Appalachian State 81, Elon 66
BOONE, N.C. - There wasn't a shot Appalachian State didn't like in the second half as the Mountaineers shot a blistering 76 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to hand the visiting Elon Phoenix an 81-66 loss at the Holmes Center in Saturday afternoon Southern Conference men's basketball action.
After holding a slim three-point advantage at the break, ASU (9-11, 5-5) scored 52 points and made 19 buckets in the second half to win its seventh straight against the Phoenix (10-10, 5-4) in an important division matchup.
Elon's Jack Isenbarger scored 20 points to lead the Phoenix for the second straight game. The guard shot 50 percent from the field and knocked down 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Freshman point guard Austin Hamilton was the only other Phoenix in double figures with 10 points. Lucas Troutman collected 10 rebounds and was a point away from a double-double.
Jamaal Trice and Omar Carter each dumped in 20 points for the Mountaineers while Carter grabbed a game-high 11 boards as well.
Elon found itself within three, 29-26, after 20 minutes despite shooting only 28.6 percent from the floor. Both teams got off to a rocky offensive start with some sloppy passing and missed shots.
In the second period, the Mountaineers came out on fire, nailing eight of their first nine shots to rush out to a 49-36 advantage with less than six minutes gone by. A couple Phoenix buckets trimmed the lead to eight, but a quick 9-0 spurt by the home team made is a 17-point contest, 58-41, with 11:50 remaining.
The Appalachian defense seemed to feed off its sharp shooting, pressuring the Phoenix into 18 turnovers - 12 in the second half. With very few missed baskets by the opposition, Elon could never get out in transition and create offense from its defense.
Elon still managed to make a little push of its own, capping an 11-2 run with a four-point play from Isenbarger that cut the lead to eight, 60-52, at 9:09. Unfortunately, defensive stops were hard to come by and App had the answer for each Phoenix bucket.
Elon shot 37.9 percent for the game, hitting 7-of-20 (35 percent) from three. The Phoenix was much better from the free throw line compared to Thursday evening, connecting on 15-of-20 (75 percent). Appalachian finished 30-of-55 (54.5) from the field with 14 turnovers and 10 steals.
Wofford 68, College of Charleston 59
CHARLESTON, S.C. - To wrap up a three-game road trip, the Wofford men's basketball team defeated the College of Charleston 68-59 at TD Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Terriers used a 9-0 run early in the first half to build a lead and the Cougars could never get any closer than five points in the second half.
Wofford is now 14-8 on the season after five straight wins and 7-3 in the Southern Conference, while the College of Charleston is 12-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play. The Terriers were led by Brad Loesing with 18 points. Karl Cochran had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Kevin Giltner had 13 points. The Cougars were led by Trent Wiedeman with 18 points and ten rebounds.
The Cougars opened the game with a three by Nori Johnson, but Wofford scored the next nine points to take a 9-3 lead five minutes into play. Drew Crowell added two buckets for the Terriers as they took a 13-6 advantage at the 12:22 mark. A lay-up by Lee Skinner with eight minutes on the clock pushed the lead to 20-10.
Wofford took a 24-12 lead before the Cougars answered with a three with 5:20 left in the first half. Karl Cochran took a short jumper for a 26-15 advantage at the 2:51 mark. The College of Charleston scored the final two points of the half for a 28-19 Wofford lead at the break. The Terriers were 61.9% from the floor in the first twenty minutes.
The Terriers scored first to open the second half, but the Cougars cut the lead to 32-25 after a three. Wofford answered with a three by Karl Cochran to keep a ten points advantage. Another three by the Cougars made it a 37-30 game after four minutes of play. Kevin Giltner hit a three for a 41-30 lead at 14:20, but College of Charleston hit a three at the other end. Brad Loesing added a three as well for a 44-33 lead with twelve minutes left in the half.
The College of Charleston scored the next three points, but Lee Skinner put a missed shot back and Aerris Smith dunked to push the lead to 48-36 with 8:40 on the clock. The Cougars hit another three, but Brad Loesing answered with a three as well. Seven straight points by the Cougars cut the lead to 51-46 with 4:37 remaining. Kevin Giltner ended the run with a three, but the Nori Johnson hit a three to keep it a five-point game with 3:50 on the clock.
