Wofford 61, Tulane 50
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team knocked off undefeated Tulane 61-50 on Tuesday evening in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Brad Loesing had a career-high 24 points, which included four three pointers, in leading the Terriers to victory.
With the win, the Terriers improve to 5-4 overall and Tulane is 9-1. Wofford was led by Brad Loesing with 24 points, while Kevin Giltner added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. The Green Wave was led by Ricky Tarrant with 13 points and seven rebounds. Kendall Timmons added eleven points.
The Terriers opened the game with a three by Kevin Giltner. A three by Karl Cochran gave Wofford a 6-2 advantage three minutes into the contest. The Green Wave scored the next six points for an 8-6 lead, but a lay-up by Brad Loesing tied the game at eight with 13:00 on the clock. Wofford used a bucket by Kevin Giltner to take a 14-11 lead with 9:10 left in the first half.
As part of an 8-0 run, Brad Loesing gave Wofford a 16-11 advantage with 8:29 on the clock. Tulane ended the run, but the Terriers had an 18-13 lead with 6:44 left in the first half. Wofford scored the next four points and built a 22-13 advantage. The Green Wave used a quick 7-0 run to cut the lead to 24-22 with thirty seconds left in the half. Drew Crowell hit a shot for Wofford to end the half with a 26-22 lead.
Tulane scored first in the second half, but back-to-back threes by Brad Loesing pushed the lead to 34-25 three minutes into play. The Green Wave answered with a 7-2 run to make it a 36-32 game until Brad Loesing hit a three at the six minute mark. Kevin Giltner added a three and the run went to 8-0 after a lay-up by Brad Loesing for 44-32 lead with 11:59 left in the game.
The Green Wave ended the run and cut the lead to ten points. With seven minutes on the clock, the score was 48-37 in favor of Wofford after a jumper by Drew Crowell. The Terriers kept up the pace and had a 55-42 lead with 1:47 remaining after a bucket by Kevin Giltner. Tulane scored the next four points, then committed five straight fouls to get the Terriers to the line. Kevin Giltner hit two free throws for a 57-46 lead with 51 seconds left. Brad Loesing and Karl Cochran each added two free throws down the stretch for the 61-50 final score.
The Terriers shot 46.2 percent from the floor for the evening, while Tulane shot 39.2 percent overall. Wofford finished 7-20 from behind the arc, while the Green Wave went 2-16 from three. Wofford was 6-7 from the free throw line, while Tulane went 8-13 from the charity stripe. The Terriers out-rebounded Tulane by a 31-30 margin.
Furman 86, Virginia-Wise 66
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Sophomore Charlie Reddick poured in a career-high 23 points to lead Furman past NAIA member UVA-Wise, 86-66, in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday night at Timmons Arena.
Furman's victory snapped a three-game losing streak and improved the Paladins to 4-4 on the season. The Cavaliers slipped to 3-7.
Leading 23-21, Furman used a 19-4 run over the final 5:30 of the first half to take control of the game and carry a 42-27 advantage into the locker room. Bryant Irwin drained a three-pointer to start the run, and point guard Richard Brown capped the spurt with a three-point play after going coast-to-coast for a layup and converting at the foul line.
Bobby Austin buried a pair of triples during a 20-4 run midway through the second half to help the Paladins turn a 55-40 lead into a 75-44 margin, the largest of the contest, with 7:33 remaining.
Reddick connected on 9-of-15 field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 beyond the arc, while also grabbing five rebounds. His twin brother, Colin Reddick, also reached double figures with 10 points. Irwin tallied nine points and shared game-high rebounding honors with Jordan Loyd as both players totaled nine boards apiece.
The Paladins shot a season-best 47.9% from the field, including 10-of-29 from three-point range, and dominated the boards with a 46-22 rebounding margin. Furman committed just eight turnovers and used 23 offensive rebounds to outscore the Cavaliers 28-5 on second chance points.
Forward Josh Jordan led three UVA-Wise players in double figures with 22 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Jermaine Wright tallied 21 points and Travis Berry added 19 for the Cavaliers, who shot 50% from the floor.
Furman, which has posted a 14-3 record on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena since the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign, host the Jacksonville University Dolphins of the Atlantic Sun Conference on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
Coastal Carolina 80, The Citadel 58
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sophomore Barry Smith reached double figures for the fourth time in his career as he scored a team-high 15 points in The Citadel's 80-58 loss to visiting Coastal Carolina at McAlister Field House on Tuesday evening. Classmate DeVontae Wright added 10 points and two assists, but it was the Chanticleers remarkable shooting performance (34-60) that was most decisive in the contest.
The Bulldogs (2-6) closed the game by hitting 20-of-53 (37.7%) from the field, including 9-for-20 from 3-point range, just one shy of tying a season-high. Three Cadets, including Mike Groselle (4-12), Smith (4-9) and Wright (4-9) finished with four field goals in the contest. Smith made the most of his converted field goals, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. As for Groselle, he snapped a 12-game streak in which he scored in double figures dating back to Savannah State (Feb. 14, 2011). Groselle shared a team-high five rebounds with freshman P.J. Horgan, who made the first start of his collegiate career.
