Western Carolina 80, Coastal Carolina 70
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Brandon Boggs came off the bench to lead a trio of Catamounts in double figures with a game-high 26 points on Saturday afternoon as Western Carolina clipped the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 80-70, in the Ramada Worldwide BracketBuster in front of 1,127 fans on-campus in the Ramsey Center.
Boggs, who had started 16-straight games until being replaced among the starting-five by red-hot shooting Preston Ross on Saturday, finished 9-of-14 from the floor including a pair of 3-pointers in the win. After making his first two shots of the game, Ross was saddled with early foul trouble sending him to the sideline and bringing Boggs into the game.
But it was the play of sophomore James Sinclair and the collective Catamount defense in the first half that set the tone Saturday afternoon. While shooting 52-percent (15-of-29) during the opening 20 minutes, WCU limited Coastal to 6-of-22 from the field in taking a 36-21 edge into halftime. Finishing with 17 points on the day, Sinclair tallied 11 during a decisive 24-to-4 first half run for the Catamounts as WCU broke open a 12-12 tie in building a game-high 20-point lead with less than two minutes to play before intermission.
Boggs bookended the run a jumper and a 3-pointer, scoring nine of the points while Sinclair hit three, 3-pointers during the spurt.
In the second half, the Catamounts managed to keep the Chanticleers at arm's length, holding a double-digit lead until Warren Gills connected to make it a nine-point game, 47-38, with 12 minutes to play. Again back within nine points (59-50) at the 7:27 mark, WCU scored seven-straight points, including five from Boggs, to stem the tide and stretch the lead back to 16, 66-50.
Coastal Carolina (13-13) was able to trim the WCU advantage to seven inside the final 30 seconds, but the home squad connected on nine of 12 free throw attempts in the final two and a half minutes to score the victory.
In addition to Boggs and Sinclair, Trey Sumler scored a dozen points and dished out three assists for the Catamounts, tallying seven points from the free throw line. Tom Tankelewicz scored seven including one 3-pointer while Ross and Tawaski King finished with six points apiece, and the duo was joined by freshman Mike Brown a team-high tying seven rebounds.
Guards Kierre Greenwood and Anthony Raffa scored 20 and 19 points apiece, respectively, to lead the Chanticleers while post Badou Diagne chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds, hitting three of Coastal Carolina's five 3-pointers.
WCU held a two rebound edge on the boards, 39-to-37, with the Chants pulling down 13 offensive rebounds. The teams combined to shoot 61 free throws - Coastal was 23-of-33 while WCU was 21-of-28 - all coming in the second half.
Western Carolina plays its final two home games of the regular season this coming week, hosting North Division foes Chattanooga (Thurs., Feb. 28) and Samford (Sat., March 2) in the Ramsey Center.
Davidson 93, Montana 87 (OT)
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Jake Cohen scored 25 of his game-high 28 points in the first half to lead five Davidson players in double figures as the Wildcats got by Montana in overtime, 93-87, Saturday afternoon in the 11th annual BracketBusters at Belk Arena.
Davidson (21-7), the nation's top free-throw shooting team, finished the contest 26-of-29 (.897) from the stripe, including a perfect 8-for-8 in the extra session.
With the scored tied 78-78 early in overtime, Tyler Kalinoski drilled his second trey of the contest to ignite a 7-2 spurt and put the Wildcats up for good.
In addition to its impressive showing from the free-throw line, Davidson concluded the contest at 49.2 percent (30-61) from the floor. Montana shot 66.7 percent in the first 20 minutes of action to finish with a 50 percent (31-62) clip.
Cohen, who sat a majority of the second half due to foul trouble, went 9-of-15 from the field, while missing just one of his 10 free throws. The senior forward also added four assists and four rebounds in 26 minutes of action.
Frontcourt mate De'Mon Brooks contributed 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. JP Kuhlman and Chris Czerapowicz scored 11 each for Davidson, while Kalinoski finished with 10, all coming after intermission. Nik Cochran also turned in a solid all-around performance with nine points, five assists and three steals.
