Wofford 56, Wake Forest 52
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - In the first game of 2012 for the Wofford men's basketball team, the Terriers defeated Wake Forest 56-52 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Wofford led by as many as 13, but it took two free throws by Brad Loesing with two seconds left to seal the victory over the Demon Deacons.
Wofford is now 8-6 on the season, while Wake Forest is 9-5 overall. Wofford was led by Brad Loesing with 17 points and Kevin Giltner added eleven points. Lee Skinner had seven rebounds. The Demon Deacons, playing without leading scorer C.J. Harris, were paced by Travis McKie with 25 points. Ty Walker led all played with 12 rebounds.
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring, but Wofford answered with a three by Brad Loesing for a 3-2 lead. Another three by Brad Loesing gave the Terriers an 8-6 advantage five minutes into play. Jarell Byrd tied the game at ten with 13:05 on the clock, and Byrd gave the Terriers a 12-10 lead with a dunk at 11:35 in the first half.
Brad Loesing added two jump shots and Kevin Giltner hit a floater for an 18-12 lead with eight minutes on the clock. At the five minute mark, Karl Cochran hit a three as the shot clock expired to take a 21- 16 lead. Another shot by Cochran pushed the advantage to 23-16 a minute later. A long three by Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers a ten-point lead with 3:25 left in the first half. Jarell Byrd added a three for a 30-19 lead. Wake Forest hit a three with 26 seconds left in the half, but Wofford had a 32-22 advantage at the break.
Wake Forest used a quick 6-1 run to open the second half to cut the lead to 33-28, but Wofford responded with a 5-0 run that ended with a three by Karl Cochran for a 38-28 game at 16:41. The Demon Deacons then had a 5-0 run to make it a 38-33 score with 14:55 left in the second half. A put-back by Lee Skinner was followed by a basket by Travis McKie for a 40-35 score with 11:40 remaining.
Back-to-back three pointers by Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers a 48-37 lead at the ten minute mark of the second half. The Demon Deacons cut the lead to 49-44 after another 5-0 run with 5:30 on the clock. Brad Loesing hit a floater to make it a 51-44 score with just under four minutes remaining.
A three by Brad Loesing with three minutes left made it a 54-46 game. The Demon Deacons scored the next four points for a 54-50 score with one minute on the clock. Wofford missed three free throws and Wake Forest scored a lay-up with four seconds left for a 54-52 lead. Brad Loesing went to the line with two seconds remaining and hit both for a 56-52 win.
The Terriers shot 34.4% from the floor for the evening, while Wake Forest shot 39.1% overall. Wofford finished 9-27 from behind the arc. The Demon Deacons went 1-of-10 from three. Wofford was 5-of-15 from the free throw line, while Wake Forest went 15-of-17 from the charity stripe. Wofford and Wake Forest were tied at 36 rebounds, but Wofford had 17 on the offensive glass.
Brad Loesing has tied the school record with 111 career starts. He holds the mark with Greg O'Dell, who played from 1988-92. The win was the first for Wofford in the series since an 18-15 win in 1906, the first year of basketball at Wake Forest. It was the first win over an ACC team since Wofford beat Clemson in 1999.
Georgia Southern 88, Brewton-Parker 60
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball earned a solid 88-60 win over Brewton-Parker to open 2012 and close the regular season non-conference schedule. The victory is Georgia Southern's fourth of the season as conference play returns later this week.
For the seventh time in 12 games this season, sophomore Eric Ferguson led the Eagles (4-8, 2-0 SoCon) with 17 points. Ferguson also added three steals and a block to the Eagles' ledger. He was 8-for-10 from the field and added another from the charity stripe. As a team, Georgia Southern was 36-of-60 from the field for a season-high percentage of 60.0.
Standout honors, however, go to senior Willie Powers III with 11 points and 11 assists. One of the league's best point guards, Powers scored his third career double-double and the first since February 25, 2010 against Elon. He matched a career high in assists and allowed just two turnovers.
Sophomore Jelani Hewitt reached double figures with 14 points, finishing a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Senior Ben Drayton III scored 13 points to go with five assists. Sophomore Tré Bussey rounded out the double figure scorers, adding 11 points of his own.
Freshman Kameron Dunnican posted a team-high five rebounds to go with four points. Marvin Baynham and Tyrone Brown each scored six points while freshman Edwin Harvey scored his first career points with a late deuce.
Brewton-Parker (5-7) was led by 14 points from Darrie Stephens while Yan Moukoury posted 10 rebounds and eight points. Wendell Williams had 10 points for the Barons who shot just 43.6 percent from the field.
Georgia Southern opened the game shooting 70.8 percent from the field (17-of-24) its best outing, percentage wise, in a half this season. Ferguson posted 12 points in the opening period while Powers notched seven of his assists in the opening period as the Eagles took a 41-23 lead in the break.
GSU cooled in the second half from the field, shooting 19-of-36 for a 52.8% mark in the final 20 minutes of play. Despite the cooler performance, the Eagles posted 47 points, the fourth highest total in any period this season.
