The Citadel 68, Furman 57
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel's Mike Groselle tallied 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lift the Bulldogs to a 68-57 victory over Furman in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Thursday night at McAlister Fieldhouse.
With its ninth consecutive loss, Furman fell to 6-22 overall and 3-14 in the SoCon. The defeat locked the Paladins into the No. 12 seed for next week's SoCon Men's Basketball Championships where Furman will face the No. 5 seed in a 2 p.m. first round contest on March 8, at U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, N.C.
Furman held a 15-14 lead with under eight minutes remaining in the first half when Matt Van Scyoc ignited a 21-7 run with a dunk as The Citadel fashioned a 30-22 halftime advantage and stretched its lead to 35-22 on the freshman's three-pointer with 18:55 left in the game.
Furman trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half before Bobby Austin and Bryant Irwin combined to drain three triples in a span of four possessions as the Paladins trimmed the deficit to 48-46 with 8:51 to play. The Citadel, however, held Furman to just three field goals the rest of the way while claiming its second regular season sweep of the Paladins since 2000-01.
The Bulldogs (8-20, 5-12 SoCon) shot 45 percent from the field and committed just 11 turnovers on the night. Groselle connected on 12-of-17 field goal attempts to pace three Bulldogs in double figures as Dylen Setzekorn and P.J. Horgan added 11 points apiece.
Freshman Larry Wideman, a Loris, S.C., native, led Furman with 17 points while senior Colin Reddick posted his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Bryant Irwin buried 3-of-4 beyond the three-point arc to add 12 points.
The Paladins shot just 38 percent from the field despite making 8-of-20 three-point tries and holding a 35-34 edge on the glass.
Chattanooga 81, Western Carolina 72
CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- Z. Mason kept hope alive for the Chattanooga Mocs (13-17, 8-9 SoCon) leading his squad to an 81-72 win at Western Carolina (12-18, 8-9 SoCon) Thursday night. Mason scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to put UTC in the hunt for the final bye in the Southern Conference Tournament.
Mason was seven-of-10 from the field and 11-14 from the free throw line to tally his 25. The 11 free throws made and 14 attempted are both career highs. Ronrico White added 19 points and four boards in a winning cause.
Brandon Boggs led the Catamounts with 21 points and three rebounds. Tawaski King added a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.
Chattanooga came out of halftime with a 14-point cushion, 43-29. Its strong start came in handy as Western came out determined to make it a game. Preston Ross did just that capping an 11-2 run with a layup at 13:50 to trim the lead to 53-48.
Casey Jones started a 7-2 spurt for the Mocs with a layup to answer Ross' bucket. Alex Bran and Eric Robertson followed suit. Bran hit a big trey from the corner and Robertson rocked the rim to make it 60-50 UTC with just less than 11 minutes to go.
Western did not wilt. It got to within three, 62-59 at the 6:26 mark on a King free throw. Boggs closed it to a two-point game twice in the Cats' next three possessions, but the Mocs stayed strong.
Up 66-64 with 4:36 to play, Gee McGhee drove to the basket to make it 68-64. A defensive stop was followed by two White free tosses for a six-point lead. A Western turnover only fueled the Mocs' charge. Jones' monster jam with 2:47 to play extended the lead to eight, 72-64.
There was still a lot of game left. Trey Sumler buried a three-pointer eight seconds later to slice the margin to five. King's tip dunk 33 ticks later made it a three-point lead, 72-69, with 2:06 left. It was the Mocs turn to take advantage of second chances.
Sam Watson corralled his own miss in tight traffic for the put-back extending it a five-point lead, 74-69. Boggs kept the pressure on the visitors answering with his fourth three of the game to cutting it to two, 74-72.
UTC made the winning plays down the stretch. White drilled a three over his defender with the shot clock winding down to make it a five-point affair with 47 to play. Sumler errant pass gave the Mocs the ball back at 35.5. Mason got the ball clear and drove to the basket for the basket and the foul. His three-point play swelled the lead back to eight, 80-72. White scored the final point at the free throw line for the 81-72 triumph.
McGhee chipped in 12 points with a career-high tying four steals to go with three rebounds and three assists. Chattanooga shot 54.2 percent (26-48) from the field including three-of-eight from three-point range. It also made a season-high 26 free throws in a game that featured 53 fouls called.
The Mocs limited Western Carolina to 38.3 percent shooting from the field. The Cats shot 72 percent from the line making 18 of 25. The Cats grabbed 19 offensive rebounds winning the battle of the boards 37-33.
The UTC perimeter defense was vital. It held Sumler and Tom Tankelewicz to just 17 points on the night with 10 and seven, respectively. The duo torched the Mocs for 46 points in the home loss to the Cats in January.
It was quite a start for Chattanooga. It came out of the gates for a 12-0 lead before WCU tallied its first points on Mike Brown's layup more than six minutes into the contest. Mason, who scored 18 of his points in the first 20 minutes, made it 16-2 on a layup with 12:46 to go.
Torrion Brummitt made it an eight-point game, 20-12, with basket with 10:34 before intermission. The Mocs went on a 23-12 run over the next nine minutes to take it largest lead, 43-24. McGhee capped that spurt with two free throws. The Cats closed that lead to 14 going into the half on Sumler's three and two Brummitt free throws.