Kareem Jamar led the Grizzlies with 28 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 42minutes. Jordan Gregory and Will Cherry also contributed double figures for the visitors with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Montana (19-6) opened the second half on a 14-5 run and took its first lead of the contest, 53-52, on an Andy Martin 3-point play with 13:30 left in regulation. The two teams then traded buckets over the next 6 minutes and 26 seconds before the Wildcats used an 8-2 spurt, capped off by a Kalinoski trey, to go up 73-67 at the 3:16 mark.
Trailing 75-69 following a Brooks' dunk, the Grizzlies outscored Davidson, 7-1 over the final 1:36 of the second half, including a pair of Jamar free throws with 19 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
A 9-2flurry late in the first half pushed the Wildcats' advantage to as many as 10, 39-29, before taking a 47-38 lead at the break. After the Grizzlies closed to within five, 43-38, Davidson answered back-to-back layups, including one at the buzzer from Cohen, who scored 17 of his club's last 24 of the half.
Montana held a 37-31 edge on the glass.
Davidson will play its final road contest of the regular season Wednesday evening when it travels to Elon for a 7 p.m. tip.
Gardner-Webb 55, College of Charleston 52
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston was held to a season-low tying 33.3 percent from the floor as Gardner-Webb escaped with a 55-52 non-conference win on the road as part of ESPN BracketBusters weekend on Saturday night at TD Arena.
The Cougars (20-9) led 30-27 at halftime, but were outscored and outrebounded by the Runnin' Bulldogs (18-11) in the final stretch who won their fifth straight.
It was definitely a battle between two of the nation's top scoring defenses as Gardner-Webb held CofC to its fifth-lowest scoring output of the season (52 points), while the Cougars held the Bulldogs to their third-lowest (55 points).
Both squads also entered the contest as one of the hottest teams in their respective leagues as CofC had won eight of its last nine in Southern Conference play and GWU seven of its last eight in the Big South.
Senior point guard Andrew Lawrence led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, including 12 points accumulated on four three-point daggers which chipped away at a nine-point lead by Gardner-Webb in the first half.
Charleston led by as many as five in the second half of play on a layup by Lawrence, but wasn't able to build a substantial lead as the game saw three ties in the final 10 minutes of regulation.
Tied at 49 with 4:17 remaining on the clock, CofC (11) and GWU (2) missed a combined 13 points in the next three-minute stretch with neither team connecting on a bucket.
A tip-in by Kevin Hartley gave the Bulldogs' the 51-49 advantage with 1:02 remaining and they never looked back as missed rebounds and turnovers cost the Cougars down the final stretch.
Gardner-Webb was led by double figure scoring from Hartley with 14 and Tyler Strange with 12. With the win, the Bulldogs evened the all-time series to 1-1 avenging both teams' first meeting nearly 13 years ago in December of 2000.
Georgia Southern 78, Furman 61
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern held Furman without a basket for over six and half minutes midway through the second half and finished the game on a 30-11 run to top the Paladins, 78-61, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The loss, Furman's eighth straight, dropped the Paladins to 6-21 overall and 3-13 in league play. Georgia Southern improved to 12-17 overall and 6-10 in the SoCon while earning a regular season series split with Furman.
Bobby Austin buried a pair of free throws with 11:56 remaining to put the Paladins in front 50-48, but the Eagles held Furman without a basket from the 12:29 mark of the second half until 5:57 remaining while fashioning a 13-0 run to take a 61-50 lead. Furman trimmed the deficit back to single digits twice, but Georgia Southern's Eric Ferguson recorded three consecutive dunks to help the Eagles pull away.
