Appalachian State 80, The Citadel 67
CHARLESTON, S.C. – A late first-half surge helped Appalachian State University men’s basketball build an eight-point halftime lead as it picked up its second-straight win with an 80-67 victory over Southern Conference foe The Citadel on Thursday at McAlister Field House.
The Mountaineers (6-13, 2-4 SoCon) trailed by as many as six points twice in the opening eight minutes, but outscored the Bulldogs (4-17, 0-6) 31-17 over the final 12 minutes of the opening period to snap a three-game road losing streak at The Citadel.
Appalachian got off to a slow start, connecting on just five of its first 15 shot attempts over the first 10 minutes (33.3 percent), but caught fire and went 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) for the rest of the half to build a 40-32 halftime lead.
A pair of free throws from Tommy Spagnolo with 6:51 to play in the first half gave the Mountaineers their first lead (25-24) before Quinton Marshall put The Citadel back up by one with a layup moments later. It would be the last lead the Bulldogs would have as the Mountaineers scored 15 of the next 21 points to close out the half and enter the locker room with the eight-point lead.
The squad’s momentum would carry over into the second half as it pushed the lead to double digits (42-32) on a Michael Obacha layup with 19:17 to play and never saw the lead dip below six points the rest of the way as it cruised to is 52nd win all-time against the Bulldogs.
Appalachian would push the lead to as many as 15 points in the second half and were never really challenged in the closing moments of the contest. Mike Kobani and Tab Hamilton co-led the Mountaineers with 18 points each. Kobani finished 9-of-10 from the floor while Hamilton connected on 7-of-15.
Mike Neal added 13 points and five assists while Frank Eaves poured in 12 on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench. Obacha led all players with eight rebounds while Eaves hauled in five.
Matt Van Scoyc paced The Citadel with 24 points while Ashton Moore scored 18, Marshall finished with 13 and Brian White added 12. White also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
As a team, Appalachian State shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61) and connected on 7-of-14 three-point attempts while the Bulldogs hit 48.9 percent (22-of-45) of their shots, but went just 6-of-16 form long range.
The Mountaineers grabbed 31 rebounds to The Citadel’s 24 and forced 11 turnovers while committing just seven. In addition the Apps finished with 15 assists, five blocks and three steals.
Wofford 74, Georgia Southern 64
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Wofford men’s basketball team won 74-64 at Georgia Southern on Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. A 10-0 run in the first half by the Terriers built a nine-point lead at the break. Wofford led by as many as 17 in the second half before the Eagles were able to cut it to six with a minute left in the game. Karl Cochran was 4-of-4 from the line in the final minute as the Terriers earned the road win.
Wofford is 9-10 on the season and 4-3 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern is 9-11 overall and 2-3 in league play. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with 25 points. Spencer Collins had 18 points, while Eric Garcia had a career-high 15 points. Lee Skinner was just shy of the double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles were led by Jelani Hewitt with 18 points.
vThe Eagles opened the game with a three pointer. A bucket by Lee Skinner and a three by Karl Cochran gave the Terriers a 5-3 lead two minutes into the game. Another three by the Eagles gave them the advantage, but Wofford had a 9-8 lead with a jumper by Spencer Collins at the 15:32 mark. Justin Gordon pushed the Wofford lead to 13-8 with a lay-up. Lee Skinner had a bucket to make it a 17-12 game, but the Eagles added a three pointer for a 17-15 score with 10:12 left in the first half.
A jumper just inside the three point arc by Eric Garcia gave Wofford a 21-15 advantage with 9:02 on the clock in the first half. The Eagles scored the next five points to cut the lead to 21-20 at the 5:33 mark. A jumper by Karl Cochran with 4:23 left on the clock gave the Terriers a 25-22 lead. After the Eagles made it a one point game, Eric Garcia hit a three and then hit a lay-up and the free throw for a 31-24 lead. A dunk by Justin Gordon after an Eagle turnover gave Wofford a 33-24 lead with ninety seconds left in the half. Karl Cochran push the Wofford run to 10-0 before the Eagles hit a pair of free throws with 46 seconds on the clock. At the half, the Terriers had a 35-26 advantage.
