Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Thursday's Men's Basketball Results

Elon 73, Furman 59

Elon, N.C. - Forward Lucas Troutman scored a team-high 18 points and Elon never trailed en route to a 73-59 victory over Furman in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Thursday evening at Alumni Gym in snowy Elon, N.C.

The loss dropped the Paladins to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in the SoCon as Furman dipped to 0-8 on the road this season. Elon improved to 10-7 overall and 3-2 in league play.

The Phoenix held a 22-19 lead in the first half when Josh Bonney drained a free throw to start a 7-0 run over a 55-second span that gave Elon a 29-19 lead on Ryley Beaumont's free throws with 6:59 to play in the first half. Furman trailed just 34-25 after Charlie Reddick converted on a pair of tries at the charity stripe with 3:29 left in the period, but Elon finished the half on an 8-2 run and opened the second half with a 12-2 spurt to forge a 54-29 lead when Jack Isenbarger buried a trey with 15:22 to play.

Furman began to chip away at the Elon lead as Bobby Austin scored all of his game-high 19 points in the second half, but the Phoenix maintained their double digit margin to improve to 9-4 all-time against the Paladins.

Troutman was 8-of-11 from the floor to pace the Phoenix with 18 points while Bonney added 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Beaumont tallied 10 points and nine rebounds as Elon shot 47 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Paladins 33-29. The Phoenix outscored Furman 42-16 in the paint and tallied 22 points off 15 Paladin turnovers. Furman managed just five points off nine Elon miscues.

Austin hit 6-of-8 shots in the second half, including 3-for-3 behind the arc, to lead the Paladins while fellow senior Colin Reddick added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The Paladins connected on 43 percent of their shots, hit 6-of-15 treys and made 13-of-17 free throw attempts in the loss.

The defeat marked the Paladins' 11th consecutive regular season road loss. Furman is just 1-12 in its last 13 games away from Timmons Arena dating back to February of last season.


Davidson 70, The Citadel 38

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson held The Citadel to 30.6 percent shooting and had 11 different players score as the Wildcats cruised to a 70-38 victory over the Bulldogs in Southern Conference men's basketball action Thursday evening at Belk Arena.

De'Mon Brooks paced Davidson (10-7, 5-1 SoCon) with 15 points, while frontcourt mate Jake Cohen added 12, all of which came in the first half.

The Bulldogs totaled 26 turnovers with 13 being stolen by the 'Cats. Tyler Kalinoski led Davidson in the category with four, while Clint Mann had three.

Matt Van Scyoc led the The Citadel (3-13, 0-6 SoCon) offensively with eight points.

In addition to forcing 16 first-half turnovers, which they turned into 22 points at the other end, the Wildcats scored the first seven points of the contest before stretching its lead to 38-19 at the half on Cohen's second trey.

Davidson finished the game shooting 42.1 percent after hitting at a 53.6 percent clip (15-for-28) in the first half. The 'Cats held The Citadel to 6-of-14 shooting in the first half (42.9 percent) and clamped down tighter in the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to a 22.7 percent rate (5-for-22).

Afterclosing the first 20 minutes on an 11-2 run, Davidson opened the second half with a 13-1 spurt to stretch its advantage to 51-20. During the Wildcats' game-changing run, they held The Citadel without a field goal for almost 13minutes.

A pair of Jordan Barham free throws with 8:02 remaining gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night, 64-27.


Georgia Southern 51, College of Charleston 47

STATESBORO, Ga. - It may not have been pretty, but Georgia Southern Men's Basketball tallied its second-straight SoCon win with a 51-47 victory over College of Charleston at Hanner Fieldhouse. The teams traded the lead 13 times on the night, but by out-scoring Charleston 11-3 in the final minute, Georgia Southern took the victory to move to 8-10 overall and 2-3 in league play.

C.J. Reed paced Georgia Southern with 14 points while the senior added five assists and three steals. Reed was 4-for-4 from the free throw line on the night.

Freshman Cleon Roberts added 12 points including a perfect 5-for-5 mark at the free throw line. He led Georgia Southern at the stripe as the team went 13-for-15 at the line. College of Charleston struggled at the line with a 7-for-12 showing.