Brad Loesing made a lay-up and a free throw for a 57-49 lead with 3:32 left. Two free throws by Karl Cochran with 1:38 remaining made it a 63-55 contest. A floater by Brad Loesing and a pair of free throws by Kevin Giltner pushed the lead to 67-57 with 29.5 seconds remaining. Brad Loesing added one more free throw for a 68-59 final score.
The Terriers shot 52.9 percent from the floor for the evening, while the College of Charleston shot 37.9 percent overall. Wofford finished 6-of-16 from behind the arc. The Cougars went 9-of-28 from three. Wofford was 8-of-11 from the free throw line, while the College of Charleston went 6-of-10 from the charity stripe. The Terriers had a 34 to 29 lead on the glass.
It marked the first win for Wofford at the College of Charleston since 2002 and it is the first win for the Terriers at TD Arena. The game was the first for College of Charleston head coach Mark Byington after Bobby Cremins took a leave of absence on Friday.
UNCG 89, Western Carolina 86 (OT)
GREENSBORO, N.C. -Trevis Simpson scored a game-high 26 points, David Williams grabbed 18 rebounds and UNCG made all 11 free throw attempts in overtime as the Spartans secured an 89-86 win against Western Carolina in a Southern Conference game, Saturday at Greensboro Coliseum.
The win not only extended UNCG's winning streak to six games, but it also helped the Spartans (8-14 overall, 6-4 SoCon) surpass last season's win total (7). The win, coupled with Elon's loss at Appalachian State, moves the Spartans to the top of the SoCon's North Division.
As has been the Spartans' style during their winning streak, this victory didn't come easy. UNCG led by 10 points (41-31) at halftime and by eight (55-47) with 10:18 left in the second half. But Western Carolina (9-13, 3-6) mounted a 14-1 run and led 61-56 on a pair of Harouna Mutumbo free throws with 5:10 to play.
But the Spartans didn't the Catamounts run away. A basket by Simpson, a free throw by Taylor Hoffer and a jumper by Aaron Brackett tied the game at 61-61 with 3:16 to go. UNCG regained the lead on a Derrell Armstrong layup with 2:53 to play, which made it 63-61.
After the Catamounts tied it on their next trip, UNCG got two free throws by Brackett and a jumper from Simpson for a 67-63 lead with 19 seconds to play. But Western's Keaton Cole made it a one-point game on a three-pointer eight seconds later. Two Simpson free throws put the Spartans up 69-66 with nine ticks left, but Williams fouled Cole on a three-point attempt with two seconds to go. Cole made all three free throws to force overtime.
In the extra frame, UNCG eventually opened an eight-point lead (85-77) with 35 seconds left, but had to hang on for the win. Trailing 87-80, Western's Trey Sumler converted a three-point play with 18 seconds left to make it 87-83.
UNCG turned it over on the in-bounds play and Tom Tankelewicz banked in a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to cut the lead to 87-86. Armstrong made a pair of free throws for an 89-86 lead with nine seconds to go, but Western missed a three from the right wing and Williams corralled the rebound to secure the win.
The Spartans won in large part to their defensive effort. Despite allowing 86 points, UNCG limited Western Carolina to 35.6 percent shooting, an opponent low for the season. The Spartans shot 46.4 percent from the field and were 30-for-27 (81.1 percent) from the free throw line.
Simpson finished the game 8-of-20 from the field, 2-of-7 from three-point range, and a near-perfect 8-of-9 at the free throw line. Simpson scored 12 points in the game's last 9:39, including overtime. Armstrong added 23 points for UNCG, making 7-of-15 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line.
Drew Parker scored 11 points for the Spartans, all in the first half. Williams added seven points, three assists and three blocked shots to his career-best rebound figure.
Sumler led the Catamounts with 22 points, while Tawaski King added a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
Samford 77, Davidson 74
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team defeated the first-place Davidson Wildcats, 77-74, in front of a boisterous home crowd at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford (7-13, 4-5 SoCon) is in the midst of its fourth season as a member of the talent-laden SoCon.
With the victory, Samford tallied its third straight home triumph and improved to 4-1 in its last five games. The Bulldogs also jumped to fourth place in the SoCon North Division standings and only trail first-place Elon by a single game.
Davidson (15-5, 9-1 SoCon) suffered its first conference loss of the season and had its 13-game SoCon winning streak snapped. Prior to Saturday's defeat, the Wildcats' most recent setback occurred at Furman, 88-79, on Feb. 12, 2011.
