Davidson 79, Western Carolina 74
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Nik Cochran scored a career-high 32 points, including 26 in the second half to lead Davidson to a 79-74 victory over Western Carolina in Southern Conference men's basketball action Thursday evening at the Ramsey Activity Center.
Cochran, the first Wildcat to score 30 points in a contest since Stephen Curry, scored 21 of his club's first 22 points in the second half, including five 3-pointers. For the game, Cochran went 10-of-13 from the field, 6-for-8 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
Jake Cohen was also a big contributor for Davidson (12-7, 7-1 SoCon) as he scored 15 points, pulled in seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Tyler Kalinoski added 10 points.
Brandon Boggs and Trey Sumler each had 22 points for Western Carolina (8-12, 5-3 SoCon), but Boggs fouled out with just over six minutes remaining. Tawaski King added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Davidson led by as much 17 in the first half, but just like the 2012 SoCon Championship contest, the Catamounts wouldn't go away as they slowly chipped away and made it a one-point game, 71-70, on a King dunk with 1:37 remaining. The next trip down the floor, Cochran drilled his sixth 3-pointer of the period to put the game out of reach.
For just the second time this season, Davidson finished shooting over 50 percent, hitting 25-of-47 attempts from the field to finish at 53.2 percent, including a blistering 57.1 percent (12-for-21) from long range.
After the intermission Western shot 53.1 percent to finish at 48.3 percent for the game.
Cohen scored 10 of his 13 first-half points during a 23-5 run to give Davidson a 28-11 advantage with 8:29 remaining in the first frame. The Catamounts cut the deficit to nine, 39-30 on consecutive 3-pointers, but the Wildcats responded with five straight, including a Chris Czerapowicz' trey before taking a 44-31 lead into the half.
Highlighted by 6-of-10 shooting from behind the arc, the Wildcats shot a season-high 55.6 percent in the first 20 minutes of action.
After Western Carolina opened the second half 5-of-7 from the floor to make it a five-point contest, 49-44, the Wildcats went on a 13-4 run of their own capped off by three straight Cochran triples to push the margin back to double figures, 62-48, with 10:53 to play. The Catamounts used a 22-9 spurt to get within one, 71-70, but that's as close as they would get.
The Wildcats also held a 32-26 advantage on the glass.
Wofford 63, Furman 50
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team returned home from a three game road trip and defeated Furman 63-50 on Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers used a 20-5 run in the middle of the second half to break open a two-point game.
Wofford moves to 8-12 on the season and 2-5 in the Southern Conference. Furman is 5-13 overall and 2-5 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by freshman Spencer Collins with 21 points. Karl Cochran added 15 points, while Lee Skinner scored ten points and was the leading rebounder with nine. Furman was led by Stephen Croone with 15 points.
The Paladins scored the first four points of the game, but Wofford answered with lay-ups by Aerris Smith and Spencer Collins to tie the game at four with 14:58 on the clock. Karl Cochran had a dunk off a missed shot to give the Terriers an 8-7 lead. Back-to-back shots by Lee Skinner, including one at the end of the shot clock, gave Wofford a 13-9 advantage with 11:14 remaining in the first half.
Wofford pushed the lead to 15-9 after two free throws by C.J. Neumann, but the Paladins ended the 7-0 run for the Terriers with a pair of free throws. After Furman made it a 17-13 game, Spencer Collins hit a three and had a fast break dunk off a turnover for a 22-13 lead with 7:12 on the clock. Furman answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 22-20 before a lay-up by Spencer Collins for a 24-20 score. The Paladins tied the game at 24 with 3:03 remaining in the half. Jarell Byrd hit a three at the 1:35 mark to give Wofford a 27-24 advantage. Spencer Collins scored with a minute remaining and the Terriers had a 29-24 lead at the break.