Eric Ferguson scored 11 points with six rebounds and a pair of crucial steals.

Charleston (12-6, 4-2 SoCon) was led by 15 points from Andrew Lawrence, a veteran of the 2012 London Olympics. Anthony Thomas had 10 points and seven rebounds while Willis Hall led the Cougars with 11 boards. The Eagles were out-rebounded 40-35, but punished the Cougars on the glass in the second half 22-17.

Both teams struggled on the offensive side of the ball in the first half with the Cougars taking a 20-13 advantage at the break. GSU shot just 25 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes while Charleston managed a meager 32 percent mark. The 13-point performance was the Eagles lowest first half point total this season, but the Eagles only trailed by seven.

After halftime the Eagles needed less than two minutes to take the lead with a 9-1 run to open the half. The Eagles needed just more than five minutes to score a baker's dozen in the second half.

With 5:48 remaining, Ferguson got on the end of an alley-oop pass from Reed to give the Eagles a 40-39 lead as the game entered its closing stages. The basket was Ferguson's ninth point of the night.

Charleston, however, would score the next five points to take a 44-40 lead into the final two minutes of the contest.

A three-ball from Roberts with 56 seconds remaining cut the lead to just one point. On the inbounds play, Ferguson forced a jump ball and earned the steal as the Eagles got possession of the rock. The junior finished off the possession with an alley-oop flush that gave GSU a 44-43 lead.

Southern would not relinquish the lead down the stretch with a 6-for-6 performance at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds. Ultimately, Georgia Southern out-scored College of Charleston 11-3 in the final minute for the victory.

 
Chattanooga 91, Appalachian State 88 (OT)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Z. Mason, Dontay Hampton and Ronrico White combined for 62 points to spark the Chattanooga Mocs' (8-10, 3-2 SoCon) 91-88 come-from-behind overtime win over Appalachian State (7-9, 3-2 SoCon) in McKenzie Arena Thursday night. UTC trailed by 19 with 6:36 before the ferocious comeback triumph.

Hampton, who tallied a career-high 22 points, capped the furious rally with an NBA-range three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining which sent the game into overtime. The Mocs closed regulation on an 8-1 run after Jay Canty gave the Mountaineers a seven-point cushion, 77-70, with a layup with 1:30 to play.

Chattanooga trailed the entire game. Its first lead was on a Hampton trey with 3:28 to go in the extra stanza putting his squad ahead one, 83-82. Mike Neal had the answer for App with a three of his own for an 85-83 lead.

But the Mocs would not be denied. Drazen Zlovaric tied it up with a jumper in the paint on the ensuing possession. Gee McGhee blocked Canty on the defensive end before Mason put UTC up for good, 87-85, with a layup with two minutes to go.

The lead swelled to four on two White free throws, 89-85, with just over 22 seconds to play. Nathan Healy came up big for the Mountaineers. His trey just seven seconds later cut the margin to one, 89-88.

Hampton stepped to the line with a little more than eight seconds left. He missed both free throws after injuring his hand on the foul play. But the ball went out of bounds off the Mountaineers and White followed calmly sinking two free throws for the 91-88 lead at 6.6 left. Healy's game-tying effort at the buzzer was off the mark for the Mocs win.

Mason had game highs with 23 points and 11 rebounds, eight coming on the offensive end. White chipped in 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Zlovaric added 10 points and six rebounds.

Appalachian State was paced by Healy's 22 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Tab Hamilton posted 21 points, while Canty added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Mountaineers quickly took control of the game after an eight-point halftime lead. Canty made it a 15-point lead, 49-34, with a layup at 15:12. It went to 18, 60-42, on Healy's trey at 8:48. Healy made it 19, 64-45, with two free throws at 6:36.

It was all UTC from there to the end of regulation. Hampton (11) and Mason (9) combined for 20 points the rest of the way as the efficient group scored on its final 13 possessions.

Zlovaric got the margin under 10 for good with a basket at 4:30. A three-point play the next trip down by White made it a five-point game, 67-62, at 3:50.

Healy drained one of his four treys on the night to stretch the lead back to nine, 75-66. It look to be a dagger shot with 2:10 left, but there was no quit in the scrappy Mocs.

