College of Charleston 75, Samford 49
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The Samford University basketball team committed 16 turnovers and shot 33.9 percent from the field Monday in a 75-49 Southern Conference loss against the first-place College of Charleston Cougars in front of 4,386 fans at Carolina First Arena.
In Monday's loss, Samford (12-17, 4-13 SoCon) finished 19-of-56 from the field and 7-of-28 (25 percent) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by junior Jeffrey Merritt's 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Samford's 6-foot-6 guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., also pulled down three rebounds and connected on a pair of key 3-point baskets.
Senior Andy King came off the bench for the Bulldogs to score eight points on 3-of-6 shooting. He also knocked down a pair of Samford's seven 3-point field goals. The Bulldogs' Drew Windler and Kaylin Johnson both chipped in with six points apiece.
On Senior Night in Charleston, S.C., it was a junior that led the Cougars in scoring. Antwaine Wiggins, College of Charleston's wiry forward from Greenville, Tenn., scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor. He also went 4-of-6 from 3-point range and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Cougars' all-time leading scorer Andrew Goudelock followed with 23 points on his Senior Night. College of Charleston's senior guard from Stone Mountain, Ga., went 10-of-22 from the field and 3-of-11 from beyond the arc. He also handed out a game-high five assists.
With Monday's victory, College of Charleston (22-7, 14-2 SoCon) extended its winning streak to seven-consecutive games. The Cougars are in the midst of their longest winning stretch of the 2011 campaign and are playing some of their best basketball despite a recent season-ending injury suffered to senior forward Jeremy Simmons.
College of Charleston has not been defeated since a 75-64 setback at Davidson on Jan. 29. The Cougars will close out their regular-season schedule with a two-game road trip at Appalachian State and Western Carolina on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Samford never held a lead in Monday's contest and committed 16 turnovers. College of Charleston finished with 10 miscues and outscored Samford 21-13 in points off turnovers.
The Cougars led by as many as 30 points, 71-41, and shot 49.2 percent from the field. College of Charleston only shot 28.6 percent from beyond the arc, but out-rebounded the Bulldogs 41-33.
At the half, Samford trailed College of Charleston 34-19. After the Cougars jumped out to an early 15-6 lead, the Bulldogs battled back midway through the first half to trim the advantage to 19-14 with 6:18 to play. During Samford's run, Josh Bedwell drained a 3-pointer from the left wing, Merritt scored on a hanging jumper and Windler connected on a post-move hook shot.
College of Charleston ended the opening half with a 15-5 run. During the Cougars' scoring stretch, Wiggins paced his team with 13 of its 15 points, including a last-second buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the right wing.
Chattanooga 75, Furman 59
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Chris Early scored a career-high 23 points and Chattanooga held Furman to 7-of-32 shooting from three-point range as the Mocs downed the Paladins, 75-59, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Monday evening at The McKenzie Arena.
With the victory, Chattanooga improved to 15-14 overall and 11-5 in the SoCon while remaining unbeaten (8-0) at home against SoCon opposition this season. Furman slipped to 20-8 overall and 12-5 in league play dropping a decision to the Mocs for the first time in the last four meetings.
The Mocs used a 14-3 spurt late in the first half to open up a 38-26 margin at intermission. Chattanooga scored seven of the first nine points in the second half to increase its lead to 17 points at 45-28 before back-to-back treys from Amu Saaka and Noah States trimmed the lead to 11 with under 17:30 remaining.
Furman trailed just 47-36 with over 16 minutes to play following a pair of Saaka free throws, but the Paladins failed to cut into the margin further on their next three possessions and Chattanooga reeled off a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach. Keegan Bell drained a couple of threes during the run and Early, who added a game-high eight rebounds to his 23 points, capped the Mocs' outburst with a pair of free throws to give UTC a 60-38 lead with 11:05 left.
Early connected on 7-of-10 field goal attempts and made 9-of-11 free throws for the Mocs who outscored Furman 21-8 at the charity stripe. Bell and Omar Wattad totaled 14 points each while Ricky Taylor rounded out the Mocs' double figure scorers with 11 points.
Chattanooga shot 48.9% from the field, including 10-of-19 from three-point range. The Mocs dominated the glass earning a 39-26 rebounding edge to go with a 21-for-31 effort at the foul line.
Furman, 22 percent from beyond the arc, shot just 38.6 percent from the field and made 8-of-10 shots at the foul line. States, 8-of-10 from the floor, poured in a career-high tying 20 points while Saaka added 10 points.
Western Carolina 70, UNCG 66
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Western Carolina seniors Mike Williams and Richie Gordon combined for four made free throws inside the final three seconds as the Catamounts held off the upset bid from UNCG, 70-66, Monday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.
UNCG (5-22, 5-11 SoCon) chipped away at the Catamounts' game-high 15-point lead in the second half, taking its lone lead of the second half on a four-point play by Brandon Evans with 3:30 to play. WCU managed to regain the lead, stretching it back to three on an offensive stick-back by Harouna Mutombo. But Evans sank his fourth 3-pointer of the game less than 30 seconds later to knot things at 66 with 88-seconds remaining.
Following a WCU miss and a Spartan defensive rebound, the Catamount defense then came up huge on consecutive possessions as freshman Brandon Boggs intercepted a would-be entry pass to the low blocks with 37 seconds remaining. WCU held for what it hoped would be the final shot of the game with Williams weaving his way through the lane for a lay-up that missed, but he was fouled. The New Orleans, La., native hit both of his charity tosses for a two-point lead, 68-66, with 2.8 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gordon intercepted the court-length heave and was fouled, stepping to the line and making both free throws to make it a two-possession game with two seconds showing on the clock, providing the final tally.
Western Carolina (16-13, 11-5 SoCon) won its seventh-straight game on the year to match a school-record with its 11th victory in league play. The Catamounts kept pace with co-divisional leader, Chattanooga, which won at home over Furman, 75-59, to remain deadlocked at 11-5 with two games remaining.
The win was also the sixth-straight for WCU over UNCG in the head-to-head series and the third-straight road victory for the Catamounts this season.
Williams struggled from the floor on the night, but finished with 11 points and five assists. Gordon likewise had troubles finding the bottom of the basket, scoring six, but contributed five rebounds, four assists and four steals in the win.
Mutombo led the Catamounts with 20 points and eight rebounds, adding three steals with Boggs scoring 10. Redshirt freshman Trey Sumler shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor in the first half, scoring 15 of his 16 points before intermission as WCU took a nine-point, 40-31, edge into the locker room.
WCU pulled out to a game-high 15 point lead early in the second half before the resurgent Spartans rallied back thanks to offensive rebounds and second-chance points. The game was tied five times in the second half with the two lead changes.
Brandon Evans scored a game-high 23 points in his final home game for the Spartans, shooting 7-of-11 for the game with UNCG shooting 52-percent from the floor in the second half. The Spartans also got 12 points from Trevis Simpson and 10 from Aloysius Henry in the paint.
Western Carolina won the battle of the boards on Monday night, outrebounding UNCG by two, 38-to-36, including a 16-to-15 edge on the offensive glass. The Catamounts turned 17 Spartan turnovers into 27 points in the win.