College of Charleston 76, Old Dominion 65
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston used white-hot shooting in the second half to pull away and defeat CAA opponent Old Dominion, 76-65, in non-conference action held on Tuesday night at TD Arena.
The win was a big momentum boost for the Cougars (6-4) who rebounded from back-to-back home losses with a win over the Monarchs (1-10).
Despite being tied at halftime, 28-28, CofC opened the second half hitting the first six shots, including a trio of three-pointers, to build a 45-34 lead and the Cougars never looked back. Charleston finished the game shooting 53.1 percent from the field (26-of-49), including 40 percent from three-point land.
The Monarchs shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field and outrebounded the Cougars, 31-29. The difference was ultimately in three-point shooting where Charleston held an 8-3 advantage in three-pointers made.
Sophomore big man Adjehi Baru led the team with a career-high 20 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting night from the floor to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. A number of Baru's baskets were thunderous dunks that excited the crowd as the Cougars opened up the game in the second half.
Senior Andrew Lawrence made his return to the floor after getting banged up against Louisville on Dec. 4. Lawrence scored 17 points, dished six assists and tied a career high with five steals. His pressure defense and transition aggressiveness helped the Cougars convert 13 ODU turnovers into 22 points.
Junior Anthony Thomas had a break-out game with a career-high 13 points, four assists and three blocks. Junior Trent Wiedeman also made his return to the lineup after missing six games by contributing seven points. Redshirt junior Willis Hall also grabbed seven rebounds and scored six points.
Four players scored in double figures for the Monarchs, led by DeShawn Painter's 15 points and seven rebounds. Donte Hill recorded 11 points and five assists, while Keenan Palmore and Deion Clark each had 10.
The first half featured five ties and 12 lead changes as neither team could build a sizable lead. ODU led by as many as five after a jumper from Painter put the Monarchs up 17-12. A tip-in from freshman Theo Johnson and a three-pointer from sophomore Anthony Stitt quickly knotted the game back up at 17 with 7:46 remaining.
Old Dominion's Palmore hit a layup with 45 seconds remaining to give the Monarchs a two-point lead, but Lawrence intercepted a pass with seconds ticking away and was fouled at the rim as the half ended. His two free throws tied the score at 28 at the intermission.
CofC came out firing in the second half, hitting the first six consecutive shots including two three-pointers from Thomas and one from Andrew Lawrence. A reverse layup from Wiedeman at the 15:37 minute mark ignited the crowd and gave the Cougars their largest lead, 45-34.
The Monarchs responded with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to 45-42, but two free throws from Lawrence and three-pointers from junior Nori Johnson (Greer, S.C.) and Stitt quickly pushed the lead back to double digits. The Cougars would lead by as many as 20 points after Hall grabbed an offensive rebound and got a put back at the 5:07 minute mark.
Wofford 94, Jackonville 52
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Wofford men's basketball team turned in a dominate performance in a 94-52 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday night at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The Terriers used a 17-2 run to begin the second half to secure the victory.
Wofford moves to 5-6 on the season, while Jacksonville is 4-7. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with a career-high 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting. Spencer Collins also had a career-high with 17 points. Lee Skinner had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Jarell Byrd added twelve points. The Dolphins were led by Javon Dawson with eleven points and Glenn Powell had eight rebounds.
"There is nothing like winning," said head coach Mike Young. "To come into another team's home court and win on the road is a big deal. We have struggled a bit this year on that long and lonely road. We played a really good basketball game. Jacksonville was not great tonight and I think we had something to do with that. It was one of those nights were all down the line guys had really good performances. We will take it and get ready for Xavier."
The Terriers scored first on a lay-up by John Swinton and took an early 6-0 lead. After five minutes of play, Wofford had an 8-6 advantage. After the Dolphins tied the game at ten, Jarell Byrd hit a three to take a 13-10 lead. However Jacksonville scored the next four points for a 14-13 score with 11:55 left in the first half.
