Wofford 62, Winthrop 56
ROCK HILL, S.C. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford men’s basketball team survived a late Winthrop rally for a 62-56 win at Winthrop Coliseum. The Terriers used an 11-0 run in the first half, along with holding the Eagles without a field goal for twelve minutes, to build a 15 point lead at the break. Wofford led by twenty points with four minutes left before Winthrop went on a 19-5 run to close the game.
Wofford is 4-7 on the season and Winthrop is 6-4 overall. The Terriers were led by Lee Skinner with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of the season. Spencer Collins had 19 points and Karl Cochran added 13 points. Keon Johnson led the Eagles with 18 points, all in the second half.
“The last few minutes were a tad long but I always thought we were okay,” said head coach Mike Young. “They had nothing to lose so in the last five minutes Coach Kelsey put in some guys he knew would play hard. We did not handle some things well, but we are getting better. We played a good basketball game against a pretty good Winthrop team and I am excited to get out of here with a win before the break. We will enjoy our families for a couple days and get away and catch our breath. We will come back the 26th excited with one more game against High Point before league play begins on the 2nd.”
The Terriers scored first and after a three pointer by Karl Cochran at the 16:12 mark had a 7-2 advantage. Buckets by Lee Skinner and Karl Cochran pushed it to 12-4 with 14:19 on the clock. The Eagles scored the next four points, but a lay-up and free throw by Justin Gordon and lay-up by Spencer Collins made it 17-8 two minutes later.
A pair of free throws by Lee Skinner and a long jumper by Karl Cochran gave the Terriers a 21-8 lead at the 7:57 mark. Wofford’s 11-0 run ended with a free throw by the Eagles. A lay-up by Karl Cochran with 4:41 on the clock made it a 25-11 game. Back-to-back buckets by Eric Garcia pushed the score to 29-11 a minute later and the Eagles called their second time out of the half. After two free throws by Winthrop, Wofford answered with a jumper from Spencer Collins. Winthrop scored the final points of the half on a dunk for a 32-17 margin at the break.
To start the second half, Winthrop hit a three pointer to make it a 32-20 score. Spencer Collins was fouled on a three and made all three for a 35-20 game after two minutes of play. The Eagles cut the lead to 37-27 with a three pointer at the 15:19 mark. Wofford scored the next eight points for a 45-27 advantage with 12:45 left in the half. Spencer Collins hit a three from the near corner with 9:35 on the clock for a 48-29 lead.
The Eagles answered with back-to-back three pointers by Keon Johnson to make it a 49-35 game with 7:35 remaining. Lee Skinner hit a fade away jumper to end the run and Spencer Collins added two free throws for a 53-35 score at the six minute mark. A lay-up by Justin Gordon gave the Terriers a 20-point lead with 4:13 left in the game. Winthrop went on a 14-0 run to make it a 57-51 game with 34 seconds remaining. Wofford ended the run with a free throw by Spencer Collins, but Keon Johnson hit his fourth three pointer of the second half to make it a 58-54 score with 16 seconds left. Lee Skinner made four free throws in the final seconds to secure the 62-56 victory.
Wofford shot 37.5 percent from the floor while Winthrop shot 36.2 percent overall. The Terriers were 2-of-15 from with three, while the Eagles were 7-of-19 from behind the arc. Winthrop was 15-of-21 from the line while Wofford was 18-of-27 on free throws. Wofford had a 38 to 33 lead on the glass and forced 22 turnovers.
Appalachian State 100, Milligan 68
BOONE, N.C. – Rantavious Gilbert poured in a career-high 22 points and Appalachian State University men's basketball scored its most points in three years in a 100-68 thrashing of Milligan on Saturday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (3-8) jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first six minutes of the ballgame and cruised to an easy win over the Buffaloes (8-4) to snap a three-game losing streak.
Milligan scored on its first possession and held a 6-4 lead with 17:54 to play in the first, but a 13-0 Appalachian run put the home team out in front by 11 points (17-6) and the Mountaineers were never in danger after that as they led by as many as 16 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
After leading 24-8 with 12:57 remaining in the first half, the Apps eased off the gas a bit and allowed the Buffaloes to regain some momentum as Milligan was able to cut the deficit to seven points on two occasions in the final five minutes, but Gilbert's dunk with four seconds to go gave the Mountaineers a 50-39 lead at the break.
