Appalachian State 84, Western Carolina 74
BOONE, N.C. - Nursing a seven-point lead in the final four minutes of the game, Appalachian State University men's basketball went to the line 16 times and sank all 16 free throws to ice an 84-72 win against Western Carolina in front of a season-high 3,476 fans at the Holmes Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (8-10, 4-4 SoCon) built a 14-point lead midway through the second period at 52-38 before the Catamounts rallied all the way back to tie the game at 59 points apiece. Omar Carter then sank a layup and Jamall Trice added ASU's next five points to regain a comfortable advantage with four minutes to play and force WCU to slow the game's pace with fouls.
Trice led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and perfect 5-of-5 mark from the foul line. Carter came off the bench and added 20 points and nine rebounds, including a career best 12-of-12 mark from the charity stripe.
The back-and-forth game saw seven lead changes in the first half and four ties. WCU led by as many as eight points in the early going before the Apps rallied and took a 33-29 halftime lead. Trice accounted for the final five points in the opening period to provide the lead and cushion.
For the game, the Apps shot 30-of-36 from the stripe, an 83.3 percent success rate. ASU was also proficient from the field at 51.1 percent on the afternoon, compared to 43.8 percent for the Catamounts. Appalachian downed 6-of-17 three-point attempts, compared to Western's 4-of-16 mark.
Andre Williamson collected his third double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The senior improved his grasp on the league lead in two statistical categories as he sank 80 percent of his shots (4-5) and swatted two of ASU's six blocks.
The teams tied with 33 rebounds each, though WCU grabbed 14 on the offensive glass to ASU's seven. Appalachian converted 14 WCU turnovers into 24 points, while WCU scored 17 points off of 14 miscues by the home team.
Appalachian held a 31-10 advantage in bench points, as Isaac Butts added 11 points and for rebounds in 14 minutes.
Mike Neal also reched double figures in scoring for ASU with 10 points to accompany a game-high four assists and two steals.
Trey Sumler led the visitors with 17 points, while three teammates also reached double figures.
Appalachian improved to 111-65 against Western Carolina and 59-22 in home games. Pending the result of Elon's home game against Chattanooga on Saturday evening, the Apps may find themselves tied for first place in the Southern Conference North.
Wofford 79, Furman 72
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team won a road game for only the third time this season with a 79-72 victory over Furman on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena. The Terriers were down seven points at the half, but outscored the Paladins by 14 points in the second half for the win.
Wofford is now 12-8 on the season and 5-3 in the Southern Conference, while Furman is 9-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play. The Terriers were led by Kevin Giltner with 26 points and Brad Loesing with 21 points. Lee Skinner led the team with nine rebounds. The Paladins were led by Brandon Sebirumbi with 18 points, while Charlie Reddick had 14 points and four rebounds.
The Paladins scored first and had an 8-4 lead after back-to-back three pointers with 15:40 on the clock. Drew Crowell tied the game at eight points each. Furman was able to go on a 7-0 run to take a 15-8 lead with 11:26 left in the first half. Jarell Byrd ended the run with a lay-up and a three by Lee Skinner made it a 15-13 score at the mid-point of the first half.
Furman then went on an 8-1 run, which included five free throws, to take a 23-14 lead with eight minutes on the clock. Kevin Giltner hit a three pointer and two free throws to cut the lead to 23- 19 at the seven minute mark. Furman hit back-to-back three to push the lead back to 33-25 with four minutes to play. After another couple three pointers, the Paladins had a 40-29 advantage with two minutes left in the first half. At the break, Furman had a 42-35 lead which was partly due to seven three pointers.
Wofford opened the second half with four points, but Furman then hit another three. Karl Cochran answered with a three for the Terriers to make it a 45-42 game three minutes into play. After both teams were called for technical fouls, Kevin Giltner hit a three pointer to give Wofford a 47-45 lead, the first of the game for the Terriers at 15:40. With 10:21 remaining in the game, the score was tied at 54 after a three by Brad Loesing.
