Wofford 53, Georgia Southern 47
STATESBORO, Ga. - On Thursday night the Wofford men's basketball team picked up a 53-47 win over Georgia Southern at Hanner Fieldhouse. The game was tied with four minutes remaining, but the Terriers outscored the Eagles 11-5 in the last three minutes to earn the victory
Wofford moves to 12-17 on the season and 6-10 in the Southern Conference to sit in third place in the South Division. Georgia Southern is 11-17 overall and 5-10 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with 16 points, while Spencer Collins had his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lee Skinner added 11 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles were led by Eric Ferguson with eleven points.
The Eagles scored first, but Wofford answered with a three by Karl Cochran and four points by Spencer Collins for a 7-2 lead at the 16:28 mark. The Terriers pushed the run to 9-0 and had a 9-2 lead, but the Eagles answered with a 9-1 run to take an 11-10 advantage at the 11:35 mark. John Swinton hit a three to regain the lead for the Terriers, but the Eagles answered with a three. Wofford scored the next four points for a 17-14 edge, however the game was tied at 17 with 5:58 left in the half.
Karl Cochran drained a three and Spencer Collins hit a pair of free throws as Wofford took a 22-17 advantage at the 5:03 mark of the first half. A lay-up by Aerris Smith and a jumper by John Swinton made it a 26.19 lead for the Terriers with 25 seconds left in the half. The Eagles added two free throws with 5.6 seconds on the clock for a 26-21 score at the break.
Wofford opened the second half with four straight points from Karl Cochran for a 30-21 lead less than a minute into play. The Eagles went on an 8-0 run to cut the score to 30-29 with 15:41 on the clock. Spencer Collins ended the run with a jumper and another Collins bucket gave Wofford a 34-31 lead after six minutes of play. C.J. Neumann added a dunk as the Terriers had a 36-31 advantage at the 12:25 mark.
Georgia Southern then used a quick 9-0 run to take a 40-36 lead with 7:30 left in the second half. Wofford ended the run with a jumper by Lee Skinner and tied it at 40 on a shot by Spencer Collins. Karl Cochran gave Wofford a 44-42 advantage with 3:25 on the clock and a reverse lay-up by Cochran made it a four point game with two minutes remaining in the half. Georgia Southern cut the lead to one point at 48-47, but Wofford answered with a bucket and free throw from Lee Skinner for a 51-47 advantage with sixty seconds on the clock. Lee Skinner added two free throws with 8.5 remaining to make it a 53-47 final score.
Wofford shot 39.3 percent from the floor while Georgia Southern shot 34.7 percent overall. The Terriers were 3-of-14 from with three, while the Eagles were 4-of-12 from behind the arc. Georgia Southern was 9-of-15 from the line while Wofford was 6-of-9 on free throws. The Terriers had a 40 to 31 lead on the glass.
UNCG 94, Chattanooga 68
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (11-17, 6-9 SoCon) opened cold and never recovered in a 94-68 loss to UNCG in McKenzie Arena Thursday night. UTC honored "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds throughout the game for his 1,000 Mocs basketball games called.
Nicholas Paulos was the story for UNCG. The sophomore from Salt Lake City, Utah paced a record-setting shooting night for the Spartans with 10 threes in 12 attempts for his career-high 30-point effort. The team also set record for three-pointers made (20) and assists (27).
Z. Mason led UTC with 21 points and eight rebounds. He combined with Gee McGhee and Ronrico White for 46 of the Mocs' 68 points. McGhee had 13, while White chipped in 12.
It was a six-point game, 25-19, with 7:10 to go in the first half after two White free throws. The Spartans went on a 22-8 run the rest of the half to take a 47-29 lead into intermission. The visitors were six-of-eight from three-point range during the spurt, while the good guys managed just 25 percent shooting (6-24) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Paulos powered his partners to open the second half. He hit six straight treys to build the lead to 28, 73-45, with 12:06 to play. The Mocs would get no closer than 24 the rest of the way before the horn sounded on the 94-68 loss.
Korey Van Dussen and Kelvin McNeil came off the bench for 11 and 10 points, respectively. McNeil tied Mason for game-high rebound honors with eight. David Williams and Trevis Simpson each scored 10 to lead the Spartans starters.
The loss dampens a phenomenal effort at the free throw line for UTC. It shot 75.8 percent as a team making 25 of 33 attempts. White, McGhee and Mason combined to shoot 23 of 27 (.852) with White sinking all eight.
The 20 three-pointers by UNCG are the most against the Mocs since Creighton hit 20 on February 19, 2005. It is the most ever hit in McKenzie Arena. The Spartans made 55.6 percent (20-36) on the night behind Paulos' 10 of 12. He entered tonight making seven of 23 (.304) over his last five games.
Elon 63, Samford 62
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - It came down to the wire, but the Elon University men's basketball team clinched the Southern Conference North Division title after escaping with a 63-62 win at Samford on Thursday night, Feb. 21, at the Pete Hanna Center.
Trailing by one with 26 seconds remaining and the clock winding down, Sebastian Koch hit a driving Ryley Beaumont on a backdoor cut toward the basket for a layup, giving Elon a 63-62 lead.
Following a timeout with 8.2 seconds left, Samford's Raijon Kelly's potential game-winning jumper from near the free throw line ricocheted off the rim as time expired, allowing the Phoenix to hold on to the victory.
Elon (19-8, 12-3 SoCon) clinches the North Division title with the win, its first since the 2005-06 season. The team's 19 wins are the most since the 1989-90 season, while Elon's 12 league wins are the most since the 1987-88 season.
Beaumont, who was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Tuesday, ended the night with 14 points and a career-high 14 boards for his fourth double-double this season.
Jack Isenbarger scored a team-high 15 points in the win, while Tanner Samson finished the evening with 11 points.
Elon shot 52 percent from the field as a team, while hitting 9-of-21 (43 percent) from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent from the field and hit 9-of-15 (60 percent) from three.
Beaumont put the Phoenix ahead by 10 points early in the first half after connecting on a jumper in the paint to give his squad a 13-3 advantage, forcing Samford to call a timeout with 13:29 to play.
Elon led by as many as 14 points in the first session, carrying a 38-30 edge into the locker room at intermission. The Phoenix shot 67 percent from the field in the opening frame, knocking down 5-of-10 from three-point land.
Samford pulled within three early in the second period and forced a Phoenix timeout with 16:07 to play after a Kelly triple made it a 41-38 game. The Bulldogs took the lead for the first time with 15:03 remaining after a Tim Williams layup put Elon behind, 43-41, and completed a 16-5 run.
But Elon regained the lead with 12:34 to play after a Samson trey from the wing put the maroon and gold ahead, 47-46.
The Phoenix led by as many as six with less than six minutes to play, until Kelly gave the Bulldogs a late lead, 60-59, with 3:21 to play on a jumper near the free throw line.
Beaumont and Kelly traded baskets down the stretch, but it was the junior from Millersville, Md., who scored the eventual game-winner in the waning moments, giving Elon its first-ever win at Samford in five tries.