Wofford 71, Western Carolina 60
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In a battle between the top two defensive teams in the Southern Conference, the Wofford men’s basketball team defeated Western Carolina 71-60 on Monday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers built an 18-point lead in the second half, but the Catamounts cut it to only two points with five minutes remaining with a 14-0 run. Wofford was able to close the game on a 14-5 run to earn the win.
Wofford is 8-10 on the season and 3-3 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina is 11-9 overall and 4-1 in league play. The loss ended the Catamounts five-game winning streak. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with 23 points. Lee Skinner recorded his fourth-straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer Collins added 15 points. The Catamounts were led by Trey Sumler with 20 points, going 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
The Catamounts scored first and had a 4-0 lead before shots by Spencer Collins and Karl Cochran tied the game at four with 16:31 on the clock. Western Carolina had an 8-4 advantage after five minutes of play. The Terriers added a bucket by C.J. Neumann, but the Catamounts scored the next six to push the lead to 14-6 at the 11:57 mark. A pair of free throw by Karl Cochran ended the short run and a lay-up by Lee Skinner made is a 16-10 score after ten minutes. A bucket by Spencer Collins and a lay-up and free throw by John Swinton cut the lead to 16-15 at the 8:56 mark.
Western Carolina made it a 21-17 advantage after a three pointer. Jaylen Allen had a steal and score to make it a one-point game, then a bucket off a steal by Karl Cochran gave the Terriers a 22-21 lead with 4:57 left in the first half. The Catamounts regained the advantage with a three pointer. Eric Garcia hit a pair of free throws at 3:32 to tie the game at 24. After Western Carolina took a two-point lead, Eric Garcia drained a three and Spencer Collins had a pair of free throws for a 29-26 lead at the 1:40 mark. A three by John Swinton with 50 seconds on the clock and a free throw by John Swinton at the 0.7 mark gave the Terriers a 33-26 lead at the break.
Wofford opened the second half with a bucket by Karl Cochran for a 35-26 lead. A three by the Catamounts was countered by a bucket and free throw by Lee Skinner. A three by Karl Cochran at 17:39 gave Wofford a 41-29 lead. Spencer Collins and Karl Cochran added buckets as part of a 10-0 run to push the score to 45-29 at the 16:16 mark. The Catamounts ended the run with a three pointer, but two free throws by C.J. Neumann and a jumper by Spencer Collins made it a 49-32 score with 14:36 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Jaylen Allen at 13:17 in the second half pushed the Wofford lead to 52-34. Justin Gordon had a lay-up to maintain the advantage at 54-36 after eight minutes of play. The Catamounts scored the next five points to cut the score to 54-41, but Karl Cochran answered with a three pointer. A three by Western Carolina with 9:18 on the clock cut the margin to 57-46. Another three by the Catamounts made it a 57-51 lead at the seven minute mark.
The Western Carolina run went to 14-0 with a 57-55 score with 5:32 remaining. Karl Cochran ended the run with a deep three pointer for a 60-55 lead at the 4:28 mark. A lay-up by Lee Skinner gave Wofford a 63-56 advantage with 2:17 left in the second half. Two free throws by Spencer Collins and one by Lee Skinner with 53 seconds on the clock made it a 67-58 game. Wofford added a bucket by Karl Cochran and a pair of free throws by Spencer Collins in the final 40 seconds to take the 71-60 victory.
Wofford shot 44.9 percent from the floor. Western Carolina was held to 31.7 percent overall. The Terriers were 5-of-10 from with three, while the Catamounts were 7-of-22 from behind the arc. Western Carolina was 13-of-16 from the line while Wofford was 22-of-30 on free throws. The Catamounts had a 41 to 34 advantage on the glass, but turned the ball over 14 times.