Wofford 82, Western Carolina 56
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Back home after a three game road trip, the Wofford men's basketball team put together a dominant performance in an 82-56 win over Western Carolina at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Brad Loesing had his first career double-double with 14 points and ten assists as the Terriers shot 59.3 percent for the game.
Wofford is now 15-8 on the season after six straight wins and 8-3 in the Southern Conference, while Western Carolina is 9-14 overall and 3-7 in conference play. The Terriers had four players score in double figures and were led by Drew Crowell with 19 points, which included his first career three pointer. Karl Cochran added 16 points, Loesing had 14 points, and Kevin Giltner had 13 points. The Catamounts also had four players in double figures, led by Trey Sumler with 13 points along with six rebounds.
The Terriers scored first and took an early 8-1 lead with all eight points in the paint by Aerris Smith and Drew Crowell. The Catamounts scored their first field goal of the night with 13:00 on the clock to make it an 8-3 game. The game was tied at eight with eleven minutes to go, and then tied at ten before two straight shots by the Terriers for a 14-10 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
After Wofford took a 16-12 lead with 6:10 on the clock, Karl Cochran pushed the lead to 20-15 with a jumper. A long two by Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers a 26-17 advantage with just over two minutes left in the half. Karl Cochran hit the first three of the night for Wofford with 50 seconds left for a 31-17 lead. The Catamounts scored to end the first half with a 31-19 score.
To open the second half, the Catamounts scored six of the first eight points to cut the lead to 33-25. Karl Cochran answered with a three at 17:15 to make it a 36-25 game. A three by Brad Loesing as the shot clock expired gave Wofford a 39-27 lead after five minutes of play. Loesing then assisted Lee Skinner on a dunk with 13:30 on the clock for a 45-31 score.
Kevin Giltner added a three with 12:45 remaining in the second half for a 48-33 lead, and then hit another three to make it a 51-36 score with twelve minutes on the clock. Brad Loesing hit a three, found Jarell Byrd for a dunk, and hit a jumper to give the Terriers a 58-38 lead with 9:30 left in the game. After Domas Rinksalis hit a free throw with 6:48 remaining, Wofford led 64-42. A long three by Kevin Giltner and a lay-up by Drew Crowell made it a 73-48 game with 3:41 remaining. A three by Drew Crowell at 2:10 made it a 76-49 advantage and the Terriers cleared the bench. Matt Steelman added two three pointers in the final minute for the 82-56 final margin.
The Terriers shot 59.3 percent from the floor for the evening, while Western Carolina shot 40.0% overall. Wofford finished 10-of-19 from behind the arc. The Catamounts went 2-of-14 from three. Wofford was 8-of-14 from the free throw line, while Western Carolina went 14-of-18 from the charity stripe. The Catamounts had a 29 to 28 lead on the glass.
College of Charleston 68, Samford 52
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team lost at home for the first time since Jan. 5 on Monday as the Bulldogs suffered a 68-52 defeat against the College of Charleston Cougars in a Southern Conference matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center.
With the loss, Samford (7-14, 4-6 SoCon) dropped to 5-7 at home this season, but came up short at the Pete Hanna Center for only the second time in January. The Bulldogs entered the contest riding the positive momentum of a three-game home winning streak and a thrilling 77-74 triumph over first-place Davidson on Saturday.
With its win, College of Charleston (13-9, 5-6 SoCon) snapped a season-long four-game losing streak and tallied its first victory since breezing by Elon, 63-44, on Jan. 14. The Cougars were coming off consecutive defeats against Davidson, Georgia Southern, Furman and Wofford.
College of Charleston also remained undefeated versus Samford. Monday's win propelled the Cougars to a 12-0 all-time mark against the Bulldogs.
Additionally, Monday's win signified the first career victory for College of Charleston interim head coach Mark Byington. Byington was named the Interim Head Coach on Friday after Head Coach Bobby Cremins stepped down for the remainder of the year due to health issues.
Samford was out-rebounded 23-14 in the first half of play as College of Charleston took a 38-28 advantage into the break. The Bulldogs shot 47.8 percent from the field in the opening period, but were only 2-of-7 from 3-point range.
Despite Samford's first-half woes, the Bulldogs still held a 24-22 advantage with 4:57 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. Tyler Hood scored on a driving, one-handed off-balance layup to give Samford the two-point advantage before College of Charleston's Antwaine Wiggins answered with back-to-back 3-point baskets to give the Cougars a 28-24 lead.
Wiggins finished the first half with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and his late offensive outburst propelled College of Charleston to a decisive 16-4 run to close out the period.
Midway through the second half of play, Samford's Kelly drained a 27-foot 3-point basket to cut the Cougars' lead to 50-42, but College of Charleston answered with a layup from Wiggins, a 3-pointer from Andrew Lawrence and a jumper from Matt Sundberg to make the score 57-42 with 4:05 left to play. The Cougars would then hit their free throws down the stretch to tally the 68-52 win.
Samford finished Monday's game with three players scoring in double figures. Freshmen Hood and Kelly paced the squad with 11 points apiece, while sophomore center Drew Windler tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Senior Matthew Friday also chipped in with six points off the bench for the Bulldogs.
Wiggins, College of Charleston's senior All-SoCon preseason selection, continued to be a thorn in Samford's flesh Monday as he dropped in a game-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. The Cougars' 6-foot-7 forward also grabbed six rebounds and connected on a game-high five 3-point field goals.
College of Charleston also received 14 points from Sundberg and 11 points from Lawrence. Despite only scoring six points for the Cougars, sophomore forward Trent Wiedeman grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and registered two assists, two blocks and a steal.
College of Charleston only shot marginally better than Samford from the field, 37.1 percent to 36.8 percent, but knocked down 11 3-point baskets on a 34.4-percent outing from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs only connected on 6-of-26 3-pointers for a 23.1-percent mark.
The Cougars also out-rebounded Samford 43-34, including a 17-11 total on the offensive end of the court. The Bulldogs did outscore College of Charleston, 24-16, in the paint.