The Terriers opened the second half with two free throws by Karl Cochran and with 15:37 on the clock Wofford held a 35-30 lead. After the Paladins cut the score to 35-33 after a three pointer, the Terriers scored the next four points for a 39-33 advantage at the 12:24 mark. A long jump shot by Spencer Collins at the shot clock buzzer, plus a couple free throws gave Wofford a 43-35 lead with 9:52 remaining.
Lee Skinner added two free throws and a huge dunk by Jarell Byrd pushed the Wofford lead to 47-36 with nine minutes on the clock. Lee Skinner added a jumper and two free throws by Karl Cochran made it a 51-38 score with 5:46 remaining in the game. Karl Cochran hit a jumper to push the lead to 57-39, then a bucket and free throw by Indiana Faithfull made it a 60-42 game with 2:32 left on the clock. Furman hit a three pointer with less than a minute remaining, but the Terriers came away with the 63-50 win to split the season series.
Wofford shot 42 percent from the floor while Furman shot 43 percent overall. The Terriers were 2-of-10 from with three, while the Paladins were 4-of-13 from behind the arc. Furman was 12-of-16 from the line while Wofford was 15-of-20 on free throws. Wofford had a 32 to 25 lead on the glass and had only ten turnovers in the contest.
College of Charleston 69, The Citadel 54
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston bounced back from a tough two-game road trip with a win at home over crosstown rival The Citadel, 69-54, in Southern Conference action held Thursday night before a crowd of 4,118 at TD Arena.
The Cougars (13-7, 5-3 SoCon) never trailed in the contest and built a 25-point lead late in the second half over the Bulldogs (4-14, 1-7 SoCon). CofC swept The Citadel in the regular-season series and have now won six-straight games over its crosstown rivals.
Charleston held a 48-29 advantage in rebounds with the Cougars grabbing 16 offensive boards leading to 14 second-chance points. They also shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field and held the Bulldogs to just 36.5 percent (23-of-63).
Redshirt junior forward Willis Hall led the squad with 14 points on a red-hot shooting night, going 7-of-8 from the field. Senior point guard Andrew Lawrence scored 12 points and dished out four assists, while sophomore guard Anthony Stitt bounced back with 10 points on two three-pointers.
Sophomore big man Adjehi Baru was once again strong on the boards as he grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with seven points and just one foul. Junior forward Trent Wiedeman grabbed seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
The Citadel was led by Mike Groselle and his 17 points and nine rebounds. The CofC defense held Matt Van Scyoc, who scored 17 in the first meeting of the series on Jan. 14, to just four points on 2-of-8 shooting.
The Cougars jumped out to a 10-2 lead early in the first half after two three-pointers from Lawrence and an offensive put-back from Baru. The Citadel cut the margin to 20-17 on a steal and three-pointer from Lawrence Miller, but CofC responded with a jumper from junior reserve Nori Johnson.
Stitt broke his scoring drought with a three-pointer late in the half and added two free throws in the final seconds to give Charleston a 31-24 halftime lead.
CofC slowly pulled away in the first eight minutes of the second half, going on a 9-0 run to build a 49-32 lead with 11:53 left after a layup from Hall. Hall hit another layup followed by a Stitt three to put the game out of reach with 7:49 remaining and the Cougars ahead by 19, 57-38.
Layups from reserves Theo Johnson and Trevonte Dixon gave the Cougars their largest lead at 69-44. The Bulldogs scored 10 points in the final minute against the CofC bench to bring the final margin to 69-54.
Elon 85, Chattanooga 61
ELON, N.C. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (8-12, 3-4 SoCon) could not withstand a second-half three-point barrage from Jack Isenbarger who led Elon (12-7, 5-2 SoCon) to an 85-61 home win Thursday night. Isenbarger scored 18 of his game-high 23 hitting six treys after intermission.
Z. Mason posted his second double-double in three games with 14 points and a career-high-tying 13 rebounds. Gee McGhee led the Mocs with 15 points, as Eric Robertson came off the bench for a career-high 11.