Sam Watson and White scored on back-to-back trips to get it back to a manageable five points, 75-70, at 1:36. Canty's basket was followed by a three-pointer from Mason and then his layup on the next time down to cut it to two, 77-75. Canty made the second of two free throws with 26 seconds left to set up Hampton's heroics.

It's the second straight season Hampton has been the hero at home against App State. He hit the game-winner last year on a coast-to-coast driving layup with 0.8 to play.

In the final six-and-a-half minutes the Mocs grabbed five offensive rebounds to zero defensive for the Mountaineers. Chattanooga ended up winning the rebounding battle 45-39 with a 20-10 advantage on second chance points.

The bench was pivotal out-scoring their guests 31-14 led by Hampton's 22. Watson added five points and four boards in a reserve role.

The unsung hero was McGhee. He had five rebounds, five assists and two blocks to go with eight points. His defense down the stretch on Canty played a major role in the win.

App State led by 10 early, 28-18 at 9:35, when the Mocs made a run. UTC held its visitors without a field goal for more than five minutes en route to an 11-1 run. Hampton tied the game at 29 at 4:14 with a three-pointer from the left wing on a great feed from McGhee. But that was the Mocs last basket of the first frame. App finished the half on a 9-1 run to take a 38-30 lead into the break.
 

Samford 64, Western Carolina 60

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team took sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference North Division Thursday as the Bulldogs streaked to a 64-60 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts in the Pete Hanna Center.

With Thursday's triumph, Samford (6-12, 4-1 SoCon) extended its winning streak to three-consecutive games and snapped a three-game losing streak in its series against Western Carolina (7-11, 4-2 SoCon). The Bulldogs also improved to 3-4 at home this season and 2-1 versus conference opponents in the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Appalachian State Mountaineers to the Pete Hanna Center. Appalachian State enters the game with a 3-2 SoCon record.

Samford's Tim Williams led all scorers with 16 points and also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season. Williams, the Bulldogs' talented true freshman from Chicago, Ill., went 7-of-13 from the field and added four assists, two blocked shots and a pair of steals.

Raijon Kelly, Samford's leading scorer this season with 14.6 points per contest, didn't have his best game of the year Thursday, but still finished with 10 points, six assists and a rebound. The Bulldogs' native of St. Paul, Minn., went 3-of-13 from the field and 2-of-5 from 3-point range.

Thursday's game consisted of 12 lead changes and proved to be a back-and-forth contest throughout the night. Western Carolina led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Samford battled back to even the score at 37-37 heading into the locker room.

The Catamounts shot a sizzling 61.5 percent from the field in the first half, while Samford turned in a solid 45.5 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of action.

Late in the second half, the Bulldogs held a slim 57-56 lead with 5:58 remaining when sophomore forward Tyler Hood drained a deep, high-arcing 3-pointer from the left flank to extend Samford's advantage to 60-56. The Bulldogs' defense then maintained the team's momentum and recorded four key stops.

Both teams continued to battle back and forth down the stretch and Samford held a 60-58 lead with less than a minute of play. The Catamounts' Trey Sumler attempted to tie the game with a drive and a right-handed layup, but the Bulldogs' Williams blocked his shot and Clide Geffrard, Jr., came up with the rebound.

Williams then scored a huge bucket on the other end as Kelly found him down low on the left block for the decisive layup with 36 seconds remaining.

Kelly knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give Samford its 64-60 victory.

Samford's Connor Miller knocked down a trio of key 3-pointers Thursday and the Bulldogs also received some key bench play from Russell Wilson and Hood. Hood accumulated eight points and three rebounds in only 14 minutes of playing time, while Wilson lit up the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds and three steals.

Wilson, Samford's aggressive defensive specialist from Lake Wales, Fla., also played stifling defense on Western Carolina's point guard Sumler. Sumler entered the game as the second-highest scorer in the SoCon with 17.8 points per game, but was limited to 13 points on a 6-of-16 performance from the field. He also committed a game-high four rebounds.

Additionally for the Bulldogs, junior guard Will Cook turned in a solid game with six points, six rebounds and two assists.