Chattanooga 91, College of Charleston 88
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Omar Wattad's game-high 27 points led the Chattanooga Mocs to a 91-88 win over College of Charleston in McKenzie Arena Monday night. The all-around team effort propelled Chattanooga to 7-0 in the Southern Conference North Division, 11-8 overall. The Cougars fall to 12-6, 5-1 in the SoCon South.
Wattad nailed 6-10 from three-point range while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists. He also hit 7-7 from the free throw line. Bob Cousy Award candidate Keegan Bell nearly recorded a triple-double with 12 points, eight assists and a career-high-tying rebounds.
Andrew Goudelock paced Charleston with 26 points and eight assists. Jeremy Simmons posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Cougars set the tempo early scoring the first eight points of the game en route to a 33-21 lead at 11:22 on a Goudelock three-pointer. CofC hit 10 of its first 14 shots, including eight of its 11 shots from 3-pt. range.
Six straight points from Wattad cut the lead to six, 33-27, but Antwaine Wiggins hit a trey at 10:31 to put the Cougars back up nine, 36-27.
It was all Chattanooga from there. The Mocs closed the half on a 26-10 run (10-0 over final 4:21) to take a 53-46 lead into the break. Wattad scored 19 of his 27 in the opening frame.
UTC built its lead to nine out of intermission first on a layup by Ricky Taylor at 19:32 and later on Chris Early's jumper in the paint making it 57-48 with 18:12 to play.
Wiggins hit threes on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to three, 57-54, at 17:23. Seven seconds later a Taylor jumper gave the Mocs another five-point cushion which extended to eight at 12:19 on a Wattad three.
The Cougars scored seven straight to cut the lead to one, 69-68, on Willis Hall's third three-pointer of the game. The Mocs clung to the lead until Goudelock's three-pointer at 6:38 gave CofC a 76-75 advantage.
Chattanooga had a quick answer. Saffore's three-point play 16 seconds later put the Mocs up two, 78-76, with 6:22 left.
Defense controlled play for the next few possessions when Goudelock scored on a layup in transition to knot the score at 78 with 4:34 to go. A Wattad three-pointer, followed by a back-door cut by Bell on a great feed from DeAntre Jefferson, pushed Chattanooga back up five, 83-78, at 3:27.
From there, the lead was never less than three. The Mocs hit all six free throws in the final minute to hold the Cougars at bay for the 91-88 triumph.
Jefferson came off the bench for 15 points, five rebounds and two assists at the five for UTC. He had 13 of his 15 in the first half as his post play keyed the Mocs surge. Taylor added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists shooting 7-12 from the floor.
Hall had 15 points for the Cougars, while Donovan Monroe chipped in 14 points and tied Bell and Goudelock for game-high honors with eight assists.
Chattanooga shot season bests of 53.4 percent (31-58) from the field, 45.5 percent (10-22) from three-point range and 86.4 percent (19-22) from the free throw line. The Mocs out-scored CofC in the paint, 38-24, and beat the Cougars on the glass, 36-30, led by Bell's eight.
UNCG 77, Davidson 69
GREENSBORO, N.C. - It took Trevis Simpson's teammates a while to catch up to him. And when they did, the UNCG Spartans were on their way to a second-half turnaround and a 77-69 victory over Davidson that might be their best performance in three years.
Simpson, the only UNCG player of substance in a trying first half, finished with 33 points - a school record for a freshman in the Division I era - as the club earned its first home win of the year and its second straight overall after it began the campaign with 15 losses. The Spartans followed last Thursday's victory at Appalachian State by shooting 59 percent from the floor after the break to eradicate a 10-point deficit, build a 66-53 lead and hang on.
Simpson, a 6-foot-4 guard from Douglas, Ga., who entered the game shooting 32.7 percent from the floor, was 12-for-15 against the Wildcats. Without his 6-of-8 effort in the first half, the Spartans would have been in far greater trouble than their 35-28 deficit suggested. Those not named Simpson were 5-for-21. Center Aloysius Henry, UNCG's leading scorer for the season, didn't get a field goal until 6:49 remained.
The home team still trailed 45-40 before a stretch of confident and seemingly improbable accuracy that stunned Davidson and changed the game. The Spartans scored on eight consecutive possessions, going 7-for-7 from the floor in the run, which was part of a larger 24-6 spurt. Simpson and Korey Van Dussen combined for 16 points in less than four minutes.
Simpson nailed contested 3-pointers, running one-handers and virtually anything else he wanted. The final point total is the highest by a Spartan since Kyle Hines, the program's most acclaimed player, had 33 against Furman in the Southern Conference tournament on March 1, 2007.
Simpson's personal hot streak of eight points in 90 seconds elevated the Spartans from their final deficit of the night and to a 51-46 lead with 12:21 to play. And once they got out in front, they withstood the Wildcats, whose motion offense and propensity for 3-point shooting can turn around many a game. The Cats went 2-for-13 in the second half after a 7-of-13 start from long range.
JP Kuhlman led Davidson with 19 points while Jake Cohen tallied 16 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats.