In Samford's first victory over Davidson in school history, the Bulldogs streaked out of the gates quickly and garnered a 14-6 lead behind six early points from Drew Windler. Samford then used a deep 3-point basket from Jeffrey Merritt at the 3:29 mark to extend its first-half advantage to 33-23.
Merritt finished the opening period with a game-high 14 points and knocked down 3-of-3 attempts from 3-point range. The Bulldogs' Raijon Kelly also turned in a solid first half of play as the true freshman point guard scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.
With the stellar output from Windler, Merritt and Kelly, Samford boasted a 42-26 lead at the half.
Davidson opened the second half with a 20-9 run to cut the Bulldogs' advantage to 51-46 with 11:40 left to play. During their run, the Wildcats used eight straight points from De'Mon Brooks, a jumper from Tom Droney and back-to-back buckets from JP Kuhlman to pull within five points of Samford.
To put an end to Davidson's second-half run, the Bulldogs' Windler and Connor Miller both knocked down key 3-point baskets.
Miller, Samford's true freshman guard from Stanley, Wis., turned in the best game of his young career Saturday as he scored a personal-best 12 points on a perfect 3-of-3 performance from the field. He also went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and made all four of his free-throw attempts.
Miller's first 3-point basket of the game gave Samford a 57-46 lead with 10:46 remaining on the clock. His second 3-pointer of the night was just as clutch for the Bulldogs at 5:40 in the game to give his squad a 65-55 advantage.
Despite Miller's heroics, Davidson used back-to-back 3-point field goals from Kuhlman and Chris Czerapowicz to trim Samford's lead down to 67-64 with 3:55 to play. Following a critical dribble-drive and flying layup down the lane by Miller, the Wildcats' Czerapowicz answers with a bucket of his own to make the score 73-71 with just over a minute remaining.
As time wound down, Davidson still trailed by two points with 18 seconds remaining, but had possession of the ball. The Wildcats ran the clock down to approximately 10 seconds, fed the ball inside to their leading scorer Brooks, but the sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., couldn't connect on the possible game-tying basket.
Brooks' final shot found the back of the rim and Samford's Will Cook skied for the key rebound. Cook finished the game with a team-high eight boards and also filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, three assists, three rebounds and a blocked shot.
After Cook's late rebound, the Bulldogs' Miller calmly sank both free throws to give Samford a 75-71 advantage with six seconds left. The game ended with a desperation 3-pointer from Davidson's Nik Cochran and a pair of free throws from Cook.
Samford finished Saturday's game with five players scoring in double figures for the first time this season. Merritt paced the team with 20 points, while Windler finished with 15 and Kelly added 12. The Bulldogs outscored Davidson 16-10 in the paint and shot a sizzling 52.5 percent from the field.
De'Mon Brooks led the Wildcats with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Cochran finished with 18 points and seven assists. JP Kuhlman scored 14.
Samford only attempted 14 3-point baskets, but connected on 10 of them for a season-high percentage of 71.4 from beyond the arc. Prior to Saturday's victory, the Bulldogs' best percentage from 3-point range was a 59.6-percent outing against Lindsey Wilson on Dec. 10.
Samford attempted a season-high 33 free throws Saturday and connected on 25 for a solid 75.8-percent mark from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs were out-rebounded, 34-25, but outscored Davidson, 17-13, off the bench.
Georgia Southern 75, Chattanooga 72
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Sophomore Jelani Hewitt knocked down a three-pointer as time expired as Georgia Southern Men's Basketball took a 75-72 win over Chattanooga at the McKenzie Arena on Saturday night. The win moves the Eagles to 9-12 overall and 7-4 in conference play, a game and a half game behind Wofford for second place in the SoCon South. Chattanooga falls to 9-14 and 3-7 in league play.
Hewitt finished the night with 16 points after going 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Senior Ben Drayton III also scored 16 points, but added three assists, draining a pair of three-pointers of his own. Willie Powers III asserted his position as top-assist man with seven assists including the game-winning shot. He also had six rebounds and 11 points.
Eric Ferguson scored 15 points to close out the Eagle quartet in double figures. Ferguson also led the team with seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Tré Bussey scored seven with two steals in 13 minutes of work. Marvin Baynham had a big night, scoring six points on 3-for-4 shooting and six rebounds.
