Davidson 66, Elon 45
DAVIDSON, N.C. - De'Mon Brooks tallied 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Davidson held Elon scoreless for the final 6:21 of the contest to earn a 66-45 Southern Conference men's basketball victory over the Phoenix Thursday night in Belk Arena.
With the win, Davidson clinched the SoCon South Division title.
Clint Mann collected a season-high 12 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (21-7, 15-2 SoCon), and Jake Cohen finished with 11 points and four boards. JP Kuhlman scored eight.
Lucas Troutman led Elon (13-15, 8-9 SoCon) with 15 points to go along with five rebounds. Ryley Beaumont and Jack Isenbarger each scored six.
The Wildcat defense hounded the Phoenix, forcing 15 turnovers and blocking six shots to hold the Phoenix to 32 percent shooting from the floor. The 'Cats had nine steals with Brooks leading the way with four.
Davidson, which shot 37 percent for the game, also controlled the glass, with 50 rebounds and 20 offensive boards.
Davidson pushed a double-digit margin to 16 points on a pair of Brooks free throws with 11:33remaining before Elon made a run. The Phoenix outscored the 'Cats 8-2, and a pair of Troutman free throws trimmed the margin to 10 points with 6:21 left.
But the Davidson defense clamped down from there and did not allow a point the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Brooks scored four points and Chris Czerapowicz hit a 3-pointer to help Davidson pull away.
The first half featured nine lead changes and five ties as both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The Wildcats shot 32 percent from the floor in the period, including 1-for-11 from 3-point range, while Elon shot 36 percent and made 1-of-7 triple tries.
With Davidson leading by one point early in the second half, Mann's layup sparked a 13-2 run, capped by a Kuhlman triple, to open a 44-32 cushion 4:13 into the frame.
Furman 65, Chattanooga 55
GREENVILLE, S.C. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (10-20, 4-13 SoCon) dropped a 65-55 decision at Furman (14-14, 8-9 SoCon) in Southern Conference action Thursday night. The Paladins broke open a close game with a big run on their senior night.
It was a three-point game early in the second half as a Ricky Taylor layup at 16:20 cut Furman's lead to 33-30. The Paladins responded with seven straight points, the last five from Brandon Sebirumbi, to extend the lead to 10, 40-30, at 13:02.
The Mocs fought back, A Jared Bryant three-point play and two free throws from Dontay Hampton over a 43-second span made it 40-35 with 12:06 remaining.
It was an eight-point game, 50-42, with 6:54 to go when Furman put the game out of reach. The Paladins went on a 15-2 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes capped by a Bryson Barnes three-pointer at 3:09. Furman scored on six straight possessions while holding Chattanooga without a field goal for more than four minutes.
Taylor scored a team-high 13 points for the Mocs. Ronrico White came off the bench to tally 10. The UTC reserves had 30 of the team's 55 points and 17 of the 33 rebounds. Z. Mason, seeing his first action in seven games due to a knee injury, led the team with six boards.
Sebirumbi was the catalyst for the Paladins. He had game highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds. Nine of his 14 boards came on the offensive end. Jordan Loyd had 10 points.
Furman held a 43-33 advantage on the glass. Thirteen of the 43 came on the offensive end leading to 11 second-chance points.
The Paladins took a 10-point lead in the first half, 23-13, on two Loyd free throws at 7:45. UTC closed to within three, 27-24, on two Hampton free throws at 4:23. Furman ended up with a 30-26 lead at intermission.
Western Carolina 79, Samford 77
CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- Despite trailing by as many as 14 points in second half Thursday, the Samford University basketball team clawed back to tie the game at 73-73 with 1:28 remaining in a key Southern Conference contest against the Western Carolina Catamounts at the Ramsey Center. In the final minute of play, Western Carolina drained six-consecutive free throws to hold off the resurgent Bulldogs, 79-77.
With the loss, Samford (11-17, 8-9 SoCon) remained winless at Western Carolina (13-17, 7-10 SoCon) and dropped to 0-5 when playing at the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts tied a school record with 17 3-point baskets Thursday and received a career-high nine triples from senior guard Keaton Cole. Cole connected on six of his 3-point field goals in the opening half and led all scorers with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. All of his attempts came from beyond the arc.
Western Carolina extended its winning streak to three-consecutive games and kept its hopes alive for a first-round bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. With a home win against Appalachian State on Saturday and losses from both Samford and Elon, Western Carolina could creep into the second-place position in the North Division.
In the midst of Western Carolina's season-best shooting performance Thursday, Samford trailed the Catamounts 51-37 with 16:17 remaining and then 65-52 at the 8:56 mark in the second half.
At that point, the Bulldogs used back-to-back 3-pointers from Tyler Hood and a layup from Matthew Friday to trim Western Carolina's lead to 65-62 with 5:59 to play. The Catamounts, in front of a fiery home crowd, then bounced back for five-straight points to increase their advantage to 70-62 with 4:46 remaining in the game.
Samford then outscored Western Carolina 11-3 to even the game at 73-73 with 1:27 left on the clock. During the Bulldogs' rally, Drew Windler and Raijon Kelly both knocked down key 3-pointers and Jeffrey Merritt scored the game-tying bucket on a back-door layup from the right side of the lane. Samford also received free throws from Windler and Will Cook.
Windler, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-9 sophomore center from South Milwuakee, Wis., scored a career-high 27 points Thursday. He tallied 15 of his team-high total in the second half of play and finished 8-of-15 from the field, 4-of-6 from the 3-point line and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
After Samford tied the game at 73-73, Western Carolina's Brandon Boggs turned the ball over and the Bulldogs called a 30-second timeout. Samford then ran a play from Merritt and he backed down a Catamount defender before his turnaround jumper came up short and Western Carolina's Trey Sumler grabbed the rebound with 32 seconds left.