With 88 total points, Georgia Southern scored its second highest scoring output of the season and set a new season high in assists with 21 as a team. The Eagles took advantage of the 22 Brewton-Parker turnovers, converting them into 31 points and scoring 48 total points in the pain.
Tennessee 76, Chattanooga 63
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- Ricky Taylor led four Chattanooga Mocs (6-9) in double figures with 17 points, but it wasn't enough in a 76-63 loss at Tennessee (7-6). The loss snapped a three-game Mocs win streak to close out 2011.
Taylor added five rebounds and four assists to his 17-point effort. Omar Wattad chipped in 16 including a four-for-eight performance from three-point range.
Trae Golden led all scorers with 29 for the Vols. Skyler McBee had 16, 15 in the first half, while Jordan McRae added 12.
Chattanooga trailed by 14 early in the second half before a 9-0 run cut the lead to five, 46-41, with 17:48 to play. Wattad hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions followed by a Keegan Bell trey to cap the run.
After Golden's three-pointer at 12:48 put the Vols back up by 12, 61-49, the Mocs clawed their way back. Ronrico White, son of former Tennessee All-American Tony White, converted a steal into a layup. Drazen Zlovaric scored on a nice hook in the paint on the next possession to make it 61-53.
After Bell hit one of two free throws, Chattanooga was within seven, 61-54, with 9:46 to play. The Mocs went six straight possessions without a point - nearly three-and-a-half minutes - to fall back to a 13-point deficit, 67-54, after Cameron Tatum's three-pointer for the Vols at the seven-minute mark.
Taylor hit an NBA three followed by a Wattad jumper to cut it to eight, 67-59, with 6:02 remaining. But that is as close as it would get as Tennessee held on for the 13-point win.
Bell had 15 points including a four-for-10 night beyond the arc. He, Wattad (4) and Taylor (3) each made three or more threes on the night combining for a 10-of-23 night (.435) from beyond the arc as the team ended up 11 of 26 (.423) overall. Zlovaric had 11 points along with a team-best seven rebounds.
While Chattanooga struggled shooting inside the arc making 34.5 percent (19-55) total from the field, it did limit its ninth opponent on the season to less than 40 percent shooting as well. Tennessee shot just 39.7 percent (27-68) with the Mocs defense forcing 39 attempts from beyond the arc, making 13 (.333).
The Vols won the battle on the glass 45-37. Jerrone Maymon had a game-high 10 boards to lead that effort for Tennessee.
The first half saw waves of scoring each way. Renaldo Woolridge put the Vols up 16-9 at the 9:23 mark as the Mocs struggled shooting the ball from the get-go before a strong burst. Five consecutive trips down the floor saw Chattanooga take flight.
Taylor started it with three free throws followed by a three-pointer to cut the lead to one, 16-15. Bell and Taylor hit threes before Zlovaric scored his second bucket to cap a 14-0 run and provide a 23-16 lead at 6:47.
McBee scored 12 of his 16 points in the final six-and-a-half minutes to key Tennessee's resurgence. The Vols took a 12-point advantage into intermission, 44-32, ending the half outscoring the Mocs 28-9.
The Citadel 91, Virginia Wise 74
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Citadel freshman Ashton Moore poured in a game-high 30 points as the Bulldogs snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 91-74 victory over UVA-Wise at McAlister Field House on Monday evening. Moore became the first Cadet to net 30 points in a contest since Cameron Wells accomplished the feat on Feb. 12, 2009 against Appalachian State. Teammate Mike Groselle further embedded himself in Citadel history with a 19-point, 13-rebound performance to tie Matt Newman and Craig Burgess for third place with 16 career double-doubles.
The Bulldogs had their fifth 50% shooting performance of the season, hitting 33-of-63 (.524) from the field. The Citadel found its shooting touch from beyond the arc, knocking down 7-of-16 (.438) attempts, paced by Moore's 3-of-4 performance. In total, four Cadets reached double figures, including Cosmo Morabbi, who set a new career-high with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Backcourt teammate DeVontae Wright rounded out double-digit scorers with 13 points. The Dogs hit the third most free throws (18) in a game this season, while outmuscling UVA-Wise 37-24 on the glass. The victory moves The Citadel to 3-10 on the campaign.
Travis Berry led the way for UVA-Wise with 20 points, hitting 6-of-16 from the field and one 3-pointer in the process, as the Cavaliers managed to hit 27-of-53 (50.9%) from the floor. Josh Jordan (15 points) and Jermaine Wright (14 points) also posted solid outings, as UVA-Wise took advantage of 13 transition points to hang tough with the Dogs. Berry, who finished 7-of-8 from the free throw line, paced a Cavaliers unit that was successful on 16-of-24 (66.7%) attempts.
The Bulldogs came out strong to open the second period, scoring the first five points off shots from the tandem of Moore and Morabbi to go ahead 54-40 at the 18:06 mark. UVA-Wise quickly responded with a 14-2 run behind four points from Berry and an old fashioned three-point play by Darius Smith to trim the lead to 56-51.