Appalachian continued to pour it on in the second half, taking a 21-point lead on Michael Obacha's dunk (60-39) with 18:31 left to play. The Buffaloes would come no closer than 14 points the rest of the way as the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 36 points twice in the last five minutes.
Gilbert scored his 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting and pulled down six rebounds while tallying two blocks. Tab Hamilton poured in 18 points while Aaron Scott scored 14 off the bench. Chris Burgess (12) and Mike Neal (11) also scored in double figures.
The Apps outrebounded Milligan by a 58-34 margin, thanks in large part to huge rebounding efforts by Obacha and Tommy Spagnolo, who finished with 17 and 10, respectively.
The Buffaloes were paced by a Torian Sitton, who led the squad in scoring (12) and rebounds (7). Cartree Pettis scored 10 points and Mickey Woods added nine points and five assist.
On the afternoon, the Mountaineers shot 48.1 percent (37-of-77) from the floor while holding Milligan to just 38.1 percent (24-of-63). Appalachian dished out 23 assists and committed just 12 turnovers.
Georgia 65, Western Carolina 63
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia outscored Western Carolina 14-4 over the final five minutes of play as the Bulldogs survived the Catamounts upset bid Saturday afternoon with a 65-63 win in a nonconference game in the Stegeman Coliseum.
Neither team could pull ahead in the first half, which featured nine ties and five lead changes. The ninth tie came at the buzzer on a layup by Kenny Gaines to even the score at 29.
WCU sprinted out of the break with an 8-0 run to take a 37-29 lead two and a half minutes into play highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Trey Sumler and Brandon Boggs. Sumler and Boggs ended the game as the Catamounts’ leading scorers with 21 points and 12 points respectively.
The Catamounts held the lead and even led by as 10 points, 57-47, following another Boggs triple with 7:13 remaining. The basket would be WCU’s last field goal for the next six minutes as UGA went on an 14-1 run to take a 61-58 lead following a deep three from Nemanja Djurisic with a minute and a half to play.
WCU ended the drought from the field following a Sumler basket. Sumler was fouled on the play and converted the bonus free throw to retie the game at 61 with 72 seconds left. Djurisic answered with a layup and the Catamounts got two pressure packed free throws with the crowd of 6,069 cheering against him from Tom Tankelewicz to give the game its 12th tie at 63 with 20 seconds.
On the ensuing Bulldog possession, Charles Mann drove wildly through the lane, but was bailed out following an off balanced shot when a Catamount was whistled for the foul. The foul, with 2.5 second showing, was WCU’s 26th foul of the game compared to only 13 whistled against UGA. Mann, who was 3-of-9 from the line before the free throws, calmly converted both from to give the Bulldogs a 65-63 lead. UGA attempted 38 free throws, converting 24 of them, for 63 percent, while WCU only attempted 10 free throws knocking down eight of them for 80 percent.
The Catamounts’ last second heave at the buzzer came up short as the Bulldogs escaped with the 65-63 win.
WCU ended the game 44 percent, 23-of-52, from the field and was 41 percent, 9-of-22, from behind the arc. UGA shot 50 percent overall and from three as the Bulldogs went 18-of-36 from the field and 5-fo-10 from long range.
Sumler finished the game for the Catamounts 8-of-12 overall and 4-of-5 from three to earn his 21 points. He also handed out five assists and collected five rebounds.
Kenny Gaines, who hit five of his seven field goal attempts including three 3-pointers, led UGA in scoring. Gaines also made all four of his attempts from the charity stripe. Mann chipped in 13 points, and Brandon Morris added 11 points off the bench, highlighted by a 7-of-10 performance from the line.
North Carolina 97, Davidson 85 (OT)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Despite a career-high 33 points, including seven treys from Brian Sullivan, Davidson fell to No. 14/18 North Carolina, 97-85, in overtime Saturday evening at the Dean Smith Center.
The Tar Heels, who outscored Davidson (4-8) 18-6 in the extra session, went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the frame to finish the contest 34-of-47 (.723).
Trailing 60-53, the Wildcats outscored UNC 16-9 over the next five minutes, 40 seconds to tie the contest, 69-69 with 5:11 to play. The two teams then traded buckets and the lead several more times before Sullivan banked in his final 3-pointer to put his club back in front, 76-74, with 2:09 left in regulation.
Following a pair of Marcus Paige free throws, which tied the game 79-79 with 29 seconds to go, Davidson had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but Sullivan’s 3-point attempt came up short.
