Davidson 83, Georgia Southern 48

DAVIDSON, N.C. - De'Mon Brooks paced four Davidson players in double figures with 20 points as the Wildcats cruised to their 14th straight victory, 83-48, over Georgia Southern on Senior Day at Belk Arena.

The 'Cats, who hadn't lost since the two clubs met in Statesboro on Jan. 14, shot 56.4 percent while holding the visitors to just 29.8 percent.

Brooks finished 8-of-11 from the floor and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Jake Cohen chipped in 15 points and six boards, while Tyler Kalinoski sunk a pair of treys on his way to 12 points. JP Kuhlman added 10 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Davidson (23-7, 17-1 SoCon), which torched the nets for 62.1 percent in the first 20 minutes, raced out to an 18-4 advantage and stretched its lead to 45-19 at the break on a Chris Czerapowicz trey at the buzzer.

In addition to their fast start, the Wildcats held Georgia Southern (13-18, 7-11 SoCon) to just 30.8 percent (8-26) in the period, while Brooks (15) and Cohen (10) combined for 25 first-half points.

C.J. Reed and Tre Bussey were the lone Eagles in double figures with 16 and 11, respectively.

The Wildcats extended their lead to as many as 38, 79-41, with just four minutes remaining.

Davidson held a commanding 37-26 advantage on the glass, while finishing with 38 points in the paint and getting 26 points off the bench.

 
Appalachian State 86, Chattanooga 60

BOONE, N.C. - Nathan Healy and Jamaal Trice combined for 33 points in their final home games to help lead Appalachian State University men's basketball to a convincing 86-60 win over Chattanooga on Saturday at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers (14-15, 10-8 SoCon) clinched a first-round bye in next week's Southern Conference Tournament with the victory over the Mocs (13-18, 8-10).

Despite scoring the first bucket of the game, Chattanooga could not stop an onslaught of three-pointers from Appalachian, which quickly erased a 2-0 deficit to go up by 10 points (19-9) less than eight minutes into the first half.

The Mocs would never challenged the Mountaineers after that as App State grabbed its first 20-point lead (32-12) with 9:08 still to play in the first half and stretched the lead to 25 points (55-30) on a buzzer-beating three from Tevin Baskin to end the first half.

Healy scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half while Jay Canty poured in 17 of his game-high 27 in the first 20 minutes of play. As a squad, the Apps shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32) in the first half, including 9-of-16 from beyond the arc and 10-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Appalachian continued to pour it on early in the second half, extending the lead to 34 points twice in the first four minutes of action. Chattanooga was able to cut the lead to 25 points (80-55) with 5:31 on the clock, but the Mountaineers cruised to victory to lock up the No. 4 seed in the SoCon Tournament.

Canty led all players in scoring on 10-of-15 shooting while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Healy notched a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds while Trice added 13 points. Mike Neal dished out a career-high 10 assists and committed just three turnovers.

The Mocs were paced by a team-high 16 points from Casey Jones while Ronrico White added 10 and Z. Mason fell just shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

On the day, the Mountaineers knocked down 48.2 percent (27-of-56) of their shots including a 12-of-26 mark from long range and a 20-of-27 effort at the charity stripe. Chattanooga shot 42.0 percent (21-of-50) from the floor, but went just 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) from the free throw line.

 
College of Charleston 74, Furman 50

GREENVILLE, S.C. - College of Charleston erased an early deficit with a 51-12 run midway through the game en route to a 74-50 victory over Furman in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.

The Paladins, who fell to 6-23 overall and 3-15 in the Southern Conference, matched a school record with their 10th consecutive defeat to tie Jene Davis' 1984-85 squad.  The Cougars won their fourth straight league game to improve to 22-9 overall and 14-4 in the SoCon. 

Furman scored the first seven points of the game and opened up an 18-7 advantage on Colin Reddcik's two-handed jam midway through the first period.  Later in the period, four consecutive free throws gave Furman a 25-16 lead with just 2:51 to play, but College of Charleston finished the half on a 7-0 run that stretched to a 13-0 spurt when Anthony Thomas' layup gave the Cougars a 29-27 lead with 17:54 remaining in the game.

