Furman 72, UNC Greensboro 64
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman held UNC Greensboro to 22.6 percent shooting in the second half and outscored the Spartans 45-28 over the final 20 minutes as the Paladins erased a 17-point deficit to claim a 72-64 victory in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena Thursday evening.
The win, Furman's third straight at home, improved the Paladins to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in SoCon play while avenging an 88-78 loss to the Spartans in Greensboro, N.C., last month. UNC Greensboro fell to 5-17 overall and 4-7 in league play.
Trailing 34-17 with under four minutes to go in the first half, Noah States buried a three-pointer to ignite a 20-2 Furman rally and Justin Dehm capped the spurt, which included five three-pointers, with a trey at the 15:25 mark of the second half to give the Paladins their first lead of the game at 37-36.
The teams traded the lead six times over the next three minutes before Furman grabbed the advantage for good on Amu Saaka's jumper with 12:05 remaining to put the Paladins ahead 43-42. The basket started a 6-0 run and Furman increased its margin to as many as 12 points with less then five minutes to play before the Spartans trimmed the lead to 67-64 with 30 second remaining. Jordan Miller sealed the victory by converting on 7-of-8 trips to the foul line in the final 48 seconds.
Saaka paced the Paladins with 21 points and eight rebounds while Miller added 17 points and seven boards. Dehm contributed 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting as the Paladins shot 48.1 percent (25-52) from the field and 36.8 percent (7-19) from beyond the arc. Furman blistered the nets after intermission hitting 16-of-25 second half shots from the field.
Kendall Toney scored 17 points to lead four Spartans in double figures. Kyle Randall tallied 14 points and five assists, Mikko Koivisto scored 11 points and Ben Stywall notched a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
UNC Greensboro shot just 34.5 percent (20-58) from the floor and connected on only 7-of-31 shots after intermission. The Spartans made 8-of-20 attempts from three-point range.
Each team committed 13 turnovers and the rebounding battle finished knotted at 37-37.
UNCG travels to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford on Saturday at 7 p.m. Furman continues its three-game homestand hosting the Elon Phoenix on Saturday at 8:05 p.m.
The Citadel 61, Samford 57
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- In a theme that has become all too familiar for the Samford University basketball team this season, the Bulldogs used an early second-half run Thursday to take a lead in Southern Conference play before The Citadel Bulldogs rallied late to earn a 61-57 victory at McAlister Field House.
Samford (9-13, 3-8 SoCon) used a 21-3 run midway through the game to take its biggest lead of the contest 45-34 with 10:03 remaining. The Citadel (11-12, 5-6 SoCon) then rebounded with a 27-12 run to close out the game for its second victory against Samford this season. Earlier this year, The Citadel rallied for a 51-50 win at the Pete Hanna Center.
With 3:35 left in Thursday's game, The Citadel's Ben Cherry tied the score at 51-51 with a deep 3-point basket from the left corner. Cherry's key 3-pointer proved to be his first of two clutch shots as he later gave the Bulldogs a 57-54 lead at the 2:12 mark in the game. Both baskets were nearly identical shots from the left wing.
Despite Cherry's heroics down the stretch, Samford had the ball with a chance to win with 12.8 seconds left in the game.
The Citadel led 59-57 on the Bulldogs' final possession when Josh Davis came around a double screen and fired off a deep 3-pointer from the right flank that would have won the game. Davis' shot came up just short as The Citadel added a pair of free throws to hold on for its 61-57 victory.
Samford's Davis led all scorers with 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. He finished 4-of-7 from 3-point range and knocked down 6-of-8 attempts from the free-throw line. Davis, the Bulldogs' leading scorer this season, also tallied a team-high seven rebounds.
Senior forward Bryan Friday added 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, including the Bulldogs' first 11 of the period. Friday also pulled down five rebounds and was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.
The Citadel was led in scoring by Austin Dahn's 15 points. The Bulldogs' junior sharpshooter knocked down a team-high four 3-point field goals, all of which occurred in the first half of play. Late in the game, Dahn scored his only three points of the second period as he drained three-consecutive free throws after being fouled on a deep 3-point attempt.
The only other double-digit scorer for The Citadel was Harrison DuPont. DuPont turned in a 4-of-9 performance from the field Thursday and finished with 13 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
At the half, The Citadel held a slight 26-23 advantage in Thursday's matchup. Samford trailed by as many as 10 points in the opening period, but fought back to trim The Citadel's lead to three at the intermission.