C.J. Reed scored 14 points and added eight assists to pace four Eagles in double figures. Cleon Roberts netted 13 points while Tre Bussey and Ferguson tallied 11 points apiece. GSU shot 47.3% from the floor and connected on 15-of-31 three-point attempts. The Eagles' bench outscored the Paladins' reserves 25-0 and GSU managed a 33-31 edge in rebounding.
Senior Colin Reddick scored a game-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and Bobby Austin and Bryant Irwin added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Furman. The Paladins shot just 37.3 percent from the field and made just 8-of-23 three-point attempts in the loss.
Georgia Southern used a 12-1 first half run to open up a double digit advantage before Furman fought back to cut the margin to 30-27 at intermission. The Eagles extended the lead to nine points in the second half, but Austin, Irwin and Kendrec Ferrara combined to hit three consecutive treys to pull Furman even at 45-45 with 13:14 left. The Paladins answered a GSU trey with a three-point play by Reddick and two Austin free throws to move in front before going scoreless for almost six minutes as the Eagles grabbed the lead for good.
Chattanooga 72, Elon 68
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Freshman Gee McGhee scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Chattanooga Mocs (12-17, 7-9 SoCon) to a 72-68 win over Elon (19-9, 12-4 SoCon) Saturday night. It was a hard-fought win on senior night in McKenzie Arena as McGhee and his mates sent seniors Drazen Zlovaric, Dontay Hampton and Drew Baker off with a win.
It wasn't easy. The Phoenix, which clinched the Southern Conference North Division title on Thursday at Samford, led by six with 12 minutes to play on Sebastian Koch's three-pointer. The Mocs answered with a 9-0 run to go up 59-56 on Eric Robertson's three-pointer from the left corner. Robertson started and ended the run with his trey at 9:38.
The lead ballooned to six on Zlovaric's layup at 7:07 for a 64-58 advantage. It got to as large as seven, 69-62, on McGhee's 24th point on a jumper with 4:35 remaining. It was a defensive struggle the remainder of the game.
Jack Isenbarger scored with three minutes to go in the paint to cut it to three, 69-66. It was the last field goal of the contest for either side. Ronrico White made three of four free throws to close out the win.
McGhee added a game-high eight rebounds and a spectacular block with just over a minute left to help seal the win. He made a career-best 13 free throws in 19 attempts falling just two shy of the school record of 21 held by Derrick Kirce although both are new freshman records. Zlovaric and Z. Mason each chipped in 10 points for Chattanooga.
Ryley Beaumont had 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Phoenix. Koch ended up with 13 points, while Isenbarger added 12 points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists. He also made a key steal with 17 seconds left making two free throws to make it a two-point game. White's free tosses with 8.4 remaining provided the final four-point margin of victory for UTC.
Elon led for a majority of the first half. It went up by as many as seven twice on a jumper by Josh Bonney and Beaumont's three. The latter came with 10:16 left to make it 25-18 Phoenix. The Mocs scored the next seven points with McGhee's free throw at 7:43 knotting the score at 25-all.
It was 32-all when McGhee and fellow freshman Casey Jones scored on back-to-back possessions. McGhee sank two free throws and was literally followed by Jones in the scoring column. His layup was just off the mark, but Jones soared through to tip it in for a 36-32 lead. Beaumont scored on a layup with 52 seconds to go sending the Mocs into the break up one, 38-37.
Jones made his first start since his knee injury in December providing energy and enthusiasm to the Mocs. He ended up with eight points (tying his high), five rebounds and three assists. Fellow freshmen Robertson and Alex Bran (Memphis, Tenn.) provided solid minutes off the bench as the quartet of first-year student-athletes combined for 40 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
Samford 75, UNCG 71
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UNCG men's basketball team rallied from an 18-point second half deficit to pull within one point with under a minute left, but the Spartans could not complete the comeback falling 75-71 to Southern Conference foe Samford Saturday night at the Pete Hanna Center.
