Wofford 74, Appalachian State 64
BOONE, N.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team used a 10-0 run in the second half on the way to a 74-65 win over Appalachian State on Thursday night at Holmes Arena. The Terriers hit only two three pointers in the contest, but made up for it on the line hitting 24-of-29 free throws.
Wofford is 11-10 on the season and 8-2 in the Southern Conference and Appalachian State is 8-12 overall and 4-6 in SoCon play. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 23 points, followed by Cameron Rundles with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Kevin Giltner added ten points and Drew Crowell had a career-high eight points. The Mountaineers were led by Donald Sims with 23 points.
The Terriers scored first and had a 4-1 lead before Noah Dahlman scored eight straight points for Wofford to take a 12-3 lead at 14:19 in the first half. The Mountaineers hit two threes, but still trailed 21-13 with 10:48 on the clock after Terry Martin hit two free throws.
Appalachian State then went on a 7-0 run to make it a 21-20 game with 7:23 left in the first half. A three by Donald Sims tied the game at 23 at the seven minute mark. Noah Dahlman added two free throws, then Wofford had two buckets from Drew Crowell for a 29-26 lead with four minutes remaining in the half. The Terriers used a quick 6-1 run to push the lead to 35-29 at 2:10 and a bucket by Brad Loesing gave Wofford a 37-31 advantage at the break. The Mountaineers hits five three pointers in the first half compared to only one for the Terriers.
Wofford scored first to open the second half, but then the Mountaineers cut the lead after a long three by Donald Sims for a 43-40 score four minutes into play. Appalachian State's Omar Carter scored the next six points to take a 46-43 lead with 11:59 on the clock. The Terriers responded and a three by Kevin Giltner tied the game at 48 each with 9:28 left in the half.
The Terriers added a bucket by Tim Johnson and two free throws by Cameron Rundles to take a 52-48 lead with 7:26 remaining. Wofford used four straight free throws by Rundles to extend the advantage to 60-53 at the 4:24 mark. A bucket by Cameron Rundles and a lay-up by Tim Johnson pushed it to a 64-53 lead with 3:16 left in the game. The Terriers had a ten-point lead at 67-57 with just under two minutes to play. Appalachian State's Donald Sims scored four straight to cut the lead to six points with 62 seconds left. Wofford was six-of-six from the line in the final fifty seconds to take a 74-65 win.
Wofford shot 42.9 percent from the floor and was just 15.4 percent from three. Appalachian State shot 42.9 percent overall and was 40.0 percent from behind the arc. Wofford had a 36-27 lead on the boards and had 16 rebounds. The Terriers forced 14 turnovers.
Western Carolina 65, Furman 41
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina held Furman to its lowest points total in 10 years as the Catamounts cruised past Furman 65-41 in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Thursday evening at the Ramsey Regional Activity Center.
The loss snapped Furman's four-game winning streak as the Paladins (15-6, 7-3 SoCon) dropped their fifth straight game against the Catamounts (9-12, 5-4) and fifth straight in Cullowhee. Furman's 41 points was its fewest since scoring just 37 in a 61-37 loss at College of Charleston on February 10, 2001.
The Catamounts limited Furman to 6-of-24 shooting in the first half and raced out to a 33-12 advantage before carrying a 34-16 lead into the break. Early in the second period, Western Carolina fashioned a 12-1 run to open up a 50-23 advantage and Furman failed to claw within 20 points the rest of the night.
Richie Gordon and Mike Williams led WCU with 12 points apiece while Trey Sumler added 11 points and eight rebounds. The Catamounts shot 48.1% from the floor and outrebounded the Paladins 43-37.
Amu Saaka paced Furman with seven points while Charlie Reddick matched a career high with six points. The Paladins shot a season-low 26.8 percent and made only 2-of-21 from three-point range.
Chattanooga 111, UNCG 110 (2OT)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Ricky Taylor's career-high 41 points sparked the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to a pivotal Southern Conference North Division win in dramatic fashion 111-110 over UNC Greensboro. Chattanooga (12-10, 8-2) overcame a seven-point deficit inside two minutes of the second overtime to drop the Spartans to 3-16, 3-6 in the SoCon.
Taylor's night was not only a career high, but it was also the most points scored by a Moc against a Division I opponent inside McKenzie Arena. He was 12-18 from the field, 4-7 behind the arc and 13-15 from the free throw line in 44 minutes played.
