Western Carolina 73, UNCG 69
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - UNCG placed four players in double-figures and limited Western Carolina to 39 percent shooting but the Spartans couldn't overcome 10 second-half turnovers in suffering a 73-69 Southern Conference loss to the Catamounts, Saturday at Ramsey Center.
UNCG (2-6 overall, 0-2 SoCon) played perhaps its most complete game of the season. But a flurry of turnovers early in the second half was the difference.
After a layup by Western's Tawaski King trimmed UNCG's lead to 42-38, the Spartans turned it over on four straight possessions, allowing the Catamounts (5-4, 2-0) to get back in the game. Harouna Mutumbo, who scored a game-high 18 points, capped a 7-0 run with a layup to give WCU a 43-42 lead with 16:15 left.
The lead changed hands twice more before the Catamounts took the lead for good when a Brandon Boggs jumper made it 45-44 with 14:10 left in the game.
Western Carolina maintained a 3-6 point advantage for much of the game's remainder, taking as much as a nine-point lead when a three-point play by Mutumbo made it 66-57 with 4:50 remaining. But the Spartans wouldn't go away.
Trailing 70-62, Aaron Brackett completed a three-point play with 1:34 left to pull the Spartans within 70-65. A Brackett jumper made it 70-67 with 49 seconds left, but Kenny Hall converted a layup 33 seconds later for a 72-67 advantage.
A dunk by Trevis Simpson pulled UNCG to within 72-69, but Simpson missed the subsequent free throw and Hall made one-of-two freebies on the other end for the final margin.
The Spartans led by as many as seven points in the second half and owned a 36-34 lead at halftime.
Brackett recorded his fourth career double-double, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Drew Parker scored a career-high 14 points, while Derrell Armstrong added 13 and Simpson chipped in with 12.
The Spartans shot 44 percent from the field, including a 7-of-18 effort from three-point range. UNCG was 14-of-20 from the free throw line.
WCU's field-goal percentage was a season-low for an opponent but the Catamounts were 10-for-24 from three-point range. Western out-rebounded UNCG, 40-37.
College of Charleston 87, Chattanooga 85 (2OT)
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior Andrew Lawrence netted a career-high 25 points to lead the College of Charleston men's basketball team to an 87-85 double-overtime thriller over preseason North Division favorite Chattanooga in Southern Conference action held Saturday night at TD Arena.
Lawrence scored five points in the final 10 seconds of regulation including a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer to send the game to the first overtime period. He also added five assists and four steals, while hitting a team-best five three-pointers from downtown.
It was the second-straight year in which the annual once-a-year meeting between the Cougars (7-1, 2-0) and Mocs (2-6, 0-2) was decided by three points or less. CofC avenged a close 91-88 road loss at UTC on Jan. 17, 2011. CofC remains undefeated at home this season, while the win marked the first double-overtime contest for the program since 2008.
After Chattanooga built a four-point lead in the first overtime, freshman Anthony Stitt hit a jumper at the top of the key to make it a one-possession game. Stitt finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting for his second 20-point performance of the season.
After a Chattanooga miss, redshirt-junior Matt Sundberg corralled an offensive rebound and drew the foul, tying the game from the line at 72-all with two minutes left. Neither team could convert in their final possessions and the game went to a second overtime.
Sophomore Trent Wiedeman came up big for CofC in the second overtime, scoring six points including a dramatic layup and foul to put the Cougars up 76-75 after a Moc three-pointer. Wiedeman tallied his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Chattanooga's Jahmal Burroughs made a layup with 1:10 remaining to put the Mocs down by just one, but sophomore Jordan Scott hit a three-pointer and the Cougars went back up four and UTC could not overcome it, despite a desperation three-pointer with four seconds remaining by Keegan Bell.
Despite struggling from three-point land, senior Antwaine Wiggins tallied a double-double with 14 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. As a team, CofC shot 38.2 percent from the field and 27.9 percent from three-point range. CofC's defense forced 17 Moc turnovers and converted those into 26 points.
Chattanooga was led by Chris Early's 18 points, while Bell registered a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Cougars struggled from the floor in the first half, shooting just 23.3 percent from the field and 4-of-21 from three-point range. The Chattanooga defense double-teamed every CofC entry pass and prevented dribble penetration.
CofC's defense stepped up in the first half as well, outrebounding Chattanooga, 25-21, led by Wiedeman's six first-half boards. The Mocs managed just 10 points in the paint and shot 31.3 percent from the floor. Their largest lead was six points at 21-15 at the 6:07 minute mark after a steal and three-pointer from preseason SoCon Player of the Year and leading scorer Omar Wattad, who was held to just nine points throughout the ballgame.
