Wofford 65, Gardner-Webb 62
GARDNER-WEBB, N.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team picked up a 65-62 win over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday night at Paul Porter Arena. The game featured eleven lead changes and 14 ties, but the Terriers did not trail in the final six minutes to secure the win.
Wofford is 3-4 to open the season and Gardner-Webb is 4-5. The Terriers were led by Spencer Collins with 14 points, while Lee Skinner had eleven points and nine rebounds. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had 16 points from Tyrell Nelson and Donta Harper had a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs scored first but the Terriers had a 5-4 lead after a three pointer by Jaylen Allen with 16:45 on the clock. The game was tied at seven when Aerris Smith had a lay-up and free throw for a 10-7 lead with 14:04 remaining in the opening half. Gardner-Webb tied it at ten, twelve, and thirteen before two lay-ups by Lee Skinner gave Wofford a 17-13 lead at the 9:35 mark.
Gardner-Webb scored the next four points for a 17-17 tie with 7:37 left in the first half. Wofford had a two-point lead at 21-19, but the game was tied at 23 with four minutes remaining. Spencer Collins hit a three from the top of the arc to give the Terriers a 26-23 advantage at the 3:05 mark. The Runnin’ Bulldogs tied it at 26 with 1:40 left, which would prove to be the score at the halftime break.
To open the second half, Gardner-Webb hit a jumper and a three pointer for a 31-26 lead. A jumper by Spencer Collins and a three by Eric Garcia tied the game at 31 with 16:32 on the clock. After the Runnin’ Bulldogs took a 33-32 advantage, the Terriers had two free throws by Karl Cochran and a lay-up by Aerris Smith for a 36-33 lead after five minutes of play. Gardner-Webb scored the next four points for a 37-36 lead, but Wofford had a 42-41 advantage after a lay-up by Karl Cochran with 11:50 on the clock.
Six straight points by Gardner-Webb gave them a 47-42 lead at the 9:06 mark. Jaylen Allen hit two free throws to end the run and a three by Jaylen Allen tied it at 47 with seven minutes to go. Eric Garcia hit a three from the top of the arc for a 50-47 lead with 6:39 left on the clock. The 8-0 run for Wofford ended with a dunk by Gardner-Webb’s Donta Harper, but Spencer Collins had a bucket to keep the three point lead. A thunderous dunk by Justin Gordon pushed the Wofford lead to 55-49 with 4:10 left.
Spencer Collins gave the Terriers a 59-52 advantage, but the Runnin’ Bulldogs score the next four to make it 59-56 with two minutes remaining in the second half. Lee Skinner had a lay-up as the shot clock expired for a 61-56 lead, then Aerris Smith was all alone under the basket for a lay-up with less than a minute on the clock for a 63-56 advantage. After one made free throw by Karl Cochran, back-to-back threes for Tyler Strange made it a 64-62 score with 15 seconds left. Spencer Collins made one free throw and Wofford got the rebound on a missed three by the Runnin’ Bulldogs with four seconds left. Despite two missed free throws, Lee Skinner had the ball after a steal to secure the win.
Wofford shot 52.2 percent from the floor while Gardner-Webb shot 51.1 percent overall. The Terriers were 5-of-10 from with three, while the Runnin’ Bulldogs were 4-of-11 from behind the arc. Gardner-Webb was 12-of-20 from the line while Wofford was 12-of-25 on free throws. Wofford had a 31 to 28 lead on the glass. Wofford had 16 assists on the night.
Davidson 87, Charlotte 78 (OT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tom Droney scored a game-high 21 points and Chris Czerapowicz added 19 to lead Davidson to an 87-78 overtime victory at Charlotte in the annual Battle for the Hornets’ Nest Trophy Wednesday evening.
In the extra session, Droney (6) and Jordan Barham (5) combined for 11 points as the Wildcats’ outscored the 49ers 13-4, to record just their second road win in the series and first at Halton Arena.
Davidson (3-5), which shot above 50 percent for the second consecutive contest, also got double figures from freshman Jack Gibbs, who finished with 15 points in 35 minutes.