To open the second half, Eric Garcia hit a jumper for a 37-26 lead. After the teams traded three pointers, Karl Cochran added a bucket for a 42-31 advantage after three minutes of play. The Eagles score the next three points to make it an eight-point game, but the Terriers scored seven straight and had a 49-34 lead after a three pointer by Karl Cochran. A lay-up and free throw by Karl Cochran made it a 52-36 score and a three pointer by Eric Garcia gave the Terriers a 56-40 lead with 12:53 on the clock.
After Karl Cochran gave Wofford a 58-41 lead, the Eagles scored the next five points for a 58-46 score with 10:27 left in the second half. The Terriers responded with a dunk by C.J. Neumann and a three pointer by Karl Cochran for a 63-46 lead less than a minute later. Wofford was up 67-52 before the Eagles went on a 9-2 run and cut the score to 69-61 with just over three minutes left in the second half. The lead was 70-63 for Wofford with two minutes remaining. With a minute left the Eagles hit a free throw to make it a two possession game, but Karl Cochran made four straight free throws for the 74-64 final score.
Wofford shot 50.0 percent from the floor. Georgia Southern was held to 41.2 percent overall. The Terriers were 6-of-12 from with three, while the Eagles were 5-of-18 from behind the arc. Georgia Southern was 17-of-25 from the line while Wofford was 14-of-20 on free throws. The Eagles had a 33 to 31 advantage on the glass. Wofford had seven turnovers, while Georgia Southern had 12 and only three assists. Justin Gordon fouled out with 3:09 left in the game.
Chattanooga 84, Elon 63
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The streak is at nine as the Chattanooga Mocs raced past Elon 84-63 tonight in McKenzie Arena. Chattanooga is now 13-8 on the year, 7-0 in first place in the Southern Conference. The nine-game win streak is the first since 11 straight in 1996-97, the NCAA Sweet 16 season, and it’s the first 7-0 SoCon start since 2010-11.
Z. Mason continued his assault on SoCon defenses with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Gee McGhee and Ronrico White each added 13 points for the victors. Sebastian Koch and Luke Eddy paced the Phoenix with 11 points. Lucas Troutman and Tanner Samson chipped in 10 apiece.
The Mocs trailed early then blew past their visitors. Elon jumped out to a 12-4 lead 4:12 into the game, but it was out-scored 80-59 by its hosts over the final 35:48.
McGhee made the play of the game. Koch hit a jumper with a little more than two seconds to go in the opening half and went to the line to complete the three-point play. He missed the free toss. Lance Stokes grabbed the board and made the outlet pass to McGhee. The sophomore’s 70-foot heave banked in for a 41-32 halftime lead.
It was all Mocs from there. The lead became 15 (51-36) on two Stokes free throws at 14:55. It swelled to 20 (59-39) just three-and-a-half minutes later with McGhee at the line. Three different times Mason gave his squad its biggest lead of 25 with the last coming on a layup, 71-46, with 7:36 to play.
Elon cut the margin to 18, 75-57, on a Brian Dawkins jumper with 4:00 to go, but that’s as close as it would get. Anthanee Doyle hit a three with 13 seconds to go to end the Mocs’ scoring for the night as the buzzer sounded with an 84-63 final score.
Chattanooga dominated the boards 35-25. That led to a 15-4 advantage in second chance points. The league’s scoring leader padded its average with 84 tonight while holding Elon, who ranked second entering the game at 77.8 points per contest, nearly 15 points under its average.
Davidson 82, Western Carolina 77
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Chris Czerapowicz scored a game-high 19 points as sharp shooting and strong rebounding led Davidson past Western Carolina, 82-77, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Thursday night in the Ramsey Center.
Czerapowicz, who converted 7-of-11 attempts from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, led four Wildcats in double figures, as Tyler Kalinoski and Jack Gibbs both added 15 points, and De’Mon Brooks chipped in 12.
