Samford 62, College of Charleston 57
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Samford overcame a nine-point deficit with under five minutes remaining in regulation to top College of Charleston, 62-57, on Thursday night at TD Arena.
The loss was the first for the Cougars (10-5, 2-1) in Southern Conference play this season, and the first win for Samford (4-12, 2-1) in 13 tries in the all-time series between the two former Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) schools.
A steal and layup from sophomore big man Adjehi Baru gave the Cougars a 53-44 lead with 4:54 left to go. However, the Bulldogs scored the next seven points and then took a one-point lead on a three-pointer from Clide Geffrard, Jr., with 1:26 on the clock.
The Cougars turned it over on their next possession and Samford's Connor Miller hit a three-pointer to make it a two-possession game with just 24 seconds remaining. CofC had a chance to tie the game, but a three-pointer from senior Andrew Lawrence with eight seconds to go, bounced off the front of the rim.
As a team, the Cougars shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field and hit 12-of-15 free throws. Samford was also efficient from the field, hitting 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the floor and nailing an opponent season-high 8-of-16 three-point attempts.
Baru led the Cougars with his third double-double of the season, pouring in a game-high 18 points and 11 boards, while also blocking three shots. Baru set a new career high with eight made free throws as he went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Lawrence scored 14 points with two boards and two assists, while junior small forward Anthony Thomas and redshirt junior forward Willis Hall each added seven.
Samford was led by Raijon Kelly's 15 points to go with four assists. Will Cook shot 5-of-7 from the field to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Geffrard also reached double digits with 10 points.
The Bulldogs held a slight edge for most of the first half thanks to good ball movement and easy buckets in the paint. Samford scored six in a row capped by a steal and layup by Russell Wilson to build a 20-14 lead with 7:40 left. Free throws from Baru cut the lead to 26-24 at the 3:07 minute mark, but Tyler Hood responded with a three-pointer to give the visitors a 29-24 lead at halftime.
The Cougars finally retook the lead at the 13:14 minute mark of the second half with an offensive tip-in by Hall that followed an Anthony Stitt trey. Hood tied the game with his second three-pointer just three minutes later, but junior forward/guard Nori Johnson answered with a jumper and the Cougars kept the run going.
Baru converted a layup and a free throw, grabbed a defensive rebound and then hit two more free throws to put CofC up 49-43 with 7:20 remaining. Baru's offensive rebound and layup just two minutes later proved to be the high-water mark with the Cougars up nine at 53-44.
Samford opened its comeback run with a trey from Cook and then two layups from Tim Williams. Geffrard's three-pointer with 1:26 remaining capped the comeback and put Samford up for good. College of Charleston committed a turnover and missed a three-pointer in the final minute as Samford held on for the road victory.
Chattanooga 70, The Citadel 65
CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (7-9, 2-1 SoCon) overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to capture a 70-65 win at The Citadel (3-10, 0-3 SoCon) Thursday evening. UTC paired timely shooting with a phenomenal night at the free throw line for the win. That marks five wins in the last six games for the scrappy Mocs squad.
Senior guard Dontay Hampton came off the bench in his first action of 2012-13 for 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 16 minutes of play. Z. Mason posted team highs with 15 points and eight boards.
Matt Van Scyoc had a game-high 20 points for The Citadel adding six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Raemon Robinson chipped in 15 points in support of Van Scyoc.
The Bulldogs took a 54-44 lead on Van Scyoc's three-pointer with 11:36 left in the game. It capped a 9-2 run as the Cadets looked in control. Chattanooga had an immediate response.
Mason was strong on the offensive boards scoring a put-back to open a 9-0 run for the Mocs. He added a jumper before Ronrico White tallied a layup and three-pointer with 9:26 to go to cut the lead to one, 54-53.
The Citadel would get the lead back to five, 58-53, on two Robinson free throws with 6:54 to play. After a three-pointer by Mason, Robinson made it a four-point game, 60-56, at 5:31. Hampton took over with three-pointers sandwiching a Stephen Elmore layup to knot the game at 62-all with 4:31 remaining.
From there the Mocs stellar free throw shooting took over. Following Mason's go-ahead jumper with 1:09 to go, 64-62, Chattanooga made all eight free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win. Six of those free throws came from one-and-bonus attempts.
UTC made 92.9 percent from the line, hitting 13 of 14. Mason was six-for-six to lead the way, all in the final 23 seconds. Drazen Zlovaric had a perfect night from the field making all six shot attempts. He finished 14 points with White adding 11. Mike Groselle had 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Cadets, while Elmore added 11 points and six boards.
Chattanooga got off to a good start. An 11-0 run was capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Farad Cobb and White to put their squad up 22-13 with 6:54 left in the opening frame. The Bulldogs answered with a 12-1 charge to take the 25-24 lead on Robinson's three-ball at 2:37. Gee McGhee hit a mid-range jumper with three seconds left to send UTC into the locker room up 29-28.