College of Charleston 86, Chattanooga 74
CHARLESTON, S.C.--- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga dropped an 86-74 decision at College of Charleston (15-8/10-2) Thursday night in Carolina First Arena. The Mocs stormed back from a 29-point second half deficit closing to 10 with 8:40 to play, but they could not close out the Southern Conference South Division leader.
Chattanooga (13-11/5-6) was led by DeAntre Jefferson's 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Ricky Taylor scored 12 for his ninth straight game in double digits.
Five Cougars scored in double figures as Tony White, Jr., led the way with 19. Andrew Goudelock and Matt Sundberg added 17 apiece.
Tied at 12 after two Chris Early free throws at 13:33, the Cougars went on a 14-3 run to go up 26-15 on a three-point play by White at 9:47. CofC kept the pressure up pushing the lead to as many as 20 (43-23) before settling on the 19-point halftime advantage.
Charleston hit eight three-pointers in the first half with Goudelock finding the bottom of the basket three times from beyond the arc, all well behind the line.
Charleston pushed the lead to 59-30 after eight straight points by Goudelock capped by a three at 16:03. But the Mocs would not go quietly.
Chattanooga scored 16 unanswered points cutting the lead to 13 on a Ty Patterson trey at 12:06. The lead was cut to 10, 66-56, on a tip-in by Josh Odem with 8:41 left.
The Cougars were not to be denied. With the margin still at 10, 69-59, CofC out-scored the Mocs 10-2 over the next three minutes ending the run with a Sundberg three at 5:25 to make it 79-61.
Patterson scored 11 for the Mocs, while Ridge McKeither added 10 points and five rebounds. The Mocs held a 44-24 advantage in the paint as the Mocs got aggressive with 30 in the paint after intermission.
The Cougars hit 17 threes in 44 attempts, a season high in attempts for an opponent this season. Sundberg (5-9) and Goudelock (5-8) combined for 10 of 17 beyond the arc. Jeremy Simmons had 10 points and nine rebounds, while Donavan Monroe chipped in 10 as well.
Western Carolina 83, Georgia Southern 68
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Five Catamounts scored in double figures as Western Carolina avenged an earlier road loss to Georgia Southern, pulling away from upset-minded Eagles in the second half for an 83-68 win in Southern Conference action. Senior Brandon Giles scored 16 of his team-high 19 points in the opening 20 minutes to pace the Catamounts to their 15th-straight home victory.
Western Carolina (18-5, 8-3 SoCon) scored 48 of its 83 points in the paint en route to the program's record 12th seasonal victory inside the Ramsey Center, eclipsing last season's record of 11 facility wins.
Giles, who was 7-for-9 in the opening 20 minutes Thursday night, was joined in double figures by classmate Adrian Gailliard who scored a career-best 15 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the floor. Harouna Mutombo and Mike Williams each scored 14 points apiece while Jake Robinson chipped in 11 off the bench, playing with a heavily wrapped shooting hand after injuring his right thumb two games ago. Mutombo added seven boards.
Brigham Waginger boarded a team-high eight rebounds, while also dishing out seven assists and swiping five steals in the winning effort while Richie Gordon scored seven points, shooting 3-for-4 from the field.
After Western Carolina managed to build a double-digit lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, Georgia Southern (6-18, 3-8 SoCon) was only able to close to within seven points, 60-53, midway through the second half on a Johntavious Rucker lay-up, his only two points of the contest. However, the Catamounts responded with a 15-to-7 spurt which included slam dunks by both Gordon and Mutombo to surge ahead by a game-high 15 points with just four and a half remaining in regulation.
WCU outrebounded the Eagles, 41-to-37, in pulling out the 15-point victory.
Sophomore Colby Wohlleb led GSU with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting including six 3-pointers. He was joined in double figures by Rory Spencer, Willie Powers and Ben Drayton, each with 11 points apiece. Spencer added game highs in nine rebounds and five blocks while Powers dished out seven assists. Tyler Troupe scored nine and boarded seven missed shots.
Antonio Hanson, who torched the Catamounts for six first-half 3-pointers in the first meeting in Statesboro was held to two points and 0-for-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.