The Paladins managed to knot the game at 29-29 with just their third field goal in over 12 minutes only to have Charleston explode on a 38-8 run that gave the Cougars a commanding 67-37 lead.  Charleston's defense held Furman to just two baskets from the 17:22 mark until Reddick's layup with only 3:52 left to play.

The Cougars shot 67.9 percent (19-28) in the second half and buried 6-of-11 three-point attempts over the final 20 minutes to pull away from the Paladins.  Anthony Stitt led Charleston with 15 points and Trent Wiedeman added 13 points and nine boards.  Nori Johnson and Andrew Lawrence each tallied 10 points while Willis Hall contributed nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Charleston, which shot just 31 percent in the first half, finished at 49.1 percent from the field and fashioned a 48-28 edge in rebounding against a Furman squad that dressed just eight players on Senior Day.

Reddick totaled 16 points to lead four Paladins in double figures in his final game at Timmons Arena.  Freshman Larry Wideman scored 12 points and Bobby Austin and Stephen Croone chipped in with 10 apiece.

Furman shot just 31 percent from the field and hit only 4-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc.  The Paladins, who committed a season-low six turnovers, fell to 0-23 this season when connecting on 40 percent or less of their three-point attempts.  

 
Western Carolina 56, Samford 54 (OT)

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - In its second straight heartbreaking overtime loss, the Samford University basketball team was defeated by the Western Carolina Catamounts, 56-54, in the Bulldogs' regular-season finale held at the Ramsey Center.

With the loss, Samford (11-20, 9-9 SoCon) remained winless all-time at Western Carolina (13-18, 9-9 SoCon) and fell to 0-6 when playing in Cullowhee. Five of the Bulldogs' losses at Western Carolina have been played at the Ramsey Center.

On Saturday, Western Carolina's game-winning shot came courtesy of true freshman Mike Brown. With 3.4 seconds remaining in overtime, the Catamounts held possession on the left sideline with the game knotted at 54-54.

Western Carolina's inbounds pass went to the top of the key to Brown where the Charlotte native took a quick dribble to his left and lifted for a 14-foot jumper with a Samford defender in his face.

Brown's buzzer-beater hit the front of the rim, bounced high into the air and caromed off the glass. The ball then hit the right side of the rim, rolled back to the base of the bucket and hung there tantalizingly for at least a second before dropping hopelessly through the net.

With Western Carolina's win, the Catamounts moved to 8-3 all-time against Samford and secured the No. 6 seed in next week's SoCon Tournament. In the first round of play, Western Carolina will square off against the No. 11 seed, which will be either Wofford or The Citadel.

On Samford's final possession of overtime, the Bulldogs' Tyler Hood was whistled for a phantom offensive foul on the baseline. On the play, Samford's sophomore forward from Lenoir City, Tenn., gathered a perfectly-placed entry pass on the right block and spun to his left for an easy layup.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Hood was called for his fourth foul of the game and Western Carolina took possession with 16 seconds remaining.

With approximately three seconds left in overtime, Samford's Tim Williams gave a valiant effort to nearly pick off a pass on the left baseline, but the ball careened out of bounds to give the Catamounts their final possession.

Williams, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 true freshman from Chicago, Ill., finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds and registered his sixth double-double of the season. The double-double also proved to be Williams' second of the year against Western Carolina. On Jan. 17, Samford's big man turned in a 16-point, 10-rebound game at home versus the Catamounts.

Along with Williams' 13 points, the Bulldogs also received 13 points apiece from Raijon Kelly and Hood. Hood finished the game shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and pulled down four rebounds in 35 minutes of playing time.

Kelly, Samford's leading scorer this season at 14.5 points per game, finished 6-of-14 from the field and handed out four assists. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 sophomore guard also grabbed four boards and logged 42 minutes of playing time.

Saturday's back-and-forth game featured 12 lead changes and consisted of 20 ties. Neither team led by more than four points throughout the contest as Samford played its second overtime game in three days.

On Thursday, the Bulldogs dropped a heartbreaker at Appalachian State, 70-67, in double overtime.

