Furman 54, Georgia Southern 45
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Furman reached the 18-win mark for the first time in 20 years and scored its first regular season sweep of Georgia Southern since 1997 with a 54-45 victory over the Eagles in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Thursday evening at Timmons Arena.
The Paladins, who boast a 10-1 record at home this season, improved to 18-7 overall and 10-4 in league play. Georgia Southern, which dropped its 12th straight game, fell to 4-22 overall and 0-13 in the SoCon. The win gave Furman its most victories since posting a 20-9 record during the 1990-91 season.
Furman, 26-24 leaders at intermission, held just a 43-40 advantage with under five minutes to play when Noah States' acrobatic tip-in on an Amu Saaka miss helped spark an 8-0 run that allowed Furman to pull away. Darryl Evans followed the tip-in with a free throw and Saaka drained a three-point basket before converting on a pair of trips to the charity stripe to give Furman its largest lead of the night at 51-40 with 1:40 remaining.
The Paladin defense paved the way for the victory holding Georgia Southern to a Furman opponent's season-low 32.7% (17-52) shooting from the field. Furman swatting five shots on the night and scored 11 points off of 15 Eagle turnovers.
Saaka tallied 14 points to lead three Paladins in double figures. Brandon Sebirumbi connected on 5-of-8 field goals to score 12 points and grab seven rebounds while Evans added 10 points. States contributed with six points, six rebounds and four assists.
Furman shot just 35.6 percent from the floor and only 16-of-23 at the foul line, but turned 13 offensive rebounds into 15 points.
Zuri James led Georgia Southern with 16 points, including a 4-of-12 effort from three-point range. Ben Drayton added nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Eagles.
Appalachian State 65, Samford 59
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball fended off 14 Samford three-pointers to pull out a 65-59 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday evening at the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers scored 36 points in the paint, shot nearly 50 percent from the field and committed a season-low five turnovers in the all-around solid effort.
Donald Sims led the Mountaineers (11-13, 7-7 SoCon) with 20 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists and helped seal the victory with ASU's final four points of the night. The senior shot 7-of-15 from the field with a pair of three-pointers.
Appalachian sank 11-of-21 attempts from the field in the second half despite missing all five long-range attempts and sank six of its last eight foul shots to preserve a second-half lead. The Apps had trailed by eight points early in the game but rallied to take a 34-30 lead at the intermission.
ASU then piled on early in the second half to bulk up its advantage to double figures with 17:32 remaining in regulation. Samford (12-13, 4-9) then cut its deficit to one point at 50-49 midway through the period. The Bulldogs never made it all the way over the hump as the Apps maintained a single-digit lead the remainder of the game.
Omar Carter tallied 19 points, giving him 15 or more in each of the last five outings. Splitting time between the perimeter and post, Carter sank 8-of-15 attempts and hauled in four rebounds in the victory.
Samford's potent outside attack was led by Andy King's 21 points and six three-pointers off the bench as well as Josh Bedwell's 15 points and eight rebounds. Bedwell sank 4-of-9 three-point attempts.
For the night, the Bulldogs made 11-of-25 attempts in each half for 44 percent on the night with a 14-of-33 mark from downtown. Jeffrey Merritt also hauled in a team-best eight rebounds to accompany six points.
The Mountaineers narrowly won the battle on the boards, 30-29, and have held an advantage on the glass in each of the three wins in the current streak. ASU converted 12 Samford turnovers into 16 points and worked nine offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points.
Jeremi Booth added nine points and five rebounds while starting forward Andre Williamson gave the Apps eight points, four boards and a huge blocked shot with just 27 seconds left in the game and a slim four-point lead. The junior was 4-of-6 from the field and also dished out an assist.
Mitch Woods matched Sims for the team lead with six rebounds and scored a crucial layup down the stretch to cap off a late six-point Mountaineer run.