Isenbarger led all scorers with 23, making seven-of-13 from three-point range. Lucas Troutman chipped in 18 points and a team-best eight boards. Ryley Beaumont and Tanner Samson added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Mason cut the Elon lead to 45-38 with a three-pointer at 16:48 in the second half. The Mocs missed two free throws 35 seconds later which set up Isenbarger's heroics.
Isenbarger and the Phoenix broke the game open during a 3:36 stretch hitting six consecutive three-pointers. Five came from Isenbarger whose last made it 63-40 Elon with 12:48 to play. UTC was not able to mount a significant run from that point on.
As hot as the Phoenix were, Chattanooga was cold. The Mocs managed just 30.6 percent shooting for the game, 26.5 percent in the second half. That included a 12-for-42 night inside the arc. Elon shot 48.5 percent for the game, 40.6 percent (13-32) from three-point range.
After UTC opened the game scoring the first five points, Elon went on a 9-0 run capped by Beaumont's basket with 16:48 left in the half. The Phoenix led by as many as 12 on Troutman's three-point play with 56 seconds left until the break. Mason's dogged efforts on the offensive boards sent the Mocs into the locker room down 10, 38-28.
UNCG 66, Samford 64
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Junior guard Trevis Simpson scored a season-high 30 points Thursday night, lifting the UNCG men's basketball team past Southern Conference North Division leading Samford 66-64 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Simpson scored the 22 of the Spartans' 27 second half points, including their final 14 points of the game over an eight-minute stretch to improve UNCG to 3-4 in league play while Samford falls to 5-2.
Simpson connected on 9-of-21 from the field and hit 10-of-12 free throws for his second career game of at least 30 points (36 points against Miami, 1/2/12). His 30-point effort is the third highest by a SoCon player this season, while his 22-point second half was the best half of the year by a Spartan. His last points came at the free throw line with 2:13 left to put UNCG in front 66-61.
The Bulldogs, who entered the game with a 5-1 league record, were thwarted by Spartans down the stretch as UNCG played great defense on Samford's final possession and denying the visitors a fifth-straight victory. The Bulldogs had the ball down two at 66-64 with 22 seconds left in the game and were only able to get one shot off down the stretch, a long contested three-pointer. Samford's final gasp came with 2.7 seconds left but sophomore Nicholas Paulos stole the inbounds pass to seal the victory.
Senior guard Derrell Armstrong chipped in nine points while freshman forward Kayel Locke paced UNCG on the glass with nine rebounds (four offensive). As for Samford, the Bulldogs received double-figure scoring efforts from four players, including a team-high 19 from Tim Williams, but only five Samford players were able to net points in the contest. Conversely, the Spartans saw eight players put their names into the scorebook.
The Blue and Gold ended up with the overall advantage in rebounds 39-35 and were able to pull down 12 offensive caroms. The shooting performances were virtually even as both squads took 55 attempts from the field. The Bulldogs racked up 22 baskets while UNCG drained 21 field goals. The Spartans built a distinct advantage at the foul line, nailing 20-of-29 free throw attempts (.690) as compared to a 13-for-18 (.722) showing for Samford.
The Spartans came out in the first half and played with energy on both ends of the floor from the tip-off as they jumped out to a 23-11 lead. Simpson and freshman Jordan Potts paced the attack early with five points apiece while Paulos hit three free throws to cap the early start.
After UNCG opened to a 36-23 lead at the 4:02 mark of the first half, Samford responded with 11 straight points to narrow the gap to just 36-34 with 23 seconds left in the half. Tyler Hood scored seven of the 11 points in the run, including converting a four-point play to ignite the surge.
Armstrong slowed the Bulldogs' momentum on the final possession of the first half as he nailed a three-pointer just before the buzzer to send UNCG into the locker room with a 39-34 lead.