Coastal Carolina's offensive juggernaut was led by junior Anthony Raffa who finished 13-of-19 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, en route to a career-high 28 points. Raffa also dished out four assists and left his impact defensively with five steals and six rebounds. Joining Raffa were teammates Chris Gradingo (12 points) and Kierre Greenwood (10 points). The Chanticleers managed 34-of-60 (56.7%) from the field and were successful on four shots from beyond the arc. Chants Head Coach Cliff Ellis earned his 700th career coaching victory as his team improved to 8-1 overall on the season.
With a 20-point lead at the half, Coastal Carolina outscored the Bulldogs 11-8 over the first 6:04 of the second half to assume a 58-35 advantage.
Wright quickly answered with a 3-pointer from the corner and was fouled by Raffa in the process, igniting The Citadel bench. After Cosmo Morabbi made a free throw to cut the score to 58-39, Coastal Carolina scored three straight points to push the lead back to 22.
The Bulldogs used a pair of Smith free throws and back-to-back 3-pointers by Lawrence Miller to trim the lead to 63-47 with 8:42 remaining in the game. Smith then used his 6-6 frame to block Raffa in the lane, leading to a transition layup for Marshall Harris III that got the Dogs within 14 points of Coastal Carolina.
Raffa scored 10 of the final 15 points for Coastal Carolina over the final 7:24 of the contest, as Ellis remained perfect in 10 contests against The Citadel in career with the 80-58 win.
Groselle and Smith managed six points apiece to lead seven players in scoring, as the Bulldogs hit 11-for-27 (40.7%) in the opening half, including four from beyond the arc. Groselle was responsible for three of those made field goals as he finished 3-of-6 from the field along with a pair of offensive rebounds. Moore grabbed three rebounds as The Citadel totaled with 13 first half boards, including four on the offensive glass.
The Coastal Carolina lineup knocked down scintillating 20-of-32 (62.5%) from the floor, converting 4-of-9 from 3-point range, to close the first half with a 47-27 lead. It marked the first time that an opponent has shot better than 60-percent in the opening half against the Dogs since Army on Nov. 12 in the All-Military Classic. Raffa led the Chanticleers with 12 points, hitting 5-of-8 from the field and a pair from beyond the arc, to go along with four rebounds. He also was the catalyst to the offense with four assists. Greenwood chipped in eight points by way of 4-of-6 shooting.
Sam McLaurin opened scoring with a layup that was quickly followed by Groselle to knot the game at 2-2 within the opening minute of the game. The Chanticleers rattled off eight of the next 10 points to establish a 10-4 lead on a layup by Greenwood. Moore retaliated with a 3-pointer on an assist from Wright as the Dogs remained within striking distance, 10-7.
A series of buckets by Greenwood and Raffa pushed Coastal Carolina into double figures, 14-9, before Wright drained a bucket on a pass from Groselle to make for the three-point deficit.
The Chants answered with a 25-5 offensive explosion, keyed by seven points from Dexter Moore, who drained two of three 3-pointers during the run. The Bulldogs managed two points each from Groselle and Morabbi during the 8:50 span, as Coastal Carolina pulled in front 39-16.
The Citadel closed out the first half with a series of 3-pointers from Smith and Bray as they outscored the Chanticleers 11-8 over the final 4:49 to pull within 20.
The Bulldogs will have the next eight days off for exams before meeting intracity rival Charleston Southern on Dec. 14 at McAlister Field House.
Minnesota 70, Appalachian State 56
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Rodney Milum scored a career-high 16 points with five three-pointers as Appalachian State University men's basketball gave Minnesota all it could handle for 35 minutes before falling, 70-56, on Tuesday night at Williams Arena.
The junior guard shot 5-of-10 from the field with nine of the attempts coming from beyond the arc. He added an assist in 22 minutes off the bench as the Mountaineers (4-4) came within a few minutes of dealing the Golden Gophers (9-1) just their second loss of the season.
An Omar Carter three-pointer knotted the score at 52-52 with just more than five minutes to play before Rodney Williams hit an NBA-range three-pointer as the shot clock expired and the home team added five more points off of turnovers on the next two possessions to regain an eight-point advantage just a minute later.
UM knocked in its free throws down the stretch to deny the Mountaineers to climb back any closer than six points in the waning minutes. Minnesota sank 14-of-19 foul shots in the game and converted 54 percent of its attempts from the field (27-50).
Carter finished with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting with three treys of his own. The senior added three assists, three rebounds and a steal in the effort. Isaac Butts added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting with eight rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Andre Williamson matched Butts with eight boards, but the Mountaineers fell to a 32-29 disadvantage on the glass in the contest. ASU pulled in 14 offensive rebounds to UM's 10. Williamson scored two points on a pair of free throws after misfiring on all five field goal attempts in the contest.
Though the Apps heated up from downtown to shoot 43 percent from deep, the squad shot just 35.3 percent overall from the field. The Apps dished out 11 assists on 18 field goals and turned the ball over a season-low 13 times.
After ASU jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a Carter three-pointer and layup from G.J. Vilarino, ASU led by as many as three points on two occasions in the second half. Vilarino added one of ASU's 11 assists in 23 minutes.
Leading the way for the Gophers, Williams knocked down 8-of-10 shots for 18 points to accompany six rebounds and five blocks. Julian Welch added 15 points and two other players scored 10 points each off the bench for UM.
After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half before Milum heated up to pull ASU back within 32-30 at halftime. His only miss of the first half was an off-balance three-point attempt at the clock expired.