Appalachian State 70, Samford 67 (2OT)
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball remained in contention for a first-round Southern Conference Tournament bye with a 70-67 double-overtime victory over Samford on Thursday evening at the Holmes Center.
With the victory, Appalachian State (13-15, 9-8 SoCon) remains in control of its own destiny for the crucial first-round tournament bye, needing only a victory over Chattanooga (13-17, 8-9 SoCon) in Saturday's regular-season finale to receive the fourth and final free pass into the SoCon quarterfinals. Samford (11-19, 9-8 SoCon) would receive the bye with a win over Western Carolina (8-9, 12-18 SoCon) and a UTC win over Appalachian on Saturday.
Despite leading by as many as 12 points in the first half, the first-round bye appeared to be slipping away from Appalachian when Samford took a 59-51 lead on Raijon Kelly's jumper with 4:08 to go in regulation. However, led by five points from Jamaal Trice, the Mountaineers outscored the Bulldogs, 8-0, over the final 3:50 of regulation to send the game to overtime knotted at 59-59.
Appalachian State did not make a field goal in the first overtime but two free throws by Mike Neal with 3:14 to go in the initial extra period proved to be all it would need to send the game to a second overtime tied at 61-61.
Trice gave the Mountaineers the lead for good when he hit a three-pointer just nine seconds into the second overtime. Appalachian did not score again after it extended the lead to 70-65 on a Nathan Healy layup with 2:36 to go but it held Samford scoreless over the final 2:18 of the ballgame to secure the critical win.
Appalachian was paced on offense by Trice's team-high 18 points while Tevin Baskin poured in 10 off the bench. Michael Obacha finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight boards while Healy scored eight points, ripped down eight rebounds, dished out four assists and tallied three blocks and three steals.
Tyler Hood led all players with 22 points for the Bulldogs while Tim Williams poured in 12 and Connor Miller score 11. Kelly, who entered the night averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game, was held to just six points and committed five turnovers.
On the night, the Mountaineers shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the floor while the Bulldogs connected at a clip of 42.4 percent (25-59). Both squads finished with 36 rebounds but the Apps dished out 14 assists and committed just 13 turnovers while forcing Samford into 17 turnovers to just nine assists.
Appalachian State closes out the regular season when it plays host to Chattanooga at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The contest will mark the final home game for Healy and Trice.
College of Charleston 55, Wofford 50
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team was defeated 55-50 by the College of Charleston on Thursday night at TD Arena. The game was tied at 24 early in the second half before the Cougars used a 10-0 run to pull away as the Terriers could get no closer than four points in the final ten minutes.
Wofford moves to 12-18 on the season and 6-11 in the Southern Conference to sit in fourth place in the South Division. College of Charleston is 21-9 overall and 13-4 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with 23 points, while Lee Skinner had seven points and seven rebounds. The Cougars were led by Andrew Lawrence and Willis Hall with ten points each.
The Cougars opened the game with a three pointer and had a 9-4 lead after five minutes of play. Lee Skinner made a lay-up to make it a 9-6 game with 14:40 on the clock. Charleston used a 6-1 run for a 15-7 advantage with 9:46 left in the first half. Wofford then went on a 8-0 run that included three pointers by John Swinton and Karl Cochran to tie the game at 15 with 6:50 remaining. The score was tied at 17 before the Cougars took a 20-17 lead with 4:48 left in the half.
A long two by Karl Cochran cut the lead to one point and another bucket by Cochran gave Wofford a 21-20 advantage with 3:20 on the clock in the first half. Aerris Smith tied the game at 22 with a free throw, but the Cougars regained the lead with a lay-up with 40 seconds remaining. Wofford had two chances to tie the game in the final five seconds, but Charleston had a 24-22 edge at the half.
To begin the second half, Spencer Collins tied the game at 24 with a pair of free throws. Back-to-back threes as part of a 10-0 run by Charleston made it a 34-24 score with 16:43 on the clock. Karl Cochran ended the run, but the Cougars led 38-30 with 13:44 left in the second half. Spencer Collins scored the next four points for Wofford to cut the lead to 38-34, but the Cougars answered with a three pointer. Karl Cochran added a three pointer at the other end of the floor to make it a 41-37 game after eight minutes of play.
Charleston scored the next four points for a 45-37 lead, but a three by Karl Cochran cut the score to 45-40 at the ten minute mark of the second half. The Cougars answered with seven straight points for a 52-40 advantage. Indiana Faithfull ended the run with a lay-up and Spencer Collins added a free throw to make it 52-43 with 5:33 left. After trading buckets, Charleston hit one free throw with 50.9 on the clock for a 55-45 lead. Lee Skinner hit a three pointer to cut the lead to 55-48 at the 38 second mark and John Swinton added a bucket with six seconds left for a 55-50 final score.
Wofford shot 32.2 percent from the floor while the College of Charleston shot 46.7 percent overall. The Terriers were 5-of-20 from with three, while the Cougars were 5-of-19 from behind the arc. College of Charleston was 8-of-14 from the line while Wofford was 7-of-10 on free throws. The Cougars had a 44 to 27 lead on the glass. Wofford had only five turnovers, while Charleston had 16.