After Davidson used a 10-4 run to grab its largest lead of the night, 63-54, the 49ers answered with a 15-3 spurt capped off by a Ben Cherry trey to go back in front, 69-66, with 6:27 remaining.
The Wildcats, who were 0-for-9 from 3-point range for the first 17:18 of the second half, got consecutive threes from Gibbs and Czerapowicz to take a 74-71 advantage with 1:50 left in regulation. The 49ers closed the frame with three free throws, including two from Clayton with 44 seconds left to force overtime.
Charlotte (6-2) finished the contest 25-of-36 from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats converted 12 of their 15 tries.
Terrence Williams led five 49ers in double digits with 17 points, including an 11-for-15 effort at the line. Willie Clayton contributed a double-double before fouling out with 16 points and 12 boards, Cherry added 14 points, while Shawn Lester and Denzel Ingram finished with 13 and 10, respectively.
For the second time in as many outings, Davidson was tangled in a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes. After seven ties and four lead changes, Gibbs swished a shot from midcourt at the buzzer the give the Wildcats a 40-37 lead at the half.
Both teams shot 51 percent in the opening period, while Czerapowicz led all scorers at intermission with 12 points, including three of Davidson’s five 3-pointers.
Charlotte held a 42-30 margin on the glass.
The 40th all-time meeting between the cross-county rivals featured 12 ties and nine lead changes.
Davidson held the 49ers to just 33 percent from the field after halftime.
Appalachian State 78, North Greenville 70
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball erased a 10-point second-half deficit with a 26-6 run and held on to defeat pesky North Greenville, 78-70, on Wednesday night at the Holmes Center.
Appalachian State (2-5) made just 11-of-35 shots in the first half and was in jeopardy of being upset when North Greenville (6-2) extended a six-point halftime lead to 47-37 with 16:34 to go in the ballgame. However, spurred by 15 points from Mike Neal, Appalachian scored 26 of the game's next 32 points to take a 63-53 advantage with 8:19 left to play.
North Greenville pulled within a point on Micah Parker's layup with five minutes to go but Parker picked a costly technical foul immediately after the bucket. NGU's second technical of the game sparked a 5-0 run by the Mountaineers and the Crusaders never drew closer than four points the rest of the way.
The Crusaders showed early on that they would challenge the Mountaineers for the majority of the night as they erased a 10-point Appalachian lead (19-9) with an 11-2 run that cut the deficit to one point (21-20) with 10:06 left in the first half.
North Greenville would ride the wave of momentum to a 43-37 halftime lead thanks in large part to its accuracy from the floor. The Crusaders shot 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from the floor in the first half, including an 8-of-14 mark from beyond the arc.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers, they would hold North Greenville to just 32.3 percent (10-of-31) in the second half. The Crusaders shot just 10.0 percent (1-of-10) from long range over the final 20 minutes of the game as Appalachian rallied for the win.
Coming off the bench, Neal led the second-half surge by scoring 21 of his career-best 27 points after the break. The junior shot 9-of-17 from the field (7-of-11 in the second half) to pace the Mountaineers, who only made 36.4 percent of their shots as a team (24-of-66).
Michael Obacha also had a career night for Appalachian State with 11 points and 16 rebounds. The 16 rebounds were a career high for the sophomore while the double-double was his first of the season and second of his career.
Tevin Baskin rounded out three Mountaineers in double-figures with 19 points, thanks in large part to a perfect 9-for-9 night at the free-throw line.
Chris Dean (19), Parker (16) and Thomas Horn (13) led three Crusaders with double-digit points while Keith Johnson ripped down a team-best eight rebounds.
Appalachian State out-rebounded North Greenville, 47-37, and turned the ball over only seven times, compared to 15 turnovers for NGU.
Georgia Southern 75, Brewton Parker 66
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern men's basketball team forced 22 turnovers and went to the free throw line 32 times to earn a 75-66 win over Brewton-Parker at Hanner Fieldhouse Wednesday evening.
The win was the first for Georgia Southern (4-5) on the mainland of the United States since Nov. 16 and just the second in the last six games.
The Eagles, who played without their fourth leading scorer Brian Holmes for the fourth consecutive game, shot 40 percent from the floor and made 75 percent of their free throws.