Wofford regained the lead at 17-16 after a shot by Jarell Byrd. With the Dolphins holding a one point lead, Karl Cochran hit a three for a 20-18 lead for the Terriers. After a tie at 20, Karl Cochran scored five straight points for a 25-20 lead with 8:24 on the clock in the first half. A three pointer by Spencer Collins pushed the advantage to 31-22 just a minute later. Lee Skinner and Jarell Byrd added buckets for a 35-24 lead with 5:10 remaining in the first half.
A three by Taylor Wagener pushed the lead to 38-24 at the 4:30 mark in the opening half. A three by Karl Cochran with eighty seconds remaining gave the Terriers a 45-30 advantage. At the break, Wofford had a 47-34 lead and Karl Cochran had 20 points to lead the team.
Lee Skinner and Spencer Collins each had four points in the first three minutes of the second half to push the lead to 55-36. A bucket by C.J. Neumann gave Wofford a 59-36 advantage after five minutes of play. Spencer Collins added a three for a 62-36 score with 12:20 remaining in the second half. After threes by Karl Cochran and John Swinton, the Terriers pushed the lead to 72-41 at the midpoint of the second half.
The Terriers added a bucker by Justin Gordon for a 74-41 lead and two free throws by Spencer Collins made it 76-41 with 7:57 remaining in the game. A three by Taylor Wagener gave the Terriers an 81-41 lead before the Dolphins hit a three for an 81-44 score with 6:23 on the clock. A three by Jarell Byrd pushed the lead to 86-46 just over four minutes remaining. A dunk by Justin Gordon gave Wofford a 94-49 lead before the Dolphins hit the final shot of the game for a 94-51 final.
Wofford shot a season-best 56 percent from the floor while Jacksonville shot 38 percent overall. The Terriers were 13-of-25 from with three, while the Dolphins were 2-of-13 from behind the arc. Wofford was 13-of-15 from the free throw line, while Jacksonville was 12-of-17 from the line. The Terriers had a 37 to 24 lead on the glass and had 20 assists to only eight turnovers.
Wake Forest 79, Furman 55
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - C.J. Harris scored a game-high 20 points to lead three Demon Deacons in double figures as Wake Forest pulled away from Furman in the second half to claim a 79-55 non-conference victory before a crowd of 6,782 on Tuesday night at Joel Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and converted on 54 percent of their field goal attempts on the night to improve to 5-5 on the season. Furman dropped to 3-7 with its fifth loss in its last six games.
Bryant Irwin's three-pointer with 2:28 remaining in the first half put Furman in front 30-27, but Harris, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the opening period, answered by draining a trey for Wake Forest that ignited a 10-0 run to end the half. Tyler Cavanaugh capped the spurt with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Demon Deacons a 37-30 lead at the break.
Furman trimmed the margin to five points on two occasions in the opening moments of the second half and trailed just 42-36 on Kendrec Ferrara's layup with 17:04 to play, but Cavanaugh scored seven straight points in a 60 second stretch to key a 17-2 Wake Forest run that gave the Demon Deacons a 59-38 lead when Devin Thomas finished a three-point play at the foul line with 11:24 to play. The Demon Deacons, who outscored Furman 42-16 in the paint and 14-2 on the fast break, maintained at least a 17-point cushion the rest of the way to secure the victory.
Harris converted on 8-of-10 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 beyond the arc, and added five assists to lead Wake Forest. Travis McKie scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting while Cavanaugh finished with 12 points.
Freshman Stephen Croone and senior Colin Reddick paced the Paladins with 12 points apiece while Ferrara added nine points, six boards and two blocked shots. Furman shot just 37 percent from the floor, including 7-for-24 beyond the arc, and made only 10-of-19 free throw attempts.
The Paladins raced out to a 15-9 first half lead behind a pair of three-pointers from Charlie Reddick, but Furman went without a field goal for over six minutes as Wake Forest regained the lead. David Brown and Irwin each notched treys to help put Furman back ahead before the Demon Deacons' decisive 10-0 run to end the half.