Back-to-back threes by Brad Loesing and Kevin Giltner gave Wofford a 60-54 advantage with 7:52 left in the second half. The 11-0 run for the Terriers continued with two free throws by Brad Loesing for a 62-54 lead before the Paladins scored with seven minutes remaining. A three by Kevin Giltner from the corner gave Wofford a 71-59 lead with 4:14 on the clock.
With 1:55 remaining, the Terriers had a 73-66 lead. Furman cut the lead to 73-70 with 54 seconds left after a basket by Brandon Sebirumbi. Karl Cochran dunked with 19 seconds left and Brad Loesing added two free throws for a 77-70 lead. Two free throws by Kevin Giltner with one second on the clock provided the 79-72 final margin of victory.
The Terriers shot 51.0 percent from the floor for the evening, while Furman shot 52.9 percent overall. Wofford finished 8-13 from behind the arc. The Paladins went 11-of-22 from three. Wofford was 21-of-25 from the free throw line, while Furman went 7-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Terriers had a 35 to 17 lead on the glass.
The Terriers marked the first win of the season when trailing at the half. It was only the third road win of the year, along with wins at Bradley and Wake Forest. Kevin Giltner scored 20 or more points for the fifth time this season. Mike Young was called for a technical foul at 8:36 in the first half, only the third of his career. In the second half at 15:56, Kevin Giltner and Charlie Reddick were called for technical fouls.
Davidson 80, The Citadel 51
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Jake Cohen reached the 20-point mark for the fifth consecutive game, and the Davidson defense held The Citadel to 17 percent shooting in the first half as the Wildcats topped the Bulldogs 80-51 Saturday night in John M. Belk Arena.
Cohen finished with 20 points, four rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals for the Wildcats (14-4, 8-0 SoCon), and De'Mon Brooks collected 15 points and nine rebounds.
JP Kuhlman scored 11, and Nik Cochran added nine points and six rebounds.
Mike Groselle led The Citadel (4-14, 1-6 SoCon) with 22 points and five rebounds to go along with three steals and a blocked shot.
Davidson shot 53 percent for the game while holding The Citadel to 35 percent, and the Wildcats gave up just two offensive rebounds in the contest. Davidson outrebounded the Bulldogs 46-22overall.
The Wildcats gave up one field goal in the first 14 minutes of the game, and The Citadel finished the half4-for-24 from the field. Meanwhile, Davidson hit seven of its first nine shots en route to opening a 30-2 lead with 12:00 left in the period. The 'Cats owned a 47-16 cushion at halftime.
After the advantage ballooned to 34 early in the second half, The Bulldogs chipped away and cut it to 25 on a Bo Holston triple with 8:41 remaining. But that was as close as The Citadel would get, despite shooting 52 percent in the second period.
Georgia Southern 64, College of Charleston 58
STATESBORO, Ga. - A three-pointer by Eric Ferguson in the final minute helped Georgia Southern cement a 64-58 victory over College of Charleston on Saturday night. Hanner Fieldhouse was filled with a season-high 3,025 fans for "Pack the House in Pink" night. The victory moves Georgia Southern to 7-11 overall and 5-3 in league games and into a tie with Wofford for second place in the South Division. College of Charleston falls to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in league play.
Ferguson finished the night with 19 points to go with eight rebounds, three on the offensive boards. The sophomore's big three-pointer in the final minute was backed up with his only block of the night at the other end of the floor to preserve the five point lead.
Senior Ben Drayton III and Jelani Hewitt each finished the night with 11 points. Drayton added five assists while Hewitt had four. Willie Powers III was honored for his 1,000th career point which was scored in the season opener prior to tipoff, he went on to lead the team with seven assists and three points. Those points moved him into 27th place all-time scoring at Georgia Southern with 1,191 career points.