Jelani Hewitt led all scorers with 26 points, his seventh game with 20 or more points, and hit four of eight three pointers. Tre Bussey joined him in double figures for the ninth time this season with 21 points, and Marvin Baynham added 11 points. Hewitt has now scored 20 or more points in three-straight games. Angel Matias led GSU in the rebounding column with 10 boards and finished just a point shy of his second career double-double.
Brewton-Parker (5-5) made 46.4 percent of their field goals but shot just 31.3 percent from beyond the three-point line and 56.3 percent from the charity stripe. The Barons out rebounded the Eagles 36-33 but scored only 13 second chance points.
Led by Darrie Stephens' 20 points, Brewton-Parker had four scorers in double figures. Nick Plummer scored 15 points on six for 15 shooting, while Kenny Cunningham and Deion Bernard added 10 points each.
Georgia Southern led by 10 points for most of the game but did not open a double-digit lead until the Eagles embarked on a 12-0 run with 14:31 remaining in the first half. GSU reached the bonus with 14:31 remaining in the first half and attempted 18 first half free throws, the most since the season opener against Columbia International.
Brewton-Parker outscored the Eagles 40-38 in the second half after shooting 50 percent from the floor. The Barons cut into the double-digit lead and trailed by just seven points with 8:33 to play in the second half. The Eagles used a 7-3 run to jump ahead by 11 points with 5:25 remaining. Brewton-Parker cut the lead back down to 10 points with 3:38 to play, but the Eagles were able to hold on for the nine point win.
Fordham 79, Furman 48
BRONX, N.Y. – Freshman Jon Severe poured in a game-high 23 points and Fordham outscored Furman 24-0 from three-point range to down the Paladins 79-48 in non-conference men’s basketball on Wednesday evening at Rose Hill Gym.
Severe connected on 5-of-8 three-point attempts as the Rams hit 8-of-21 from beyond the arc, including six in the first half, and held Furman to 0-for-11 shooting from long range. It marked the first time the Paladins failed to hit a three-pointer since going 0-for-6 in a 69-53 loss at Georgia Southern on January 24, 2009.
The Rams (4-2) used an early 12-0 run to open up an 18-5 lead and shot 50 percent in the first half to build their advantage to 27 points before taking a 49-24 lead into halftime. Fordham held Furman without a field goal for the first 7:11 of the second half to extend the lead to 64-26 with under 13 minutes to play, and the Rams led by as many as 41 points before the Paladins trimmed the final margin to 31.
Fordham’s Mandell Thomas scored 19 points and Ryan Rhoomes added 15 on 7-of-8 shooting to join Severe in double figures. Fordham shot 47 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Paladins 45-25 behind a game-high 12 boards from Bryan Smith. The Rams netted 19 second chance points on 20 offensive boards and tallied 20 points off of 17 Furman turnovers.
Sophomore Dominic Early led Furman with a career-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds. The 6-foot-5 wing connected on 7-of-13 shots and converted on all seven of his trips to the foul line. Stephen Croone, who reached double figures for the sixth straight game, contributed 11 points and four steals.
The Paladins (3-4), who hit 16-of-19 free throws and recorded 11 steals on the night, shot just 34 percent from the field, including making only 6-of-22 second half shots.
Navy 79, The Citadel 74
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy guard Tilman Dunbar scored a career-high 28 points including 10 inside the final three minutes of play to lead the Midshipmen to a 79-74 victory over The Citadel on Wednesday evening in Alumni Hall.
Dunbar proved to be clutch down the stretch for the Midshipmen, hitting 8-of-10 from the free throw line to go along with a jump shot from the top of the key to help Navy (5-3) withstand a late Citadel rally.
The Citadel (3-7) fell behind by 17 on three occasions, the latter coming at the 11:40 mark when Kendall Knorr hit a pair of free throws to put Navy ahead 52-35, before mounting its comeback.
Freshman Brian White knifed past the Midshipmen defense to score a layup and following a 3-pointer by Raemond Robinson less than a minute later The Citadel had moved within 12.