Kalinoski and Brooks led the Wildcats to a 40-25 advantage on the glass, pulling in nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Davidson (9-11, 5-1 SoCon) improved it’s shooting percentage in league play to 52 percent, converting 57.1 percent of its attempts overall and 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) 3-pointers, led by Gibbs (3-for-4) and Brian Sullivan (3-for-5). The Wildcats’ shooting and rebounding advantages helped overcome a season-high 22 turnovers, which resulted in 23 Catamount points.
The Wildcats, who drilled nine 3-pointers and shot 72 percent in the first 20 minutes, raced out to an 18-6 lead and later used a 19-6 run to go up 41-22 with 5:56 left in the period. In addition to forcing 12 first-half turnovers, the Catamounts closed on a 19-6 spurt of its own to cut the deficit to six at the break, 47-41.
Trey Sumler led Western Carolina (11-10, 4-2 SoCon) with 16 points, while James Sinclair and Brandon Boggs followed with 15 and 14, respectively.
After Davidson pushed its lead back to double figures early in the second half, the Catamounts used a 17-7 run to make it a two-point game, 68-66, with just over five minutes remaining. The Wildcats, who led from start to finish, pushed their advantage back to six points, but the Catamounts got to within two again, 74-72 with 1:10 to go.
The Wildcats finished 16-of-21 at the line, which included an 8-for-8 effort in the final minute.
Samford 88, UNCG 78
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team turned in one of its best performances of the 2013-14 season Thursday as the Bulldogs scored a season-high 88 points en route to a 10-point victory, 88-78, over the UNCG Spartans in the Southern Conference Game of the Week held at the Pete Hanna Center.
With Thursday’s triumph, Samford (8-13, 2-4 SoCon) improved to 7-2 when playing at home this season. The Bulldogs have also been victorious in four of their last five games held at the Pete Hanna Center.
Additionally, Samford’s 88 points proved to be the highest of the Seltzer Era, surpassing the team’s previous high of 85 registered against Austin Peay on Dec. 7. The Bulldogs’ 88 points also proved to be the team’s best scoring total since Dec. 17, 2011, in a 90-64 home victory over Spring Hill.
Samford’s sophomore forward Tim Williams registered game-highs in both points (29) and rebounds (12) Thursday as he earned his second double-double of the season and eighth of his young, up-and-coming career. Williams finished 11-of-17 from the field and 7-of-12 from the free-throw line in a game-high 38 minutes of playing time.
The Bulldogs finished with three players scoring in double figures Thursday as true freshman point guard Isaiah Williams added 19 points, five assists and a rebound, while Raijon Kelly came off the bench to score 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. Kelly also handed out five assists in just 18 minutes of game action.
UNCG (10-11, 3-3 SoCon) suffered its second straight loss Thursday. After registering three-consecutive SoCon victories against Furman, Appalachian State and The Citadel, the Spartans have now dropped back-to-back games to Davidson and Samford.
In the all-time series between the former SoCon North Division rivals, Samford holds an 8-5 advantage over UNCG, including a 4-3 mark in the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford jumped out to an early 21-14 lead in the first half and used a stellar 63-percent shooting performance in the opening period to garner a 43-33 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Bulldogs’ Isaiah Williams and Kelly combined to score 23 points on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting performance in the first 20 minutes of play. As a team, Samford concluded the game with a dominant 58.8-percent shooting mark from the field, as well as a 60-percent tally from 3-point range (6-of-10).
Isaiah Williams, the Bulldogs’ brilliant freshman from Buford, Ga., finished an unblemished 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
UNCG’s Kyle Cain, the junior transfer from Arizona State, paced his squad with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field Thursday. He also registered a double-double with 11 rebounds to lead the Spartans.
Kayle Locke picked up three quick fouls in the first half for UNCG and only logged 18 total minutes of action, but scored 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor. The Spartans’ Tevon Saddler added 13 points, six assists and four rebounds, but only went 1-of-9 from the field. Conversely, Saddler knocked down 11-of-14 free throws as UNCG attempted a total of 32 shots from the free-throw line.
The teams combined to shoot 66 free throws Thursday as 49 personal fouls were called in the game. Samford finished 22-of-34 from the charity stripe for a 64.7-percent mark.
The Bulldogs upped their defensive performance in the second half and never trailed by less than five points after the seven-minute mark.