UNCG (8-19, 6-10 SoCon) connected on 54.2 percent (26-of-48) from the field and hit 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from three-point land in the loss. Senior guard Derrell Armstrong scored 19 points and dished out six assists in the loss while junior Trevis Simpson scored a team-high 22 points on the strength of four three-pointers.
Samford (11-18, 9-7 SoCon) conversely connected on 53.1 percent (26-of-49) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from long range in the victory. The Bulldogs biggest difference was a 30-22 advantage on the glass with seven offensive rebounds as they out-scored the Spartans 11-2 in second chance points. Raijon Kelly led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field while Tim Williams chipped in 16 points.
The Spartans trailed 55-37 with 15:08 left in the half but out-scored Samford 34-15 over the next 14:49 to pull within one at 72-71. UNCG started the comeback with a 20-6 run to narrow the gap to 61-57 with 5:58 left in the game.
Simpson ignited the run as he scored seven quick points, including a deep three-pointer, while sophomore Nicholas Paulos added five, including his only three-pointer of the night to force a Samford timeout.
The Spartans didn't let the timeout slow their momentum as they turned to Armstrong. He scored eight straight points off of dribble drives slicing through the Samford defense to narrow the gap to four points.
The teams traded baskets back-and-forth before Tyler Hood hit a pair of free throws with 1:21 left to give Samford a 71-66 lead. The Spartans went to freshman forward Kayel Locke on the ensuing possession and he converted an old-fashioned three-point play to trim the lead to two at 71-69. After a defensive stop, UNCG had a chance to tie the game but Armstrong's floater was just off the mark and Samford corralled the rebound.
Samford's Tim Williams hit one of two free throws to keep the door open and once again Locke stepped up and scored in the paint to pull within one at 72-71 with 17 seconds left. UNCG was forced to foul and Kelly hit both free throws to make it a three-point game. The Spartans got a good look at the game-tying basket on the next possession but Simpson's three-pointer rolled around the rim and off thwarting UNCG's final effort.
Samford came out of the gate and opened on a 17-10 run taking the early lead. Williams started the scoring for the Bulldogs as he had their first six of the game before Kelly started going with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.
The Spartans narrowed the gap to 29-23 as freshman Jordan Potts and Simpson hit back-to-back three-pointers. Samford responded with a 16-4 run to take a 45-27 lead as it starting hitting from long range. The Bulldogs hit four three-pointers in the run on their way to a 9-of-13 shooting performance from deep in the half.
The Spartans scored the final two baskets of the half as junior David Williams scored on a drive and Armstrong hit a runner in the lane at the buzzer to make it a 45-31 deficit at half. UNCG connected on 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the field in the first half and hit 4-of-7 from long range but only hit 3-of-10 from the free throw line. Simpson and Armstrong each combined for nine first half points while Potts added five.
Samford did most of its damage from three-point land as its nine three-pointers helped hit shoot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) for the half. The Bulldogs also out-rebounded UNCG by an 18-12 margin, including five offensive rebounds which they turned into nine second chance points. Kelly led all first half scorers with 13 points while Williams added 10 points.
Presbyterian 68, The Citadel 65
CLINTON, S.C. -- Khalid Mutakabbir scored a game-high 25 points to lead Presbyterian past The Citadel 68-65 Saturday night.
Eric Washington converted all four shots from the field, and made 3 of 4 from the foul line to finish with 11 points for Presbyterian (8-21).
Down 66-63, Marshall Harris III connected on two free throws to cut Citadel's deficit to one, 66-65 with 12 seconds to play.
After Austin Anderson converted two free throws to push the lead back to three, 68-65, with nine seconds to go, Harris III turned the ball over on Citadel's last possession to seal Presbyterian's victory.
The Bulldogs (7-20) trailed the entire second half, but never fell behind by double digits.
Presbyterian scored 14 points off of 19 Citadel turnovers.
The Blue Hose outscored the Bulldogs 36-30 inside, and led in bench points 15-7.
Mike Groselle led the Bulldogs with 15 points and nine rebounds.