In addition to knocking down seven of the Wildcats’ nine 3-pointers, Sullivan went 11-of-21 from floor in a personal-best 44 minutes. Fellow sophomore Jordan Barham contributed his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Davidson, while De’Mon Brooks in his first game back from injury and Tyler Kalinoski scored 13 and 10, respectively.
J.P. Tokoto paced five Tar Heels in double figures with 22 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds, five steals and four blocks. James Michael McAdoo added 19 points, Paige scored 11 of his 17 points in overtime, while Kennedy Meeks finished with 13 off the bench and Nate Britt had 11.
After North Carolina (8-3) used a 15-3 run midway through the opening half to go up, 31-22, Davidson closed the half on a run of its own capped off by consecutive Barham buckets to cut the deficit to 38-35 at the break.
The Wildcats shot 50 percent in both halves, but were just 2-of-10 in overtime to finish the game at 45.6 percent (31-68).
Sparked by back-to-back treys from Sullivan and Kalinoski, Davidson opened the second half on a 14-6 streak and went ahead 49-44 on a Brooks’ 3-point play at the 15:37 mark. The Tar Heels responded with another lengthy spurt to retake the lead and go back up by seven, 60-53.
Along with a 42-35 advantage on the glass, North Carolina recorded 11 blocks and steals on the defensive end and turned 22 Davidson miscues into 27 points at the other end.
The Wildcats struggled at the charity stripe converting just 14 of their 24 attempts for a .583 clip.
Wake Forest 59, UNCG 51
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The UNCG men’s basketball team gave Atlantic Coast Conference member Wake Forest all it wanted Saturday afternoon, but the Spartans could not overcome a cold shooting performance falling 59-51 to the Demon Deacons at the Joel Coliseum on ESPN3. The Spartans pulled within two points late in the second half as they rallied from a double-digit deficit, but could not complete the comeback as Wake Forest improved to 10-2 with the win.
“We have had an up-and-down non-conference season which is expected with eight newcomers on our roster,” head coach Wes Miller said. “We have had some really low moments this year and have had some really high moments. Even though we lost today, I did feel this is a higher moment for our team. We came together and played really well defensively, unfortunately it just did not go our way on the offensive end.”
For the second straight game, the Spartans’ turned in a strong defensive effort limiting the Demon Deacons to a season-low 59 points. The Spartans held Wake Forest to 44.9 percent (22-of-49) shooting from the field and just 14.3 percent (2-of-14) from three-point land. UNCG could not turn that success into points on the offensive end though as the Spartans hit just 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the field and a season-low 6.7 percent (1-of-15) from long range.
The Spartans battled Wake Forest on the glass all game long, despite the Demon Deacons entering the game averaging 10 more rebounds per game than their opponents. UNCG was narrowly out-rebounded by a 41-40 margin, but grabbed 14 offensive rebounds against the taller frontcourt.
Junior forward Kyle Cain posted his fourth double-double of the season to lead the Spartans. Cain scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in 32 minutes of action. He connected on 7-of-18 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Kayel Locke added 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss as UNCG only had two players score in double figures.
Devin Thomas led Wake Forest with 12 points and 13 rebounds as he was 5-of-9 from the field. Tyler Cavanaugh added 12 points while Codi Miller-McIntyre finished with 11 points, all of which came in the second half.
Both teams came out of the game cold shooting as the first field goal of the game came 3:26 into the game when Cavanaugh scored for Wake Forest. The Spartans posted an 8-2 run to take a 9-6 lead just under eight minutes into the game as Cain and Locke scored four points apiece in the spurt.
Wake Forest responded with a 10-0 run to take a 16-9 lead as Thomas started to heat up, scoring seven straight points during the spurt. The Demon Deacons stretched the lead to double figures down the stretch of the first half, holding a 29-19 lead with 10 seconds remaining. Senior guard Drew Parker was fouled on a three-point attempt right before the half ended and hit all three free throws to send UNCG into the locker room trailing 29-22.
The Spartans connected on just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) from the field and missed all eight three-pointers in the first half. UNCG took care of the ball in the opening stanza, only committing five miscues while Wake Forest turned the ball over eight times. Cain nearly posted a first half double-double as he scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 18 minutes. Wake Forest also struggled offensively, shooting just 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from long range and just 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from the free throw line.