The Citadel lead dwindled to as little as three, 58-55, before Morabbi jumpstarted the offense with a layup at the 13:13 mark. The Bulldogs went on a 13-3 run, behind four points each from Groselle and Moore, over the next 4:54 of the contest to move in front 71-58.
Leading 75-60, following a pair of made free throws by Wright, The Citadel took advantage of a technical foul by Smith to score five straight points and push their lead to a game-high 20 points, 80-60. Four points by Moore and three off the hand of Groselle, led the Dogs to their 581st home victory, 91-74, over UVA-Wise.
The Citadel took advantage of 18-of-31 (.581) shooting from the field, including 6-of-8 (.750) from 3-point range, to establish a 49-40 lead at the intermission. Moore led all scorers with 17 points, draining 5-of-6 from the field and all three 3-point attempts. Joining Moore in scoring were Morabbi and Groselle, who finished with nine and eight points respectively. The biggest difference for the Bulldogs in the first half was their 7-of-8 (.875) free throw shooting, which included perfect streaks by Moore (4-4) and Wright (2-2).
UVA-Wise closed the first half by hitting 16-of-32 (.500) from the floor, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Berry anchored the Cavaliers with 11 points, hitting 4-of-12 field goals to go along with three free throws. Maggard and Wright, who scored eight points apiece, rounded out the top scorers for the Cavaliers. UVA-Wise outscored The Citadel, 17-16 in the paint behind four offensive rebounds and 15 total rebounds.
Moore singlehandedly scored the first eight points of the contest, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Dogs established an 8-7 lead at the 16:17 mark. UVA-Wise quickly answered with a jumper by Wright to lead for the fourth time of the game, before a 9-0 Citadel run highlighted by long range shots from Bray, Wright and Morabbi made for a 17-9 lead.
The Cavaliers capped off a 5-0 run with a breakaway dunk by Turner, slicing the Dogs lead to 17-14. UVA-Wise continued to claw its way back into the contest, pulling within 21-20 at the 11-minute mark on a jumper by Maggard.
The Citadel distanced themselves with a series of buckets by Moore, Groselle and Bo Holston to move in front 31-25 with 5:44 remaining in the opening frame.
Just over three minutes later, in the midst of a 13-9 run, Maggard buried a 3-pointer to pull the Cavaliers within two points, 40-38, of the lead. The Citadel answered with four points each from Groselle and Wright, along with a trey by Moore to close the half on a 9-2 run.
Miami 99, UNCG 89
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - UNCG's Trevis Simpson scored a career-high 36 points but the Spartans couldn't hang on down the stretch against Miami as the Hurricanes rallied for a 99-89 win, Monday at BankUnited Center.
Simpson finished 12-of-20 from the field, including a career-high seven 3-pointers. The sophomore swingman was perfect on all five of his free throw attempts and wowed the crowd with a series of highlight reel dunks. He scored 24 points in the first half, and his point total was just two off the school single-game record.
Simpson almost single-handedly kept the Spartans (2-13) in the game in the first half. After UNCG trailed by as many as nine points (31-22), Simpson caught fire over the final nine minutes of the half. A three-pointer with 8:34 left pulled the Spartans to within 31-28. A pair of free throws at 6:38 made it 35-33, and a reverse dunk in traffic helped extend the Spartans' first lead of the game to 42-39 with 4:01 before halftime.
A four-point play by Simpson pushed UNCG's lead to 46-41 with 2:51 to go in the half, but Miami rallied and forced a 49-49 tie at halftime.
Simpson helped the Spartans gain their largest lead of the game early in the second half. Simpson opened the half with an alley-oop dunk on UNCG's first possession, and drained a three-pointer 91 seconds later to make it 56-49 with 18:17 to play.
After Miami cut the lead to 58-56, a jumper by Aloysius Henry and a free throw by Korey Van Dussen gave UNCG a 61-56 lead with 16:19 remaining.
It was then that Miami reserve guard Shane Larkin came to life. With the Hurricanes down by five, Larkin made three straight three-pointers and three free throws after being fouled on a three attempt. After the free throws, Miami had the lead for good at 68-67 with 13:54 to play.
Malcolm Grant and Larkin hit back-to-back layups to make it 72-67. A dunk and a three-pointer by Simpson pulled the Spartans to within 75-72 with 11:37 to play but UNCG never got any closer.
The Spartans set several season highs against the Hurricanes, including field-goal percentage (.485), three-pointers (11) and assists (21). But UNCG was out-rebounded, 38-29, and its 20 turnovers led to 33 points for Miami. UNCG was 14-of-18 from the free throw line.
Kyle Randall and David Williams joined Simpson in double figures, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively. Drew Parker dished a career-high 10 assists and Williams plucked five steals.
Miami shot 53 percent from the field and made 30-of-38 from the line. Kenny Kadji led Miami with a double-double of 30 points and 12 rebounds. Larkin scored 18 points while Durand Scott added 17.