The Spartans connected on 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from the field and 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from long range. UNCG also held a distinct advantage at the charity stripe as its aggressive play led to a 17-7 advantage in free throw attempts. Armstrong led the Spartans with nine first half points while Simpson posted eight points in the opening frame. Samford connected on 40 percent (12-of-30) from the field and hit 4-of-12 (33.3%) from long range. Hood scored 12 points off the bench, including three three-pointers, while Tim Williams added 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the half.
The second half saw a back-and-froth affair with the Spartans and Simpson extending a lead to multiple possessions on numerous occasions only to see Samford battle back to pull even or within a point. UNCG took a 43-46 lead just under two minutes in as Simpson scored four early points but the Bulldogs rallied to narrow the deficit to 48-47 as Williams and Hood scored on back-to-back possessions.
UNCG again put some distance between itself and Samford at 55-50, but the Bulldogs scored five straight to tie the game for the first and only time in the second half at 55-55 with 6:07 remaining as Will Cook hit a three-pointer and Williams scored in the paint. Simpson had the answer though as he scored six straight to extend the lead back to six at 61-55.
After the Bulldogs again answered, UNCG too its final multiple-possession lead at 66-61 when Simpson hit two free throws for the Spartans final points. Clide Geffrard Jr. hit a bit three-pointer at the 1:23 mark to trim the lead down to two points but UNCG was able to hold the Bulldogs off the board the rest of the way to secure the victory.
Appalachian State 64, Georgia Southern 62 (OT)
BOONE, N.C. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball opened a three-game road swing with a 64-62 overtime loss to Appalachian State on Thursday night. The Eagles mustered a 22-5 run over the last 8:15 in regulation to force overtime. C.J. Reed made a clutch three-pointer in the final 10 seconds to tie the game. The Mountaineers, however, took the win with a three-pointer by Chris Burgess with 12 seconds left in overtime.
Reed led the way for Georgia Southern with 16 points and a season-high nine rebounds. He also added five assists and three steals on the night. His first and only three-pointer in the game forced overtime with nine seconds remaining in regulation.
Freshman Cleon Roberts scored 10 points while matching his career-high with five rebounds. Eric Ferguson fouled out, but added 10 points and seven rebounds to the cause with a team-high four steals. GSU forced 17 Mountaineer turnovers with 11 off Eagle steals.
Appalachian State had a pair of double-doubles from Nathan Healey and Michael Obacha. Healey scored 17 points with 13 boards while Obacha had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Burgess and Tab Hamilton had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Eagles struggled shooting the ball in the first half, making 9-of-28 as the Mountaineers took a 33-20 lead at halftime. ASU added to that advantage, leading by as many as 17 points with less than two minutes gone in the second half.
The Mountaineers got the lead back to 17 with 8:44 remaining before the Eagles mounted a charge. GSU began to press the Mountaineers and were able to force turnovers which brought the Eagles back into the game.
The pressure worked as the Eagles out-scored the Mountaineers 22-5 over the final 8:44. A big jumper by Cameron Baskerville who added his eighth point of the night cut the lead to three points with a minute remaining. ASU got on track from the free throw line in the final minute, making four-straight from the line to keep the lead at three.
Down by just three points in the final 20 seconds of the game, Appalachian State missed a pair of free throws from Obacha. Reed came down the floor and made the clutch three-pointer, his first of the night with nine seconds remaining to tie the game at 57-57. The Mountaineers were unable to score in the final possession of regulation as the game went to an extra frame.
GSU got the first points of overtime, but the Mountaineers would answer with four-straight points to take a 61-59 lead into the final two minutes of overtime. Roberts made a free throw with 1:29 remaining to cut the lead to one point. An empty trip by the Mountaineers paved the way for the Eagles to take the lead 62-61 on a pair of free throws by Reed with 28 seconds remaining.
The Mountaineers, however, got the game-winning shot from Burgess with 12 seconds left on the clock. GSU took a pair of jumpers that would have tied the game, but missed both opportunities in the final three seconds.