SoCon Tournament Central
Game 8: #1S College of Charleston 78, #4N Elon 60
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In the final quarterfinals game of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, College of Charleston, the top seed from the South Division, used a balanced attack to cruise to a 78-60 victory over Elon, the fourth seed from the North.
Charleston (23-9) will next face division foe Furman in tomorrow night's second semifinal game. The game will air on SportSouth and is set to tip at 8:30 p.m.
SoCon Player of the Year Andrew Goudlelock scored 12 of Charleston's first 23 points before heading to the bench for the final 10 minutes of the half. The Cougars made 58.6 percent of their shots from the field (17-for-29) to take a 43-22 point lead at halftime.
Elon had no answer as the Phoenix only connected on 33.3 percent of their shots (8-for-24) in the opening half.
The Phoenix made a late push to get within 12 points in the second half, but two Goudelock three-pointers during a 10-0 Cougar lead put the game out of reach for Elon.
Goudelock finished with a game-high 25 points. Teammate Trent Weideman contributed a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Donavan Monroe added 14 for the Cougars.
For the game, Charleston shot an impressive 29-for-57 (50.7 percent) and outscored the Phoenix 30-16 in the paint. The Cougars had the edge in rebounding 40 to 26.
The Phoenix were led by Drew Spradlin's 16 points. Elon finishes the season with an overall record of 15-16.
Game 7: #3S Furman 61, #2N Chattanooga 52
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Senior guard Jordan Miller scored 21 points to lead Furman to a 61-52 upset of No. 2 North seed Chattanooga in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship at the McKenzie Arena.
The victory avenged a 16-point defeat suffered at the hands of the Mocs on the same court two weeks prior.
Miller topped 20 points for the second night in a row, hitting on 3-of-6 three-pointers and converting 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.
A pair of Miller free throws at the 8:29 mark of the second half served as the catalyst for a 10-0 Furman run that turned a three-point contest into a 53-40 Paladins advantage. From that point, Furman hit 6-of-8 free throws to seal the win.
One day after opening its first round game against Samford on a 24-4 run, Furman came out on fire again, racing out to a 13-0 advantage in the first 4:42 of the first half.
Ricky Taylor finally put the Mocs on the board with a layup and free throw to ignite a 13-4 run to cut the Paladins' advantage to four. Furman carried a 30-24 lead into halftime.
Chattanooga (16-16) was unable to overcome a poor night shooting, including 31 percent (15-of-61) from the field and 15-of-29 (52 percent) from the foul line. The Mocs forced Furman into a season-high 22 turnovers.
Leading UTC was Keegan Bell with 20 points while Omar Wattad and Taylor added 12 apiece.
Amu Saaka recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards while Darryl Evans scored 14.
Furman (22-9) advances to the semifinal round for the first time since 2007 where it will face the winner of Saturday's late game between College of Charleston and Elon. The Paladins' semifinal is set to tip at 8:30 p.m. on SportSouth.