Keegan Bell added a career-high 24 points on 8-13 shooting making 6-10 from three-point range. He also chipped in eight assists and three steals while playing 48 of a possible 50 minutes.
UNCG was paced by Korey Van Dussen's 33 points, five rebounds and three assists. Brandon Evans came off the bench for 28 points, five assists and three steals. The duo combined to shoot 13 of 20 from beyond the three-point line as the team shot 17 of 43. The 17 threes made is a UNCG school record.
With the score tied 102-102 with 2:51 in the second overtime, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run with all seven coming from Van Dussen and Evans in just 52 seconds open up seven-point lead, 109-102, at 1:59.
Dontay Hampton scored on a three-point play on an offensive rebound at 1:49 to cut the lead to 109-105. Kyle Randall answered with a free throw at 1:37 to make it five points, 110-105.
Taylor buried a three-pointer just eight seconds later from the right corner to make it a two-point contest, 110-108. The Mocs followed with a defensive stop, but the Chattanooga got called for a 10-second violation giving the ball back to the Spartans with 40 seconds to play.
But the UTC defense made another play as Hampton was sent back to the line on an Evans foul. He made the second of two free throws as the Mocs set up a soft press off a 30-second timeout with 32 seconds to play.
Taylor tipped the ball from Randall into Bell's waiting hands. Bell, the SoCon leader in assists, quickly pitched it forward to a streaking Taylor for a layup and the lead, 111-110, with 15 seconds to go.
Trevis Simpson missed a jump shot and Chris Early grabbed his 11th rebound getting fouled with 1.9 left. He missed both free throws, but UNCG in the scramble for the rebound had to heave a prayer from the backcourt which was awry giving the Mocs a thrilling, nail-biting win.
Early posted his second double-double of the season, fourth career, with 11 points and 11 boards while adding three assists. He made 9-12 from the free throw line, both career highs. DeAntre Jefferson added 10 points and six boards as the Mocs held a 41-35 advantage on the glass, 7-2 in the overtime periods.
Randall had 18 points with five assists of his own in a team-high 44 minutes for UNCG. Simpson added 13 points off the bench as the Spartans' reserves out-scored the Mocs' 41-26.
The two teams combined to shoot 17-24 (70.8%) from the field in the two overtime periods combining for 55 points in those 10 minutes.
Chattanooga notched new school records with 36 free throws made (tied) and 53 attempted to shoot 67.9 percent. UTC shot season-bests of 59.3 percent (32-54) from the floor and 47.8 percent (11-23) from three-point range.
UNCG got off to a great start scoring the first six points en route to an 11-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Mocs' first basket of the game was a three-pointer by Hampton at 16:37. That bucket sparked a 30-11 run over next 12 minutes to put UTC up 10, 32-22, at 4:37.
The latter half of that was a 10-0 run in which Chattanooga held the Spartans without a field goal for 5:25. UNCG scored just two field goals and seven points in the last 9:41 of the first half to take a 40-29 lead into the break.
Bell and Taylor combined for nine points in the first 1:16 of the second half to give the Mocs a 20-point cushion, 49-29, at 18:36 on a Taylor layup. At 14:57, the lead was 20 again on a Taylor three-pointer, 59-39.
The Spartans stormed back with a 31-9 run of its own over the next 8:17 to take a two-point advantage on a Simpson layup in transition at 6:18. The Mocs retook the lead at 5:38, 71-70, on two Taylor free throws.
UNCG scored four straight in a 17-second span for a three-point margin, 74-71 on an Evans trey. The game kept moving back and forth with neither team leading by more than three when Randall buried a trey from the right wing with 23 seconds to go for an 83-80 Spartan lead.
It was Bell's turn. Coming off a screen, he hit a three-pointer off a feed from Early inside five seconds to knot the game at 83-all going into the first overtime.
The first overtime matched the final 10 minutes of regulation. Neither team could mount more than a three-point lead. Twice UNCG went up three on a layup by Randall (3:08) and three-pointer by Van Dussen (2:26) only for the Mocs to respond.
Bell answered Randall's lay-in with a three-pointer at 2:42 making it 92-92. Back-to-back layups from Taylor and Jefferson followed Van Dussen's trey as the Mocs went up 96-95 with a minute to play.
