SoCon Championship Central
Game 6: #2S Wofford 69, #3N Appalachian State 56
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In a rematch of last season's Southern Conference championship game, reigning champions Wofford again ousted Appalachian State, 69-56. This season's battle was in the quarterfinals of the 2011 SoCon Men's Basketball Championship at the McKenzie Arena.
The Terriers (19-12) will face North division No. 1 seed Western Carolina at 6 p.m. Sunday on SportSouth with a title game berth on the line.
Coming out of the locker room with the score knotted at 32 apiece, Wofford gradually built a comfortable advantage thanks to 12 second-half points from senior Noah Dahlman and nine from classmate Jamar Diggs. Dahlman finished with a game-high 21 points.
Wofford's defense limited the scoring opportunities for ASU's high-scoring tandem of Donald Sims and Omar Carter, as the league's third and fifth leading scorers, respectively, were each held below their season averages. Sims paced the Mountaineers with 14 while Carter added 12, and ASU finished the game shooting 39 percent (22-of-56) from the field.
Andre Williamson notched a double-double for ASU with 11 points and 13 rebounds while also contributing four blocked shots.
Cameron Rundles and Brad Loesing tallied 12 points each for the Terriers while Diggs had 11.
ASU concludes its season with a 16-16 overall mark.
Game 5: #1N Western Carolina 77, #5N UNCG 66
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Junior Harouna Mutombo tallied 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Western Carolina to a 77-66 victory over UNCG in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship at the McKenzie Arena.
The North Division's top seed advances to the semifinals where they will take on either Wofford or Appalachian State Sunday evening at 6 p.m. on SportSouth.
WCU never trailed in the contest, building a 15-point lead in each half and keeping the Spartans frustrated on offense much of the day.
Mutombo was efficient from the floor, hitting on 9-of-12 shot attempts, including one trey. He was joined in double-figures by teammates Brandon Boggs with 13 points, Trey Sumler with 12 and Keaton Cole with 10.
A day after leading UNCG to an upset over Davidson, all-freshmen performer Trevis Simpson was again the catalyst for the Spartans. The guard poured in 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Catamounts were deadly from long-range, knocking down 9-of-17 (53 percent) from behind the three-point arc.
UNCG (7-24) held a 47-32 advantage in the rebound column but shot just 37 percent (21-of-57) on the afternoon.
Western Carolina (18-14) has reached the semifinals for the second consecutive season and will continue the quest for its first tournament title since 1996.