Wake Forest came out in the second half and extended the lead to 11 at 41-30 when Andre Washington hit a jump shot. The Spartans showed their mettle as they did not back down, recording a 12-3 run to narrow the gap to 44-42 with 6:49 remaining. The run was started on a resilient possession for UNCG as the Spartans had two shots blocked in a row, but kept battling for the rebound before Cain scored on an offensive rebound and was fouled to complete an old-fashioned three-point play igniting the run.
Junior Nicholas Paulos kept the momentum on the Spartans’ side, hitting their only three-pointer of the game to make a 42-36 contest. The Spartans kept coming as freshman Tevon Saddler Locke and Cain all scored on consecutive possessions while Wake Forest struggled from the charity stripe during the stretch, hitting just 3-of-6.
The Spartans came up with a stop on the defensive end on the ensuing possession and came down the court with the ball in a one-possession game. UNCG was able to get a good look at a three-point shot, which would have given it the lead, but Paulos’ long-range shot rolled around the rim and out keeping Wake Forest in the lead. The Demon Deacons withstood the Spartans’ run and turned in an 11-4 spurt to get breathing room at 55-46 before UNCG ran out of time on the clock for the comeback attempt.
Nebraska 77, The Citadel 62
LINCOLN, Neb. – Terran Petteway netted a game-high 27 points and was responsible for seven points during a crucial 15-5 second half Nebraska run as the Huskers earned a hard fought 77-62 victory over The Citadel at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday evening.
Knotted at 32-32 entering the second half of play, The Citadel (4-9) used four points each by the trio of Tom Koopman, Ashton Moore and Brian White to make for a 51-51 tie at the 10:58 mark of the half.
That quickly turned into a four-point Huskers (8-3) advantage behind a Petteway dunk and a pair of Leslee Smith free throws.
Moore answered with a 3-pointer for the Bulldogs, cutting the margin to 55-54 with 9:53 remaining, but it was buckets by Deverell Biggs, Petteway and a fall away 3-pointer by Shavon Shields that provided Nebraska an eight-point advantage just over two minutes later.
The Huskers forced two turnovers and held the Bulldogs scoreless during a 4:16 stretch as they extended their lead to 66-56 behind a pair of Petteway free throws.
Moore ended The Citadel's drought with a jumper at the 3:48 mark, followed by four free throws off the hand of Marshall Harris III, but it was not enough as Nebraska earned their fourth win in the all-time series by a 15-point margin.
Petteway was joined in double figures by Shields (17 points) and Leslee Smith (10). Smith also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to post the second double-double of his career. Collectively the Huskers hit 25-of-48 (52.1%) from the field and knocked down 22-of-34 (64.7%) at the charity stripe.
Nebraska held a 36-16 edge in points in the paint and capitalized on 17 Citadel miscues to finish with a 22-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
Moore, who capped off the game with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, notched his second 20-point game of the season and fourth of his career. Teammates Brian White and Matt Van Scyoc also reached double figures with 11 points apiece.
White climbed the glass for seven rebounds, edging Moore and Van Scyoc who each finished with six each, for team-high honors.
The Citadel finished 23-of-54 from the floor and 10-of-14 at the free throw line. The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Huskers 34-30 to finish with an 11-10 edge in second chance points.
Moore proved to be the key cog in The Citadel's first half offense, knocking down 4-of-6 from the field and 1-of-3 from the free throw line to close with 10 points. It is the first time since a Dec. 4, 2012 meeting with Charleston Southern that Moore reached double figures by the intermission.
Moore highlighted a Bulldog unit that was 13-of-26 from the floor and 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. He was joined in scoring by the combination of Van Scyoc (eight points) and White (seven).
The two teams were not only knotted in scoring, but they were also evenly split in total rebounds (16-16) and separated by just four in points in the paint (12-8), where Nebraska held a slight advantage.
The Citadel countered an 8-5 Nebraska run with an 8-5 run of its own behind four outside jumpers by Moore, White, Koopman and Van Scyoc to deadlock the game at 13-all with just over 11:23 left in the frame.
Dylen Setzekorn allowed The Citadel to regain the lead exactly one minute later, but Nebraska scored five of the next eight points to assume a 20-18 advantage with 7:16 remaining.
Moore drained his first 3-pointer of the contest at the 5:45 mark to give the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead and following a steal by Harris and a Moore layup in transition the margin stood at three.
Six unanswered points by White and Van Scyoc gave The Citadel its largest lead of the half, 29-21, with 3:28 remaining.
Nebraska closed the half on an 11-3 run, allowing only a Raemond Robinson trey during the stretch, to send the two teams into the intermission tied at 32-32.