Game 6: #1S Wofford 59, #4N UNC Greensboro 47
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Postgame Quotes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Wofford captured a 59-47 win over UNC Greensboro in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Saturday afternoon at the Bojangles' Coliseum. Wofford, the top seed from the South Division improves to 24-8, while the Spartans, No. 4 North, falls to 8-23.
SoCon Player of the Year Noah Dahlman led a balanced Terriers attack with 13 points. UNCG senior Ben Stywall set a school record with his 15th double-double on the season breaking the mark held by former Spartans star Kyle Hines (2008). Stywall posted 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Terriers advance to the semifinals to face Western Carolina (No. 2 North) at 6 p.m., at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Both semifinal matchups will be broadcast by SportSouth.
It will be the first semifinal appearance for Wofford since 2000. It was done at a steady rate as the Terriers neither pulled away nor gave the Spartans any opportunity to come back.
The Terriers scored the first nine points of the second half en route to taking a 16-point lead, 43-27, at 13:53 on a three-point play by Terry Martin. UNCG continued to battle.
The Spartans' ensuing 10-2 closed it to eight points, 45-37 on two Pete Brown free throws. Brown had four points, four rebounds and a block over the 3:52 span. UNCG got within seven twice, but could not get over the hump as it hit its last field goal with 7:49 left in the game.
Wofford shot 51.2 percent from the field, while limiting UNCG to 32.7 percent from the floor and a paltry one-for-12 (8.3%) from three-point range. The Spartans did own a 36-26 advantage on the glass led by Stywall's game-high 11.
Jamar Diggs and Junior Salters each had 12 points as Diggs also recorded three steals. Brad Loesing chipped in 10 points,
Kyle Randall had 10 points for UNCG. Brown added eight points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
Wofford jumped out to an 11-point lead, 25-14, on a Dahlman layup at 7:19. The basket capped a 16-2 run as the Spartans tallied one field goal over a span of 11:43. UNCG shot 1-11 during the run, but aggressive offensive rebounding in the final seconds of the first half resulted in a Brandon Evans layup at the buzzer making is 28-22 Wofford.
This was the second quarterfinal game of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship. The remaining quarterfinal matchups today are No. 4S The Citadel-No. 1N Appalachian State at 7 p.m., followed by No. 3N Chattanooga-No. 2S College of Charleston in the nightcap. Western Carolina defeated Elon 68-57 in the first quarterfinal matchup.
Game 5: #2N Western Carolina 68, #6N Elon 57
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Postgame Quotes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Western Carolina beat Elon 68-57 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Saturday afternoon at the Bojangles' Coliseum. WCU, the North Division's No. 2 seed, improves to 22-10, while the Phoenix, No. 6 North, ends their season at 9-23.
Western used a dominating inside performance out-scoring Elon 36-6 in the paint led by Richie Gordon's 16 points and eight rebounds. Chris Long led the Phoenix with 15 points and seven assists.
The Catamounts advance to the semifinal awaiting the winner of Wofford (No. 1 South) and UNC Greensboro (No. 4 North). Gametime for the first Sunday semifinal game is slated for 6 p.m., at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Both semifinal matchups will be broadcast by SportSouth.
It is Western Carolina's first trip to the conference semifinals since 1999. But it was not easy.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle early before Western, down 15-11, held Elon without a field goal for more than eight minutes powering an 18-0 run to go up 29-15. Despite outshooting the Phoenix (53.8% to 25.9%) and having an overwhelming 22-4 advantage with points in the paint, WCU carried a 31-23 lead into intermission.
Elon cut the lead to five, 34-29, on a three-pointer by Long at 16:14, but that's as close as the score would get. Western built the lead back up to 13, 48-35, on a Gordon basket inside with 9:53 remaining. The Phoenix got as close as seven inside the three-minute mark, but the Catamounts always had an answer.
Western's answers were on defense and rebounding throughout the day. The Catamounts limited Elon to 30 percent shooting (15-50 FG). The Phoenix shot 36.7 percent, 11-30, from three-point range, but they could muster just four-of-20 shooting, 20 percent, inside the arc.
The Catamounts had no such issue. While they hit just 25 percent, 4-16 from beyond the arc, Western made 62.5 percent (20-32) inside it. Harouna Mutumbo (14), Mike Williams (13) and Jake Robinson (10) combined for 37 points off the bench as the Catamounts' reserves had a 39-8 advantage over their Elon counterparts.
Drew Spradlin with 13 points and T.J. Douglas with 12 joined Long in double digits for the Phoenix. They end their season in the quarterfinals for the second straight year after a run to the finals in 2008.
This was the first quarterfinal game of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship. The remaining quarterfinal matchups today are Wofford-UNCG next, No. 4S The Citadel-No. 1N Appalachian State at 7 p.m., followed by No. 3N Chattanooga-No. 2S College of Charleston in the nightcap.