Appalachian State 78, Elon 71
BOONE, N.C. - Omar Carter scored a game-high 22 points and Andre Williamson recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 79-71 victory over visiting Elon on Monday evening at the Holmes Center.
Appalachian (8-9, 4-3 SoCon) never trailed in the ballgame and closed out a grueling three-games-in-five-days stretch by rebounding from back-to-back one-point losses to UNCG and Western Carolina.
Carter hit 10-of-15 shots from the field and Williamson made all seven shots that he attempted (5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line) to pace the Mountaineers, who moved to 5-1 at home this season.
As a team, ASU shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) and out-rebounded Elon (8-10, 2-5 SoCon), 43-33. The Phoenix stayed in the game by making 10 -of-28 three-pointers, compared to five out of 15 for the Apps.
The Mountaineers earned a 37-34 advantage at the intermission thanks in part to an 11-of-12 mark at the foul line and Carters' 5-of-7 shooting, good for 11 points before the break.
Early in the second half, ASU opened its lead to nine points before the Phoenix began to threaten. Chris Long led four Elon players in double figures with 15 points and 10 rebounds as the visitors got as close as three points on two occasions. Jack Isenbarger and Drew Spradlin each added 14 points for the Phoenix while Lucas Troutman added 13 points off the bench.
Lucas Troutman scored two of his 13 points on a jumper in the pain with 7:37 remaining to pull his squad back within five points, but ASU responded with nine-straight points and did not led Elon any closer than six points the remainder of the night.
The Mountaineers sank 5-of-7 free throws in the final two and a half minutes to protect a 74-65 lead and ice the game.
Troutman sank 6-of-10 shots off the bench and added four rebounds while Drew Spradlin was Elon's leader on the glass with five boards. Spradlin added 14 points, two steals and a pair of assists for the Phoenix.
Donald Sims had a quiet night by his standards, with 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting and 4-of-4 free throws on the night. He added three assists and two steals.
Jeremi Booth sank 4-of-6 shots for 12 points off the bench while Anthony Breeze provided a spark with six points and four rebounds in just nine minutes of action.
Petey Hausley and Marcus Wright added 6-and-4 of their own in the contest as well.
ASU scored 34 points in the paint compared to Elon's 26. The Apps turned the ball over 16 times, six more than Elon. It snapped a string of four-straight games in which ASU had a positive turnover ratio.
The Citadel 61, Samford 50
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- In a contradictory script for the Samford basketball team this season, the Bulldogs surrendered a 13-point lead with 15:01 remaining Monday as The Citadel Bulldogs mounted a second-half rally to earn a 61-50 Southern Conference win at the Pete Hanna Center. The Citadel (6-13, 2-5 SoCon) outscored Samford (10-8, 2-3 SoCon) 38-19 in the second half to pull off the road victory.
Typically this season, Samford has been the team to charge back for come-from-behind wins. Heading into Monday's showdown, the Bulldogs had already tallied four comeback victories in 2010-11 when trailing by at least double digits in the second half.
Samford led 31-23 at the half, but struggled from the field down the stretch and only shot 21.2 percent from 3-point range in the final period. The Bulldogs' starters were limited to 16 total points in Monday's contest, while The Citadel's starting five accumulated 52 of the team's 61 points.
Senior point guard Cameron Wells, The Citadel's three-time All-SoCon performer, paced his squad with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. A native of Houston, Texas, Wells took charge in the second half and scored 18 of his 22 points in the final period. He also pulled down eight rebounds and handed out a pair of assists.
Zach Urbanus also finished in double-figure scoring for The Citadel. The Cadets' senior guard from Austin, Texas, tallied 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor, but drained a key 3-point basket with 1:50 left in the game to give The Citadel a 54-48 lead.
Samford was paced offensively by senior center Andy King's season-high 18 points. The Bulldogs' native of Omaha, Neb., came off the bench to shoot 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point land. King also finished a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and grabbed three rebounds.
Samford's bench outscored The Citadel's reserves by a lopsided total of 34-9.
Gregg Wooten, Samford's sophomore guard from Memphis, Tenn., also came off the bench to provide a scoring spark for the Bulldogs. He finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists while shooting 3-of-6 from the floor. Wooten was also a near-perfect 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Samford's Jeffrey Merritt and Josh Davis also chipped in with nine and seven points, respectively. Davis, who entered the game ranked 22nd on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list with 1,010 career points, was forced to leave Monday's contest after landing awkwardly on his head following a hard foul from The Citadel's Bo Holston.
Following a turnaround layup by King with 15:01 remaining in the game, Samford held a 38-25 advantage over The Citadel.
The Cadets then knocked down four-consecutive baskets to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 38-33 with 10:08 to play. From the 15:01 mark, The Citadel closed out the game with a lopsided 36-12 run. During the come-from-behind rally to end Monday's contest, Wells scored 17 of his game-high 22 points.
Samford only made five field goals in the second half and shot 31.4 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes of play. The Citadel out-rebounded the Bulldogs 35-30, but Samford led in second-chance points 9-8.