Dunbar answered with a series of scores for the Midshipmen to push the lead to 56-40, but three straight inside buckets by the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 10. Among those three buckets included a thundering dunk by Quinton Marshall, who brought The Citadel bench to its feet with the slam.
A Koopman foul allowed Navy to momentarily push the margin to 58-46, but Marshall Harris III converted the second of three second half 3-pointers to draw the Dogs within single digits at the 7:06 mark.
Highlighted by a pair of Zach Fong treys, Navy outscored The Citadel 8-2 over the next 1:38 of the contest to move back in front by double figures, 66-51.
However, the Bulldogs rally continued as Harris knocked down three straight free throws and Matt Van Scyoc hit a jumper in the paint to make for a 68-56 score.
The Citadel scored the next four points including a 3-pointer by Harris to slice the margin to 68-60 with 3:26 left on the clock.
The Midshipmen used Dunbar's 10 points over the final 2:45 of play to complete their sixth victory in the all-time series between the two schools.
Harris scored 19 points, all in the second half, to finish with top offensive honors for the Bulldogs. He knocked down 5-of-8 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond arc and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to tie his career-high.
Joining the junior point guard in double figures for The Citadel was White (15 points) and Van Scyoc (14). C.J. Bray made his presence felt on the boards with 10 rebounds, the most since his return two weeks ago.
The Citadel found its shooting touch in the second half, hitting 16-of-28 from the floor and 5-of-13 from 3-point range. The Dogs also managed to hit 11-of-16 at the free throw line.
Navy's offense was led by the trio of Dunbar (28 points), Worth Smith (17) and Knorr (13). The Midshipmen closed out the game hitting 25-of-56 from the field and 7-of-19 from beyond the arc. The biggest difference came from the charity stripe, where Navy knocked down 22-of-30 attempts.
Navy took a 41-26 lead into the locker room behind a 15-point scoring effort from Smith. Smith knocked down 7-of-10 from the field, including one trey and closed with three rebounds. He was joined in scoring by the backcourt tandem of Knorr and Dunbar who finished with eight points apiece.
The Midshipmen knocked down 16-of-35 from the field and converted 5-of-13 from beyond the arc. Navy also had a decisive advantage (23-17) on the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs by three (8-5) on the offensive end.
Van Scyoc took high marks in the first half for The Citadel with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The sharpshooting sophomore managed to hit 2-of-3 from 3-point range and was the lone Bulldog shooter with multiple treys.
White anchored the Dogs' post with eight points and a team-high four rebounds. He was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
After surrendering the first four points of the game on layups by White and Koopman, Navy put together a 14-2 run over the next 3:47 to assume a 16-6 lead.
Bray and Van Scyoc combined for the next four Citadel points as the Dogs reached double figures, 16-10. However, the two teams split the next 18 points of the contest as Navy maintains its six-point lead with 7:32 remaining.
Just under a minute later Van Scyoc buried a trey from the left wing cut the lead in half, 25-22.
However, the Bulldogs would pull no closer as Navy put together a 15-4 run over the remaining 6:18. The Navy scoring spurt was highlighted by five straight 3-pointers including two each by Knorr and Vermeer.
Coastal Carolina 76, Western Carolina 68
CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina strung together a 9-0 run in a three-minute span in the second half to close out the Western Carolina men’s basketball team as the Chanticleers scratched out a 76-68 win over the Catamounts Wednesday night in the HTC Center in a nonconference game.
After trailing by as many as 12 points, 51-39, in the second half and down by nine points, 53-44, with 10 minutes to play, Rhett Harrelson knocked down back-to-back threes as the Catamounts mounted an 18-7 run to take a 61-60 lead at the five-minute mark. It was WCU’s first lead since the first basket of the game before allowing CCU to make a 20-9 to open the first half.
However, Coastal Carolina’s Elijah Wilson, who scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half for the Chanticleers, answered on CCU’s next possession with a layup. Wilson and Josh Cameron, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, would combine to tally the next nine points as the Chanticleers regained control of the game with a nine point lead, 69-61, with two minute left to play. The spurt was all Coastal Carolina needed as CCU hit five of its six free throws in the final two minutes, and 11 of its 12 free throws in the second half, to secure the 76-68 win.