Deep in regulation, Samford's Kelly knocked down a baseline jumper to tie the score at 50-50 with 4:09 left on the clock. From that point on, neither team was able to score for the remainder of regulation as the game went to overtime tied at 50-50.

The final 30 seconds of regulation included a pair of frantic possible game-winning attempts.

On the Bulldogs' final possession, sophomore Connor Miller drove down the right side of the lane and barely missed a five-foot runner that rolled around the rim and dropped out. Miller's attempt was contested by a pair of Western Carolina defenders and included a large amount of contact and physicality.

After Miller's potential game-winner rolled off the rim, the Catamounts screamed down the court and missed a 3-pointer from James Sinclair, as well as a jumper from Brown.

Neither team shot the ball well from 3-point range Saturday. Samford finished with its second-worst percentage of the season at 11.1, while Western Carolina went 4-of-17 from beyond the arc for a 23.5-percent outing.

The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Catamounts, 41-33, but committed five more turnovers, 14-9.

Western Carolina finished with three players reaching double figures and were led by Brandon Boggs and Tawaski King's 12 points apiece. Sinclair also added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Catamounts.

Despite only shooting 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from 3-point range in the first half, Samford took a 26-25 advantage into the locker room. The Bulldogs' Hood led all scorers with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field in the opening period, while Clide Geffrard, Jr., followed with seven points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor.

Samford turned in a 42.3-percent shooting performance from the field in the first half, while the Bulldogs' defense limited Western Carolina to an 8-of-24 outing for a 33.3-percent mark. In the opening period, both teams combined to shoot 13 percent (3-of-23) from beyond the arc.

Defensively, the Bulldogs held Western Carolina without a field goal for the final five minutes of the first half. In the earlier meeting between the teams this season, Samford held the Catamounts scoreless for an eight-minute stretch.

There were five lead changes in the first half alone and the score was tied nine times in the opening 20 minutes of action.


Elon 80, UNCG 66

BURLINGTON, N.C. - The UNCG men's basketball team closed out the 2012-13 regular season Saturday night with an 80-66 loss to Southern Conference rival Elon at Alumni Gym.

The Spartans connected on 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field and 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from three-point land in the loss. Four different Spartans scored in double figures, including freshman forward Kayel Locke leading the way with 13 points, all in the second half. Fifth-year senior forward Kelvin McNeil posted his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, making his first double-dip since Dec. 31 (at NC State).

Elon connected on 56.5 percent (26-of-46) from the field and hit 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point land. The Phoenix hit 82.1 percent (23-of-28) from the free throw line in the victory. Lucas Troutman led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Ryley Beaumont added 14 points and nine rebounds while Sebastian Koch chipped in nine points.

UNCG and Elon battled back and forth during the hard fought first half as the Phoenix opened to an early 6-0 lead. Sophomore Nicholas Paulos nailed a deep three-pointer for the Spartans first basket while senior Derrell Armstrong scored on a drive to help UNCG weather the early storm from Elon's senior night.

The Phoenix took a 21-16 lead as they scored six straight points with Tanner Samson hitting a pair of free throws after a UNCG technical foul was called on the bench. The Spartans kept battling and pulled within one at the break as they close on a 12-7 run after the technical. Senior Korey Van Dussen scored four points in the run, including the last basket of the half as he drove down the lane and nailed a floater with four seconds left to make it a 29-28 deficit for UNCG.

The Spartans connected on 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the field in the first half but hit just 2-of-8. McNeil led the Spartans with nine points off the bench as he hit 4-of-4 from the field in the half while Armstrong and Paulos each added five points.

Elon connected on 45 percent (9-of-20) from the field and missed all six three-pointers. The Phoenix were the beneficiary of the free throw line as they hit 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the stripe as UNCG committed 13 fouls compared to six for Elon. Troutman led Elon with 13 points as he was 5-of-7 from the field while Josh Bonney added six points.

Elon came out of the halftime break and scored the first seven points of the half, forcing the Spartans into an early timeout. Koch opened the scoring with a three-pointer while Beaumont and Troutman each hit jumpers to give the Phoenix a 36-28 lead just 2:12 into the second half.