Free throws from Wiedeman cut the margin to 23-21 after a 6-2 Cougar run with 33 seconds remaining in the first frame, but the Mocs responded with a three-pointer to lead 26-21 at the half.
CofC trailed by nine points at the 13:35 minute mark after three free throws from Ronrico White, the younger brother of former CofC great Tony White, Jr. However, the Cougars chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 7:38 after consecutive three-pointers from Stitt.
A three-pointer from Wattad at the 1:07 mark gave Chattanooga a three-point lead and free throws made it 67-63 with 12 seconds to go. Lawrence answered with a clutch three-pointer with nine seconds remaining and a missed free throw from Bell set up Lawrence's dramatic layup with one second left in regulation.
Davidson 86, Furman 65
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Jake Cohen and J.P. Kuhlman scored 16 points apiece to lead five Davidson players in double figures as the Wildcats topped Furman, 86-65, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday evening at Belk Arena.
With the victory, Davidson improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in SoCon play while Furman dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the league with its third straight loss. The defeat was Furman's 17th straight against the Wildcats in Davidson, N.C.
The Wildcats, who shot 52.9 percent from the field and converted on 25-of-29 trips to the foul line, led by as many as 16 points in the first half before carrying a 41-32 lead into intermission. Davidson led 44-32 early in the second period before Furman mounted an 8-0 run, keyed by two Charlie Reddick baskets, to trim the lead to 44-40 on Richard Brown's layup with 16:58 remaining.
In front 70-61 with under 7:30 left, Davidson reeled off nine consecutive points to open up a 79-61 advantage and put the contest out of reach. De'Mon Brooks opened the spurt with a triple and Kuhlman buried another trey before Cohen capped the run with a pair of free throws at the 5:56 mark.
The Wildcats connected on 27-of-51 field goal attempts, including 7-of-19 from three-point range, and totaled 22 points off of 14 Furman turnovers. Brooks and Nik Cochran added 15 points apiece to reach double figures while Chris Czerapowicz came off of the bench to net 13 points.
Junior Bryant Irwin contributed a career-high 21 points to pace the Paladins. Dominic Early posted a career-best 12 points and Brown added 10 points and four assists. Colin Reddick grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for Furman, who fell to 1-3 on the road this season..
The Paladins shot just 37 percent from the floor and made only 5-of-18 three-point attempts.
Wofford 82, The Citadel 63
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A 27-point, 10-rebound night by senior Kevin Giltner led the Wofford men's basketball squad to an 82-63 victory over The Citadel Saturday evening in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
With the victory, the Terriers improve to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in Southern Conference play, while the Bulldogs drop to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league action. Giltner's 27 points and 10 rebounds led Wofford in both statistical categories. The Terriers had two other players to reach double digits in scoring, as Brad Loesing had 16 points and Karl Cochran finished with 13 points. The Citadel was led by Mike Groselle and Ashton Moore, who each had 13 points.
The Terriers jumped out to an early 7-2 lead to start the contest following a layup by Brad Loesing with 18:30 remaining in the first half. The Citadel came back to tie the contest at 10-10 at the 16:06 mark, yet Wofford answered back with a 12-0 run, sparked by two three-pointers by Kevin Giltner to set the score at 22-10 with 12:54 left in the half.
Wofford pushed the lead to as high as 17 points, with the score sitting at 40-23 with 3:53 remaining in the half following a layup by Aerris Smith, but the Bulldogs answered back with a layup by Mike Groselle with 3:09 left in the half, setting the score at 40-25. Neither team scored in the final minutes of the half, giving the Terriers a 15 point lead at the break.
The Terriers opened the second half on the offensive attack, as Karl Cochran scored a layup just seconds after the start of the half. The Citadel attempted to make a comeback, cutting the lead to as little as nine points a the 13:57 mark, capping an 8-0 run by the Bulldogs following a free throw by Lawrence Miller to put the score at 46-37.
Wofford went on a 5-0 run with the score sitting at 51-37 with 13:34 remaining, and The Citadel answered back with its own 5-0 run to cut the lead back down to nine, 51-42 with 12:32 remaining following a three pointer by Ashton Moore, but the Bulldogs would not be able to get any closer, as the Terriers built the lead to as high as 21 points, 78-57, following a free-throw by Brad Loesing with 2:31 left on the clock.