Charleston was led by 17 points and 12 rebounds from Antwaine Wiggins. Andrew Lawrence finished with 12 points from his guard position.
Out of halftime Charleston built up a six point margin which was taken down to four at 12:42. A three-pointer by Hewitt sparked an 13-0 run over the next 5:57 that saw Georgia Southern take a 54-47 lead with 7:30 remaining.
The Cougars rallied over the next two minutes to slice the margin to two points with just over four minutes left in the game. The margin would remain static inside a minute until Ferguson drained a clutch three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. He answered that by blocking a shot at the other end of the floor to preserve a five-point Georgia Southern lead.
The Hanner Fieldhouse faithful were whipped into a frenzy with nine seconds remaining as Baskerville dropped an alley-oop dunk from Hewitt to put the Eagles up 64-57. A technical foul on the Eagle bench allowed the Cougars to add one more from the charity stripe and make the final score 64-58.
The Eagles finished the night out-rebounding the Cougars 40-30 and shot 65.2 percent from the field to finish the night at 49.1 percent. The Cougars shot just 35.7 percent from the field and posted a 29.2 percent mark from downtown.
Elon 88, Chattanooga 87
ELON, N.C. - A winning play. That's how head coach Matt Matheny described Lucas Troutman's 94-foot sprint to block a Chattanooga shot immediately after finishing an alley-oop layup that put Elon back on top - for good. Troutman finished with 21 points to lead four Phoenix in double figures as Elon staked claim of first place in the Southern Conference North Division with an 88-87 victory over the visiting Chattanooga Mocs in front of a sellout crowd on Saturday night in Alumni Gym.
Elon (9-9, 4-3) overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to earn the important league victory and saw several players eclipse new career highs. Chattanooga (9-12, 3-5) suffered its third straight conference loss.
After UTC's Omar Wattad hit his fifth triple of the night to give the Mocs an 83-82 lead with 1:23 to play, Jack Isenbarger found Troutman behind the defense for the alley-oop and the 84-83 advantage. Troutman made the game-changing block on the other end and Austin Hamilton and Isenbarger made good from the free throw line in the final minute to all but secure the victory. Keegan Bell's final three-point attempt went off the rim and the Phoenix halted a three-game home losing streak.
Hamilton nailed 4-of-8 from beyond the arc for a personal-best 20 points to go along with five assists on the night. Isenbarger contributed 19 points and six rebounds and forward Ryley Beaumont looked impressive with a 7-of-10 night from the field for a career-high 15 points. Elon got 78 points from its starting five.
Wattad was a thorn in Elon's side all night, scoring at game-high 25 points and coming up with big shots at critical points in the game. Z. Mason netted 18 points and grabbed 11 boards off the bench and Ricky Taylor added 17 points.
Chattanooga ended the first half with a three-pointer at the buzzer to break a tie ball game and then opened on a 12-4 run that gave the visitors a 53-44 advantage at the 15:39 mark. A Matheny timeout followed a second Wattad triple that gave the Mocs' their biggest lead of the game.
Elon responded with a 12-5 stretch of its own, as Troutman converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 58-56 contest with 12:54 on the clock. The lead would change hands eight times over the next five minutes.
A Hamilton floater in the lane as the shot clock wound down gave the Phoenix a 74-72 advantage with 6:26 on the clock. Elon would grow its lead to as many as six, 81-75, with under four to play before an 8-1 UTC run, capped by the Wattad three ball, put the lead back in Chattanooga's hands.
The Phoenix shot 48.4 percent from the field, including 58.6 percent in the second half. Seven players tallied assists for the Phoenix as Elon had 18 assists on 31 buckets. Elon also had nine steals on 15 Chattanooga miscues, scoring 22 points off turnovers.
Chattanooga finished the evening shooting 45.5 percent, including 47.4 (9-19) from long range. The Mocs won the board battle, 42-36, and scored 17 second-chance points.
Elon led for all but a minute of the first half, going ahead by as many as nine midway through.