Chattanooga's Drazen Zlovaric and Keegen Bell scored 16 points each. Zlovaric also pulled 10 rebounds to earn the double-double. Bell, the league's leading assist man finished with five, two off his season average.
Chattanooga led by as many as 12 in the first half, but the Eagles trailed by just 10 points at the intermission. The Mocs scored 20 of their 36 points in the paint to take a 36-26 advantage into the locker room at the break.
Hewitt opened the second half by draining a three pointer from the top of the arc in the first possession while Powers fed Baynham for a flush on the next trip. Approaching the first media timeout of the second half the Eagles had cut the lead to four points.
The Mocs, however, would come out of the timeout on a tear, extending the lead back to 16 points at the 12:03 mark. Chattanooga improved from the perimeter, making all three second half three-pointers as a part of the 15-4 run.
With many of the Mocs starters on the bench in the middle portions of the half, Georgia Southern cut the lead back to 10 points at 8:35. Free throws at the 6:55 mark by Ferguson brought the lead back to eight points as the Eagles continued to run.
Hewitt iced his third three-pointer of the game with 6:11 remaining to bring the Eagles within five points at 64-59 as Chattanooga continued to turn the ball over to the Georgia Southern defense. The lead came to three points as Powers cleaned the offensive glass and scored a deuce off a tip in.
Powers scored again just out of the under-four minute media timeout to bring GSU within one point. Ferguson gave the Eagles their first lead of the night with 2:56 remaining on his first three-pointer of the night, 70-68.
The Mocs took the lead again 72-70 with just over a minute left on a baseline drive from Ricky Taylor, but Hewitt answered seconds later with a bucket just inside the arc. Chattanooga went down the floor and missed a layup with seven seconds remaining to give the Eagles a chance at the game winner.
Powers brought the ball across the time line in traffic and slowed the pace as the seconds ticked down. He connected with Hewitt on the elbow who stepped into and released a perfectly arcing shot as time expired. The ball found nothing but net as the team spilled onto the court to celebrate the victory.
Georgia Southern allowed just four second half turnovers while shooting 50 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from downtown in the final 20 minutes. The Mocs allowed 17 turnovers overall and 10 in the second half to give away the 16 point second half lead.
Furman 67, The Citadel 58
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior Colin Reddick led three Paladins in double figures with 12 points to lead Furman past The Citadel, 67-58, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday night at McAlister Fieldhouse.
With the victory, Furman completed a sweep of its two-game weekend road trip in Charleston and improved to 11-10 overall and 5-5 in the conference. The Citadel fell to 4-17 overall and 1-9 in SoCon play.
Furman led 57-56 with less than 2:30 minutes to go when Charlie Reddick slashed to the basket for a layup to put the Paladins ahead 59-56. Reddick stole the ball on the next possession, leading to Bobby Austin making 1-of-2 free throws, before Austin converted a layup and finished the three-point play at the foul line with two minutes remaining to up the lead to 63-56.
Bo Holston made two free throws to trim the lead to five and Brandon Sebirumbi committed an offensive foul, but Mike Groselle missed the front end of a one-and-one for the Bulldogs. Bryant Irwin pushed the lead back to seven with an 18-foot jumper with 1:03 left and back-to-back turnovers by The Citadel helped Furman hold onto its fifth straight victory against the Bulldogs.
Furman trailed 24-17 with 8:15 left in the first half when Bryson Barnes and Colin Reddick keyed a 19-6 run scoring six points apiece to help the Paladins claim a 36-30 halftime advantage. The Paladins upped the cushion to nine points on four occasions in the second half, including a 49-40 edge with 14:04 left, but The Citadel used a 14-6 run to pull within 55-54 with under seven minutes to play.
Colin Reddick connected on 4-of-7 field goal attempts and 4-of-4 trips to the foul line to tally 12 points in 13 minutes of work. Twin brother Charlie Reddick posted 11 points while Sebirumbi totaled 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Paladins shot 46.4 percent despite making only 4-of-17 treys and buried 11-of-16 attempts at the charity stripe. Playing without starting point guard Richard Brown, Furman committed just nine turnovers and out-rebounded the Bulldogs 31-30.
Groselle connected on 10-of-12 shots to lead The Citadel with 24 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 43.5 percent, but were forced into 18 turnovers which led to 17 Paladin points.