The Spartans answered right back with a 7-0 spurt that took just 43 seconds to narrow the gap to 36-35. Locke started the run scoring down low and was fouled. He missed the free throw but junior David Williams grabbed the offensive rebound which allowed the Spartans to find freshman Jordan Potts who nailed a three-pointer. UNCG forced a timeout in the ensuing possession and Locke scored to make it a one-point game.

Elon posted a 15-7 run to take a 53-44 lead as Beaumont started to get going. He scored eight points in the stretch while Troutman hit for four points. The Spartans narrowed the gap to eight at 64-56 when junior Trevis Simpson hit a pair of free throws, but Elon ended the threat with a 9-2 run as Kevin Blake and Tanner Samson hit three-pointers.  

Junior Drew Parker added 10 points off the bench as he was 3-of-3 from the field, including two three-pointers, while also hitting a pair of free throws. Simpson added 11 points off the bench despite battling through flu symptoms.

 
Wofford 69, The Citadel 62

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team ended the regular season with a 69-62 win over The Citadel on Saturday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but the Bulldogs cut the advantage to two points with five minutes remaining before Wofford put the game away.

Wofford moves to 13-18 on the season and 7-11 in the Southern Conference to finish in third place in the South Division. The Citadel is 8-21 overall and 5-13 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Lee Skinner who tied a career high with 21 points and added 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year. Karl Cochran added 17 points, while Spencer Collins scored 16. The Bulldogs had 17 points and seven rebounds from Mike Groselle.

The game marked the final home contest for senior guard Taylor Wagener and senior manager Jay Reid. Wagener had five points, two rebounds, two steals, and an assist in his final game at Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Wofford opened the game with a three pointer by senior Taylor Wagener and had an early 5-0 lead. The Citadel scored the next seven points, including a three pointer, for a 7-5 advantage after four minutes of play. The game was tied at seven, nine, and eleven before a lay-up by Lee Skinner gave the Terriers a 13-11 lead at the 10:48 mark. Wofford used a quick 6-0 run, capped by a steal and lay-up by Taylor Wagener, to take a 21-13 lead with 7:06 remaining in the half.

After The Citadel cut the lead to six points, Karl Cochran drained a three for a 24-15 advantage at the 4:58 mark of the first half. Lay-ups by Indiana Faithfull and Kevin Hickson kept the Terriers in front by ten points. Karl Cochran added a three pointer with 2:38 on the clock to give Wofford a 31-18 lead. Cochran hit the final shot of the first half for a 33-20 advantage at the break.

To start the second half, Wofford went on a 7-3 run for a 40-23 lead at the 15:23 mark. After a couple of three pointers by the Bulldogs, the advantage was cut to 42-31 with 12:56 on the clock. The Terriers scored the next five points to push the lead back to 47-31 and Wofford had a 49-32 advantage with 11:44 left in the second half. The Citadel then used a 10-0 run that included two three pointers to make it a 49-42 game before a lay-up by Lee Skinner. Four straight free throws for the Terriers pushed the lead back to twelve points at 55-43, but the Bulldogs then used an 8-0 run for a 55-51 score with 6:49 remaining.

The Citadel cut the lead to two points before Karl Cochran hit a three for a 60-55 score with five minutes remaining. Wofford added a bucket when Spencer Collins put back a missed shot for a 62-55 lead at the 3:25 mark. After two free throws by the Bulldogs, Karl Cochran added a bucket for a 64-57 lead with ninety seconds left. The Citadel cut the lead to 64-60 with 27 seconds on the clock, but Lee Skinner hit two free throws for a 66-60 score. Spencer Collins rebounded a missed shot by the Bulldogs and he made a free throw for a seven point lead. A dunk by Karl Cochran with one second left gave the Terriers the 69-62 victory.

Wofford shot 50.9 percent from the floor while The Citadel shot 37.8 percent overall. The Terriers were 4-of-15 from with three, while the Bulldogs were 7-of-17 from behind the arc. The Citadel was 21-of-29 from the line while Wofford was 11-of-14 on free throws. The Bulldogs had a 30 to 28 lead on the glass and each team had eleven turnovers. Aerris Smith fouled out for Wofford.