Sumler was fouled on the Catamounts' next possession and knocked down both free throws to give Western Carolina a 75-73 lead.
On the ensuing trip down the court, Samford's Merritt couldn't connect on a baseline layup as Harouna Mutombo came up with the rebound, was fouled by the Bulldogs and made both of his free throws to give the Catamounts a 77-73 advantage with 14 seconds remaining.
As Samford's late hopes were fading, Windler smoothly drained an NBA-range 3-pointer from the right flank to trim Western Carolina's lead to 77-76, but Sumler once again connected on both of his free throws to make the score 79-76.
On the Bulldogs' final possession, Kelly was fouled with 1.1 seconds left in the game before reaching midcourt. He made the first attempt from the charity stripe and intentionally missed the second free throw in hopes of a Samford put-back, but the Catamounts' Sumler grabbed the game-ending rebound.
Along with Windler's career-high 27 points, Samford received 13 points apiece from Hood and Kelly. Hood finished 4-of-8 from the floor and drained three key 3-point baskets. Kelly recorded a 4-of-7 performance from the field, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and added four assists in the loss.
Western Carolina concluded the game with four players scoring in double figures. Cole led the way with his personal-best 28 points and set the school's single-season record in 3-pointers made. His total of nine Thursday proved to be just one short of the Catamounts' single-game record.
Mutombo tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists against Samford, while Boggs finished with 14 and Sumler nearly registered a triple-double with 12 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
The Bulldogs outshot the Catamounts from both the field and 3-point range Thursday, but Western Carolina knocked down 77.8 percent (14-of-18) of its free throws, as compared to 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from Samford. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from long distance.
The Catamounts out-rebounded Samford, 38-32, and bested the Bulldogs, 18-10, in second-chance points. Samford scored 56 of its 77 points in the paint, while Western Carolina earned 65 of its 79 points from either 3-point range or the free-throw line.
Western Carolina knocked down 12 3-point field goals in the first 20 minutes of play and held a 41-35 advantage at the half. The Catamounts entered Thursday's game averaging seven 3-pointers per contest. Cole, Western Carolina's 5-foot-10 guard, connected on six 3-point baskets in the first half and led all scorers at the break with 18 points.
The Catamounts finished the opening period with 13 field goals, 12 of which came from beyond the arc. Western Carolina shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from long range in the first half, while Samford turned in a solid 46.2-percent mark (6-of-13) from beyond the arc. Both teams turned in identical shooting percentages of 44.8 in the opening period.
Windler paced the Bulldogs with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field in the first half. He was followed by Hood with seven, Cook with six and Kelly with five.
Samford trailed by as many as 10 points in the opening period, but overcome a four-minute and nine-second scoring drought to battle within 38-35 until the final possession. The Catamounts closed out the first period in dramatic fashion as Cole drained his sixth first-half 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Western Carolina to its 41-35 lead at the intermission.
The Catamounts only had four different players score in the opening period, but Cole tallied 18 and Boggs added 12, all on 3-point baskets. Mutombo and Sumler chipped in with six and five points, respectively.
College of Charleston 58, Georgia Southern 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sophomore big man Trent Wiedeman scored a game-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead College of Charleston to a 58-53 Senior Night victory over Georgia Southern in the team's final regular-season home game on Thursday night at TD Arena.
The Cougars (18-11, 9-8) snapped the Eagles' Southern Conference-best six-game win streak and led by as many as 17 points in the first half of play. They have now won six of their last eight games of the season under CofC Interim Head Coach Mark Byington.
Georgia Southern (14-13, 12-5) clawed back with efficient shooting to take a two-point lead with just three minutes left in the second half. However, freshman Anthony Stitt, playing in his first game after missing over a month with a hand injury, hit his only three-pointer of the game to take back the advantage and put CofC up for good.
Playing in his last home game of his career at TD Arena, senior Antwaine Wiggins scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists.
Junior point guard Andrew Lawrence scored 10 points, including several clutch free throws, to secure the victory in the final seconds. He also made seven assists, while only committing one turnover.
The Eagles were led by Willie Powers' 17-point performance, as he shot 8-of-12 from the field. Ben Drayton scored 10 points and Eric Ferguson scored eight points and collected seven rebounds.
CofC shot 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range (7-of-17). Georgia Southern, however, committed 20 turnovers which led to 14 points to their South Division foes.
The Cougars jumped out to a 13-0 lead and held Georgia Southern scoreless until the 11:57 minute mark of the first half. Threes from Lawrence and sophomore Jordan Scott built a 25-8 CofC lead with eight minutes to go in the first half.
However, the Eagles responded with a 13-4 run, capped by a basket by Marvin Baynham, to pull the margin to 29-21 with 3:21 left in the first half. The Cougars held Georgia Southern to just two points over the next three minutes to maintain a halftime lead of 30-23.
After a jumper from freshman Adjehi Baru on the Cougars' first possession of the second half, CofC's shooting went into a drought, allowing Georgia Southern to cut the lead to 32-31 at the 14:18 minute mark.
Wiedeman helped spark a Cougar run with consecutive dunks, the second coming off a steal from redshirt junior Matt Sundberg at 12:24.
CpfC was able to maintain a moderate lead over the next few minutes, before Georgia Southern went on another 13-5 run to take 51-49 lead with 3:01 left after a three-pointer by Tre Bussey.
Stitt answered with a three-pointer of his own and Wiedeman hit a layup inside to put CofC out front for good. Lawrence hit three free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.