just two of its final eight possessions.
The win was Charleston's fifth straight over Furman and its 23 in the last 26 meetings.
Western Carolina 78, Chattanooga 70
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga dropped its final regular season game 78-70 at Western Carolina Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Mocs to 14-17, 6-12 in the Southern Conference North Division, while the Catamounts improve to 21-10, 11-7 in the North.
Ricky Taylor led the Mocs with 13 points and six rebounds on an off-shooting day. Keegan Bell added 12 points, two assists and two steals.
Jake Robinson came off the bench to score 18 points, all in the second half, and grab seven boards on senior day for the Catamounts. Fellow WCU senior Brigham Waginger chipped in 15 points and seven steals.
Western Carolina opened the game with a 15-0 run capped by a Keaton Cole three-pointer at 15:47. Ricky Taylor stopped the slide with two free throws after getting fouled on a fast break by Waginger.
The Catamounts led by as many as 17, 28-11, before the Mocs fought back. Dante Harvey's layup at 2:50 made it 30-24 and ended a 13-2 Mocs run. Cole answered with another three, his third of the opening half as WCU took a 35-26 lead into the break.
After Western jumped out to a 39-28 lead to start the second half, Ridge McKeither scored seven straight points before Ty Patterson's three brought the Mocs within four, 42-38 at 14:45. It marked a 10-3 run for UTC.
Waginger scored three points on a free throw and then a layup of a steal in the backcourt to put Western back up 45-38. The Mocs continued to battle closing to within three, three times, midway through the second frame with a Bell three-pointer and layup closing the gap.
Jake Robinson hit a big three at 10:45 to put the Catamounts back up eight, 55-47. The Mocs would get no closer than five the rest of the way,
McKeither had 11 points for the Mocs with all 11 coming in the second half. Troy Cage added a career-high eight point in 14 minutes, a season best for the junior college transfer who missed the first 20 games due to a stress fracture that required surgery in December and a feverish rehab by Cage.
Cole had 16 points for the Catamounts with 15 coming in the first half. Western won the rebounding battle 38-29 paced by Kendall Russell's game-high nine.
Wofford 75, The Citadel 66
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team ended the regular season with a 75-66 win over The Citadel on Saturday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Both teams shot over fifty percent from the floor in the game. It was the final home game for seniors Corey Godzinski and Junior Salters, who were honored prior to the game.
Wofford has won ten in a row and is 23-8 on the season and 15-3 in the SoCon. The ten-game winning streak is the longest in Wofford's NCAA Division I history. The Citadel is 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the conference. The Terriers have secured sole possession of the Southern Conference South Division title.
The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 18 points and Tim Johnson with 10 points and eight rebounds. The leading scorer for the Bulldogs was Cameron Wells with 22 points and Harrison DuPont added 16 points and seven rebounds.
The Terriers scored the first four points of the game and had a 10-3 lead after two free throws by Noah Dahlman at 14:48. The Citadel quickly scored the next five points to cut the lead to 10-8. The Bulldogs were only down one point after a three by Cameron Wells at 12:04 with a 12-11 score. Kevin Giltner answered with a three and after another three by Corey Godzinski the Terriers had a 23-17 lead at the 7:41 mark.
A three by Junior Salters pushed the advantage to 30-19 for the Terriers with 5:15 on the clock. With Wofford holding a 32-21 lead with 3:43 remaining in the half, The Citadel answered with an 8-2 run that included two three pointers to make it a 34-29 game. Jamar Diggs hit a bucket with four seconds left to give the Terriers a 36-29 lead at the half.
Wofford scored first with a bucket from Tim Johnson to open the second half, but the Bulldogs stayed close and after a three by Zach Urbanus the lead was down to 42-38 three minutes into play. After trading buckets for a 46-42 score, Wofford used a 7-0 run to take a 53-42 lead at the ten minute mark.
Jason Dawson hit a three to give Wofford a 56-44 lead and two free throws by Kevin Giltner made it a 58-44 advantage with eight minutes remaining. Noah Dahlman hit a lay-up and free throw at the six-minute mark for a 65-50 lead, the largest of the night. Wofford was able to keep the lead in double-digits until a three by Cameron Wells with 54 seconds on the clock cut it to 74-66. Cameron Rundles made one-of-two free throws with 29 seconds left for the final score of 75-66.
Davidson 99, Elon 96 (2OT)
ELON, N.C. - Steve Rossiter's one-handed heave swished through the net as the final second ticked off the clock to give the Davidson Wildcats a double-overtime 99-96 win over the Elon Phoenix in front of a raucous crowd of 1,934 on Senior Night at Alumni Gym. After a Brendan McKillop three-pointer tied the game with two seconds remaining, Rossiter stole the inbounds pass and let go of a prayer before the final horn sounded.
With the game tied for the tenth time, 93-93, with 34 seconds to go in the second OT, Elon's Chris Long hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line on the next two Phoenix possessions to put the home team up, 96-93, with 14 ticks to play. Elon forced a missed trey by JP Kulhman, but Davidson came up with the long rebound and McKillop drained one of his seven three-pointers to knot the score before Rossiter stole the show.
Elon will have a chance to avenge the loss in the very near future, as the Phoenix (8-22, 5-13) and Wildcats (16-14, 11-7) will meet in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament next Friday afternoon.
Drew Spradlin's 25 points led four Elon players in double figures. Spradlin scored 11 points in the extra minutes, connecting on 9-of-18 for the game. Adam Constantine was impressive in his final contest in front of the home crowd, dumping in 15 points and posting a game-high 12 rebounds. Long narrowly missed a double-double with 16 points and nine assists. Senior Devan Carter netted double figures for the second straight game, contributing 12 points.
McKillop, Kuhlman and Jake Cohen each recorded 24-point performances to lead the Wildcats. McKillop and Kuhlman combined for 11-of-23 from downtown, each hitting daggers at the conclusion of both regulation and overtime that kept the game alive for Davidson.
Fans got their monies worth in an emotional game that featured the SoCon's all-time wins leader in head coach Bob McKillop on the Davidson sideline and his protégé first-year Elon head coach Matheny on the opposite bench. The game featured a series of runs in regulation, with each team managing to take double-digit leads throughout the course of action.
On the strength of four straight McKillop triples, Davidson used a 15-0 run early in the first half to jump out to a 27-11 lead with 9:27 on the clock. Elon senior Jon Ogolo drained a three ball to halt the streak and jump start a 19-0 Phoenix run that gave Elon a 30-27 lead with under four minutes to play in the half. An 11-6 stretch to close the first 20 minutes of action gave Elon the 41-35 edge heading into the locker room.
Elon led for the entire second half, building its lead to as many as 14 on two occasions. With Elon holding a 70-56 advantage with 5:53 remaining in the second stanza, a Nik Cochran three-point play started an 18-7 Davidson run that ended with a game-tying Kulman long ball with six seconds on the clock. Long's three-point attempt fell short at the buzzer and the teams headed to the first overtime with the score tied at 77.
The Phoenix led by as many as four, 82-78, in a low-scoring extra stanza, but Davidson scored five of the final six points to tie the game 83-83, giving fans more free basketball.
Elon's biggest crowd of the year saw the Phoenix's first overtime contest in Alumni Gym since a win against Lipscomb on Dec. 22, 2008. The fans, all dressed in maroon for Elon's Maroon to the Max event, did not go unnoticed by the Elon players and staff.