Two Taylor free throws with 40 seconds left gave UTC a 98-95 lead. But Van Dussen was not to be denied. He hit a three-pointer with 34 seconds to go tying the game at 98.
Early sank two free throws with 5.2 on the clock for a 100-98 lead, but the Spartans' Simpson went coast-to-coast on the inbounds pass laying the ball in at the buzzer to force the second overtime.
It was a McKenzie Arena record 221 points eclipsing 216 on Dec. 29, 1992 against Southern in regulation in the opening round of the Dr Pepper Classic. Taylor's 41 points was the second most by a UTC player in a SoCon game behind 42 by John Oliver at Georgia Southern on Jan. 21, 1995.
Van Dussen carried the Spartans in the overtime periods. He scored 15 of his 33 in those periods with 11 coming in the first five minutes. He fouled out with 1:49 to go on Hampton's offensive rebound and three-point play.
The game featured 16 tie scores and a gut-wrenching 15 lead changes.
Samford 69, Elon 67
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team broke out of its recent slump in dramatic fashion Thursday as the Bulldogs used a late second-half rally to defeat the Elon Phoenix 69-67 in a critical Southern Conference contest held at the Pete Hanna Center. In the victory, Samford's John Peterson scored 14 of his career-high 16 points in the second half of play.
With the victory, Samford (11-10, 3-6 SoCon) put an end to its five-game losing streak. Thursday's win was the Bulldogs' first triumph since defeating UNCG on the road on Jan. 6. Samford will continue its current three-game homestand Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) with a home matchup against the Spartans.
Elon (10-11, 4-6 SoCon) had its two-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 1-5 all-time against the Bulldogs. Earlier this season, the Phoenix picked up its only win over Samford with a 67-54 victory in Elon, N.C.
In the waning seconds of Thursday's game, the Bulldogs' Gaby Bermudez was fouled by Elon's Gary Pope and went to the line with nine seconds remaining and Samford holding a slight 68-67 lead. Bermudez, the Bulldogs' senior point guard from Miami, Fla., made the first of two free throws, but Elon's Lucas Troutman grabbed the rebound off Bermudez's miss on the second shot and quickly found Chris Long at midcourt.
Long, the Phoenix's senior floor general from Charleston, W.Va., sped down the right side, turned towards the baseline and fired a skip pass across court to a wide open Jack Isenbarger on the left flank. Isenbarger, who had already knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the game, grabbed the pass and fired a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Isenbarger's shot hit the back rim and caromed out to give Samford the 69-67 victory.
Samford led 29-25 at the half, but Elon opened the second period with a quick 9-3 run and took a 34-32 advantage with 15:12 remaining in the game.
The Phoenix led by as many as five points in the second half, 55-50, with 5:49 left to play, before Samford's Peterson and Andy King ignited the Bulldogs' offense for a 16-3 run to take a 66-58 advantage at the 1:31 mark.
During Samford's rally, Jeffrey Merritt and Peterson both scored on pretty back-door cuts before the Bulldogs' Peterson, King and Bedwell combined to hit four straight 3-pointers.
Peterson drained the first 3-point basket to give Samford a 57-55 lead, then King knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to increase the advantage to 63-58 with 2:03 to play. Bedwell's key 3-point field goal from the left wing gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the night at 66-58 with only 1:31 left in the game.
Long led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and turned in a 6-of-12 performance from 3-point range, including three in the final 1:04 of the game. It was Long's 3-point basket with only 12 seconds remaining that trimmed Samford's lead to 68-67 before Bermudez was fouled.
Peterson paced Samford with 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 outing from the field. The Bulldogs' junior forward from Boca Raton, Fla., finished 4-of-4 from beyond the arc and pulled down four rebounds.
Samford's Bedwell was also perfect from the field Thursday as he went 4-of-4 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs' senior from Hartselle, Ala., finished with 12 points and three rebounds.
Merritt turned in a solid all-around game for Samford with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. He was also 5-of-10 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Bermudez played a key role Thursday and tallied six points, two steals and an assist. He turned in a 2-of-3 performance from the floor in 22 minutes of action.
As a team, Samford shot 53.2 percent from the field and 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from 3-point range. Elon also connected on 12 3-point baskets, but attempted 15 more than the Bulldogs.
The Phoenix out-rebounded Samford 42-26 and 20-4 on the offensive end of the court.