After struggling to control the Chanticleers on the offensive glass in the first half -- CCU held an 8-5 advantage leading to 10 second chance points -- the Catamounts yielded only five offensive rebounds in the second half allowing just two points. Coastal Carolina outscored Western Carolina 40-24 in the paint, but WCU held a significant margin in the turnover battle, 21-15. WCU notched 24 points off of CCU turnovers.
The Purple & Gold went 23-of-59 from the floor for 39 percent, while Coastal Carolina ended 27-of-57 from the field for 47 percent. WCU made eight of its 29 three point attempts for 28 percent, while CCU went 3-of-19 for 16 percent.
The Catamounts 56 percent free throw percentage came on 14 made free throws following 25 attempts, compared to the Chanticleers 19of-23 from the line.
Wilson’s game-high 23 points came on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor, while 10 of Cameron’s 17 points came from the free throw line for CCU. Warren Gillis and Michel Enanga added 12 and 10 points respectively for Coastal Carolina. Enanga collected a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Brandon Boggs led Western Carolina’s offense with 12 points highlighted by a 4-of-8 shooting performance. Trey Sumler, who has scored in double digits in the last five games, tallied 11 points. Tawaski King and Harrelson added nine points each. King grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
UT Martin 89, Samford 73
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team dropped its first home game of the 2013-14 season Wednesday as the Bulldogs suffered an 89-73 decision against the UT Martin Skyhawks in a non-conference contest held at the Pete Hanna Center.
With the loss, Samford (3-7) moved to 3-1 at home this season and had its two-game winning streak snapped. Heading into Wednesday’s matchup, the Bulldogs boasted a three-game winning streak in the Pete Hanna Center on the season with triumphs against Martin Methodist, Campbellsville University and Kentucky State.
UT Martin (3-8) earned its first road victory of the season. Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, the Skyhawks were winless outside of Martin, Tenn., this year with an 0-5 mark.
All-time, UT Martin improved a game against Samford, but the Bulldogs still hold an 8-5 advantage in the series.
The Skyhawks shot a phenomenal 63.6 percent from 3-point range Wednesday and finished the game shooting a season-high 60.4 percent from the field. UT Martin finished with six players scoring in double figures and was paced by Mike Liabo’s 16 points off the bench. Liabo only played 18 minutes, but shot 6-of-9 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Terence Smith and Myles Taylor both scored 13 points apiece for the Skyhawks, while Bobby Jones dropped in 11 and Marshun Newell and Dee Oldham finished with 10 each.
Samford’s Tim Williams scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, Ill., turned in a 5-of-10 outing from the floor, but a solid 10-of-13 performance from the free-throw line.
Raijon Kelly provided a spark off the bench for Samford with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Week Isaiah Williams, as well as Russell Wilson both scored 10 apiece.
The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field Wednesday, but only 20 percent (3-of-15) from beyond the arc. Samford committed four more turnovers than UT Martin, 14-10, while leading in second-chance points, 10-6.
The Skyhawks out-tallied the Bulldogs in bench points, 58-32, fast-break points, 22-6, points off turnovers, 20-11, and points in the paint, 46-30.
The teams played a tight game in the first half as UT Martin was leading Samford, 25-22, at the 6:33 mark in the opening period.
The Skyhawks then closed out the half with an 18-10 run and took a 43-32 lead into the locker room.
Samford battled back nicely in the second period and trimmed UT Martin’s advantage to 54-50 with 14:47 remaining in the game. During the Bulldogs’ comeback, Wilson scored eight quick points and Tim Williams notched six.
Throughout the middle of the second half, the Skyhawks slowly built back its lead and eventually held an 11-point advantage, 74-63, at the 6:07 mark in regulation.
Samford would receive buckets from Tim Williams, Kelly and Tyler Hood down the stretch, but would never come closer than 13 points.
The Bulldogs’ Connor Miller finished Wednesday’s game with eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocked shots, while Hood added six points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. True freshmen guards Nnamdi Enechionyia and Brandon Roberts scored three and two points, respectively.