The Terriers shot 55.2 percent from the floor for the evening, while The Citadel shot 43.1 percent overall. Wofford finished 9-23 from behind the arc, while the Bulldogs went 5-13 from three. Wofford was 9-16 from the free throw line, while The Citadel went 14-24 from the charity stripe. The Terriers outrebounded The Citadel by a 36-29 margin.
Georgia Southern 73, Appalachian State 62
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball stormed past Appalachian State to go 2-0 in the Southern Conference with a 73-62 victory on Saturday night in Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles never trailed and led by as many as 25 in the game.
Sophomore Eric Ferguson earned top-scorer honors with 15 points and missed his second double-double of the season by one with nine rebounds. He was trailed by Ben Drayton III, who scored 14 points including four from downtown. The Eagles continued to shoot the ball well from the perimeter with an 8-of-16 showing while holding Appalachian State to 26.7% from the outside.
Sophomore Tré Bussey scored 12 points with four rebounds while Senior Willie Powers III scored 11 points to go with a game-high eight assists. Powers was bolstered by the support of 80 friends and family from Gainesville, who made the trip to Statesboro.
Appalachian State, who falls to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play, was led by 13 points by Andre Williamson and Omar Carter. Williamson also grabbed nine rebounds as the Eagles out-rebounded the Mountaineers, 35-32 and 9-6 on the offensive glass.
Georgia Southern opened the game with a 15-3 run and didn't look back in the first half, leading by as many as 24 in the opening half. At the break, GSU led the Mountaineers by a 45-25 margin.
The Eagles kept the Mountaineers' feet to the flame, not allowing the advantage to slide to less than 16 points until there was 1:49 remaining in the game. Appalachian State closed the gap to 11 points with a 6-1 run over the final two minutes of the contest.
Elon 51, Navy 48
ELON, N.C. - There is still a debate over whether he called it, but either way, Austin Hamilton's game-winning three-pointer banked in with two seconds on the clock to lift the Elon men's basketball team to a 51-48 victory over Navy in Saturday afternoon non-conference action from Alumni Gym.
With Elon trailing 46-43 with under two minutes to play, senior Drew Spradlin came up with a big steal and then finished the Phoenix (5-2) possession by knocking down his only three-pointer of the game to tie with score with 1:36 on the clock.
After the Phoenix forced another Navy (3-6) turnover, sophomore Lucas Troutman put Elon back on top, 48-46, with a layin in the lane with 49 ticks remaining. Two freebies from J.J. Avila at the other end tied the game for the 10th time of the afternoon and the Phoenix was poised to hold for the final shot with less than a second difference between the game clock and shot clock.
As the seconds ticked below 10, Hamilton began to run the offense. A slight bobble on Hamilton's pass by Jack Isenbarger as he came around the wing forced him to put it back in Hamilton's hands on the left side. Knowing time was running out, Hamilton hoisted the shot from well beyond the three-point line and dropped in the playground shot that every kid dreams about.
Elon improved to 5-2, matching the best start since 1996-97. The last time a Phoenix team scored 51 or fewer points in a victory was a 50-48 defeat of Western Carolina on January 21, 2006 en route to a Southern Conference North Division Championship.
It was a grind-it-out, defensive contest as the Phoenix posted its best defensive effort of the year by holding the visitors to 14-of-51 (27.5 percent) from the field, including a 4-of-21 (19.0 percent) mark from beyond the arc. Elon forced 18 turnovers and scored 20 points off those miscues.
Isenbarger led the Phoenix, coming off the bench for 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also added four rebounds and three assists. Spradlin and Hamilton each added nine points and Ryley Beaumont grabbed a team-best five rebounds. Avila was the lone Navy player in double figures with 14 tallies, netting a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Poor shooting haunted both teams, especially in the first half as neither squad could muster more than seven buckets. Elon opened the game on a 10-2 run that spanned the first five minutes, but then managed only 10 more points for the remainder of the half.
After Navy clawed to within one, 12-11, the teams combined for only four field goals over the last 9:20 and the Phoenix clung to a 20-17 edge at the break.
The Mids drained back-to-back triples, the second coming from Worth Smith to give Navy its first lead of the game, 28-26, with 14:04 to play. The lead changed hands five more times before the final buzzer. After Isenbarger nailed consecutive treys to push Elon ahead, 38-35, Isaiah Roberts sent up a prayer from beyond the arc at the shot clock buzzer to tie the contest at 38 with 6:50 remaining. Elon would hold Navy without a field goal for the remainder of the game, setting up the last-second win.
Elon will have a very quick turnaround as it gets back to SoCon play on Monday night with its first road league game of the year at UNCG. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.